You're Still The One... !!!

One of my favorites by Shania Twain, this song is dedicated to all the love birds, fighting it out, against the biased rules of the family and society. And when everyone cribbed... their love grew stronger.
Listen to this...
"When I first saw you, I saw love.
And the first time you touched me, I felt love.
And after all this time, you're still the one I love.

Looks like we made it
Look how far we've come my baby
We mighta took the long way
We knew we'd get there someday

They said, "I bet they'll never make it"
But just look at us holding on
We're still together still going strong
(You're still the one)
You're still the one I run to
The one that I belong to
You're still the one I want for life
(You're still the one)
You're still the one that I love
The only one I dream of
You're still the one I kiss good night

Ain't nothin' better
We beat the odds together
I'm glad we didn't listen
Look at what we would be missin'

I'm so glad we made it
Look how far we've come my baby"

Malnutrition... by Choice !!!

Kingfisher Calendar for the year 2009 is about to release. I just saw, few teasers of that.And one thing came to my mind.
Malnutrition!!!

Find the difference between the above pictures!!!

For me,

One is "Malnutrition by Choice"!

Other, "Malnutrition due to Hunger"!

One get paid to be malnutritioned, the other one, being left to street dogs!!!
Is this we call,Diversity or Adversity !!!

You decide!!!

Recession... A Boon !!!

I am fed up listening to teachers, industry, media etc. talking only about recession and its negative impact of economy. But I always believe that there are always two sides of the coin. Let there be some positivity in the environment.

So what are the advantages of recession?
Are there any?
Shouldn't they be discussed?

Few I could think of, are as follows:

1) Recession led to drop in inflation. That's a really good news!

2) Students getting jobs in this time frame, will have great future ahead. Companies are really selective in hiring students and only the best will be recruited. Earlier when companies were on a hiring spree, It was about, "Survival of the fittest". But now, "Survival of the best". And I found, students preparing themselves extremely hard, to become the best.

3) All the "Whales" of the business have been struck badly by recession. Thus, companies with better operational strategies, better management, and better marketing would only succeed, even they being a "Fish". Now the playing field is leveled.

4) Its good time to do an MBA! Those who were planning to do it, but couldn’t get time out of their jobs, should get an MBA right now. Reason? In their job, their would be no increment in salary,and chances of being kicked out. Pass these 2 recessionary years, in an MBA college, and come back with flourishing salaries again.

5) Home Loan interest rates have reduced. Buy a house !!!

6)…

7)…

8)…

Its an open forum friends! Suggest few other advantages of recession, or criticize those pointed out.
I want this list to be as long as the disadvantages of recession.

Be a step ahead, think positive, think out of the box, and think… think… think…!!!

Dare to speak in Hindi...!!!

Have you ever been scolded of speaking in Hindi ? I am sure, that the answer would be yes. It is a common phenomena in Schools (English medium) and Colleges of India. I am in a business school, and here we find students studying from every part of India. I have recently found my friends scolded of, "Murmuring" in Hindi. They believe, English is language of corporates, businesses and the industry.
Not an issue!

Languages have always helped in socializing. Let us take a day to day example. If you find your faculty, a "Bong", and you being too, you will soon find a rapport with him/her, chattering in Bengali. Similarly a "Kannadiga" would be able to please his/her "Kannadiga" teacher, "Mallu" has a good rapport with "Mallu" faculty, and the same story repeats for Tamil, Gujarati, Telugu etc.. But you cannot follow the same rule for Hindi. Dare to speak Hindi in front of your faculty! It is been considered that, English is the language of the literate, where as Hindi, "a cheap language". Similar phenomena is also seen among the students also.
Not an issue !

The issue?
Even regional languages are more respected in India than Hindi. As Hindi is considered as the language of weaker section of the society.

The reason?
Hindi is the language of the masses. And I have always felt, something which is in abundant never gets respect. Hindi being spoken in all parts of the country, doesn't get its due respect. Where as regional languages like Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil etc. are not considered as low as Hindi, in comparison to English.

The solution?
Even I don't know. Might be people associated with Hindi literature could suggest something on it. Might be, we could ever stop thinking, one language being superior to other.

But why to blog about it?
It was just an observation, that even Hindi being our national language, it never got due respect whereas other regional languages have scored much more in dignity.
And in the end, as every one believes, Hindi is our "मात्र भाषा " !!!

