India’s sports Ambassador

Who should be India’s global sports Ambassador?

Many would say – Hey this is an easy one !! Sachin Tendulkar of-course
Some might also say Major Dhyanchand. P.T. Usha will also be a consideration.

Before you also start rattling “ Kapil Dev”, “Sunil Gavaskar” …., please go back and check the text again. I mentioned “GLOBAL” sports Ambassador.
A global ambassador should be someone with whom the world audience can relate to. How many can relate with a cricketer or Hockey Player? Maybe 1.5 billion people across the world. That’s hardly an 20% of the world’s population. That’s not Global.

You would be surprised to know that the Indian sportsperson who has exposure in most number of countries is someone many of us haven’t heard of.

Well, so you know its not Sania Mirza – the whole country knows her. If not for her game, then for her controversies.
Can it be Saina Nehwal