My dream?
Someday, the world would be striving to learn Hindi language, similar to, as we are desperately running after English!

Exciting American Bailout...!!!

My friend Manik Gursahani mailed me, these interesting facts about American Bailout. I couldn't resist it posting it on blog.Read on.

"Adding in the Citi bailout, the total cost now exceeds $4.6165 trillion dollars.
Some what around $7 trillion after auto bail out.....
People have a hard time conceptualizing very large numbers, so let’s give this some context. The current Credit Crisis bailout is now the largest outlay In American history.

Crunching the inflation adjusted numbers, we find the bailout has cost more than all of these big budget government expenditures – combined:

• Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
• Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
• Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
• S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
• Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
• The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est),Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
• Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
• Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
• NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

TOTAL: $3.92 trillion"

Source : http://boingboing.net/2008/11/25/bailout-costs-more-t.html

Campaign Against Terror... Perspectives !!!

I am a bit confused after the Mumbai attacks, about the rage that is seen among the media and people.But before that let's see, where were recent terrorist attack in the near future.This year, it started in May at Jaipur, then in July at Ahmedabad, in September at Delhi and the last, in November at Mumbai. So I was discussing that why there is so much rage among Indians this time. There were attacks earlier also, but we have never seen people coming to the streets as one voice, against the government (due to their lack of preparedness) and the politicians (because they being politicians). I could see two aspects to it.

One, which is popularized by the media, as "Enough is Enough". The series of attacks in recent times have affected the mindset of Indian people. Each attack has added fuel to the fire within every Indian. But this time, they couldn't resist more. Indian public, for the first time in such quantum, have came out on roads to support martyrs and to criticize the Government. And luckily, all these people on the road does not belong to any party, caste or community. Thankfully, they all acted as Indians!

Second, with which many may differ is, for after a long long time, terrorist attacks have affected the affluent and rich section of the society. This time the victims were the people, who could afford to be at Taj, Oberoi's or Nariman House. Before this, attacks at Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, were the attacks on the "Common Man". In the Mumbai attack, there were foreigners, high profile industrialists, celebrities. At Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, people died were poor people who use public transport, were at bus-stops, or shopping at streets of these cities. It could be possible, media is getting support of these affluent people to publicize this attack as this has affected their lives directly (for the first time).

These are just perspectives. Nothing is right or wrong.
The purpose of writing all this, is to ask the people of India, that why aren't they expressing themselves in the same way, every time!
Why aren't they coming forward, taking responsibilities, and helping a change!
And why isn't media highlighting similar issues in the same way, the way it is been this time!
I just know one fact. No matter who died, whether a beggar or businessman, we all lost a "Human Being" irrespective of his/her stature, caste or creed.

Death came in same way for all, every time!

Anand...never dies...!!!

I saw the movie "Anand" today, I guess for the n'th time.
Yes, I had tears in my eyes, I guess for the n'th time.
Yes, the movie influenced the way I live life, again, I guess for the n'th time.

Certainly, the movie is an epic. Not just because, it was a huge hit of 1970s, neither it being a path-breaking movie. Rather, adding to the above two reasons, it leaves you with a thought!

The thought is, "Life should be great, not long !!!"

"Anand" the protagonist, is the patient of cancer, and has only 6 months to live more.
And in the words of "Anand" himself,

"What’s the difference between 70 years and 6 months. Death comes in a second. But in these 6 months, I will live every moment. If you are scared of death, what's the essence of death. As long as I am alive, I am not dead."

Friends, see this movie, if you have not seen it till yet. See this movie again, even if you had.

And the mine favorite dialogue from the movie,
"Does, every smile means joy, sometimes its sorrow also!"

No "Brands"… No "Business"!!!

We all are surrounded by, Brands! Today, a person don't go to a mall or store to buy a commodity like salt or flour. They go to buy a brand. Now salt is associated with Tata salt and Flour with ShaktiBhog Atta.

But imagine a world without brands. Imagine you enter a store to buy toothpaste. And you realize that, in the shelf, all toothpastes are kept in white packaging, without names attached to it. What will you buy? In fact it could be a world without choice, moreover without competition. And the word "Business" has no relevance without the word competition.

Give me few answers.

Why a toothpaste promotes itself as Neem based toothpaste?
To differentiate!

Why to differentiate?
To gain competitive advantage!

Why to gain competitive advantage?
To gain market share and to be market leader!

But in the world without brands, where, customers have no choice, then why to differentiate, why to compete, and then why to lead!
Thus, I believe business is all about brands.
No "Brands"… No "Business"!!!

AL-QAEDA HIRING !!!

In a recession, when companies are freezing there recruitments, jobs are few. Students of 2-tier MBA colleges are waiting for companies to come for placements. B-schools have also tighten up their belts, working hard on their students to make them industry-ready (rather I would say interview-ready).
Imagine Al-Qaeda comes to hiring to these schools !



The letter from the placement office would then look like this.

"Dear Students,

We are pleased to inform you that Al-Qaeda would be visiting our campus on 30th February at 9:30 PM. The mass- recruitment process would be held at Underground Library.


Al-Qaeda, is an International Sunni Islamist Movement founded in 1988. Al-Qaeda have attacked civilian and military targets in various countries, the most notable being the September 11 attacks in 2001.Its management philosophy has been described as "centralization of decision and decentralization of execution."Following 9/11 and the launching of the War on Terrorism, it is thought al-Qaeda's leadership has "become geographically isolated", leading to the "emergence of decentralized leadership" of regional groups using the al-Qaeda "brand name."

Students of Marketing, Human Resource and Finance all can apply.
Freshers would be given preference.

The Position offered would be "Assistant Manager"

Salary Package :

4 Lakhs Basic + 5 Lakhs reward for family (yearly) + 5 Lakh Incentives per terrorist act
p.a.. Company will provide accommodation, transport & food / allowance.

Profiles would be according to various following verticals within the organization :

• The Military Committee, responsibility for training operatives, acquiring weapons, and planning attacks.
(Only Marketing, engineers preferred)

• The Money/Business Committee, to run business operations, to provide air tickets and false passports, to pay Al-Qaeda members, and to oversee profit-driven businesses.
(Only Finance)

• The Law Committee to review Islamic law and to decides if particular courses of action conform to the law.
(HR only)

• The Islamic Study/Fatwah Committee to issues religious edicts
(All can apply)

• Media Committee, to ran the now-defunct newspaper Nashrat al Akhbar (Newscast) and handled public relations.
(Only Marketing, Mass Comm. Or advertising background preferred)

• Al Qaeda's As-Sahab, a media production house, to supply its video and audio materials.
(Only Marketing)

Location would be as per students preference among the following countries :
USA, UK, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Iraq, Saudi Arab, Indonesia, Spain, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt and Israel

Selection Process :

Physical Test
GD
Psychometric Test
Interview

Those of you who are interested to apply, be a step ahead, and give your names to your Placement Volunteers not later than 6.p.m tomorrow

To know more about the company read "Al-Qaeda's Training Manual".
 
Regards,

XXXXXXXX "

It's a Dirty Job...!!!

Placements are on! Everybody is busy evaluating opportunities, in this turmoil. For some, Brand is a key issue. For some Package, and for few, the Profile is important. But their are few jobs, which are "Dirty" in nature, but their should be someone to take the responsibility.

Imagine jobs like cleaning up human excrement or taking care of the dead ! Finding it Dirty ? What if, there is no one to do such jobs ? A sweeper, an undertaker does all this for us. In return, they didn't even get our respect.


And jobs like cleaning up social evils or taking care of the needy ? Finding it tough ? Again, what if no one helps the needy? What if, no one fight against the social evils to reform societies?

Yes, someone should stood up and take any one of these responsibilities ! Gandhiji stood for Harijans, Raja Ram Mohan Roy for Widows and CRY for under-privileged children.

We need to thankful to those people, who does these "Dirty" jobs !

Nowadays people are earning good money, by doing these dirty jobs.
Let's see "The top 10 high paying dirty jobs".

Educated, but Sadistic...!!!

Hmm... this is what always scares me! I couldn't find any good reason, when educated people find fun in irritating or torturing others. I guess they all study,just to get good jobs and fat salaries. For me education is not mere a mode of getting jobs. Instead, eduction is a mode to enlightenment, that helps you thinking what is right or wrong. Many people never understood this. Infact, they enjoy being sadistic and torturing people as their slaves.

Read this one friends, another example of sadistic behavior. For live examples, we have one in college!

"Couple-allegedly-tortured-housemaid-to-destress !"

Irreplaceable... DADA !!!

Just yesterday I wrote about,motivation to write. One thing, or infact I should say, one man that motivates me to write this article is Saurav Ganguly "The Off-Side GOD". He is retiring.He is playing his last test-match at Nagpur.Today we all wished him to score a century before he leaves, but Krejza got him on 85.Nevertheless, it didn't affect "Dada's" stature.

Cricket was (or is... I am confused) the game of Gentlemen. Indians took this term a bit too seriously, whereas teams like Australia snubbed it.Indians were more of "Gentle" rather being "Men"!
When Dada took captaincy,he insured Indian team should play like "Men" even if not being gentle.He injected aggressiveness in Indian line-up.He nurtured his young talented mates and supported players like Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Zaheer at the time of their despair. He fought for anti-regionalism in Indian team. He never played cricket as just a game, it was war for him. It was always about India's honor.

And not to forget about his batting.
Genius, when it comes to off-side!
Powerful, when it comes to hitting sixes to spinners!
Patience,when it comes to anchoring innings and hitting centuries!

I salute you Mr.Ganguly for motivating us.For making us believe, "Yes we can do it"!

Many people criticized you, but you were among those who came out tougher,when the situations were tough.
You taught us to be a step ahead when it's about your country, your morals, your honor.You dared to face any adversities, whether it was Steve Waugh, Greg Chappell, injuries or BCCI.

I bid you adieu Dada. You are irreplaceable!

Blogging... is what???

You all must be thinking, is blogging a fad? Why many people start their blog,write for few days...and fizz...!!!
As per me,I have an excuse.I am not finding anything that could motivate me to write and the real reason could be, that I am not reading a lot these days. For others, blogging may be a fashion, marketing tool or source of earning. But for me, it helps me propagating a thought,which I believe should be spread among all as a social necessity.Whenever I ever stumble upon something interesting, I don't forget to be a step ahead. Let me be the torchbearer.

As Mr.Seth Godin rightly comments,
"The best measure of a blog is not how many people it reaches, it’s how much it changes what you do. Changes your posture, your writing, your transparency, your humility. What blogging has done for me is made me think. I get to think about how the outside world will understand something I’m trying to do, for example.
This means, of course, that you get almost all of the goodness of a blog long before you have a lot of readers."

Fight Back Gals...!!!

Saturday evening, sitting in McDonalds, Gossips n Food!!!
What a Life!!! Life full of fun.

But if you will spare your eyes away from friends, you could see a promotional screen in most of the McDonalds. Many advertisements are shown in the screen from movies to websites.
Just a glimpse to it, and I read,"Visit www.fight-back.net".
It created a curiosity in my mind.What is this fight-back? I waited for that advertisement to repeat.And I saw something special, something of my interest.
I rushed back home,browsed the website and I was impressed! It was something which I always wished to do.

www.fight-back.net is website made to reduce gender-biasness,especially any form of female harassments. This website includes detailed information regarding helpline no.s, legal resources and forum for discussion. It teaches you how to file complaints against any form of harassment, gender biasness.

"FIGHT-BACK is finally your movement. It will take the shape that you give it. Use it like a tool box, a rallying cry or a shield against violence. Woman, man or child, gender violence has to end."

Moreover, it also includes Hall of Shame which includes name and stories of famous cases, their convicts and other relevant information. So if you want to read something about Priyadarshini Mattoo, or Manu sharma, go this website. Moreover, this website is linked to Facebook also.

This websites is really relevant for women, as they can acquire more knowledge, and they can be more alert, smart, proactive. We need our women counterparts to fight-back against any type of harassment. It may be eve-teasing, rape, molestation or something else.

So friends, go to this website, read, and spread awareness!!!

Such initiatives should be praised.
As when it comes to morality, we should always be a step ahead.

SORRY !!!

Sorry friends,for not writing a blog for so many weeks or I should say months.
I guess its been 3 months.But now I an back,and I would try to be bit more regular,even after a tight schedule these days.
In these 3 months, I was busy in my term end examinations and then a hectic TATA MOTORS internship.Internship is still on,still tough, still hectic, with more intensity. But that's where the challenge lies.
We will be meeting soon, with my new experiences and articles!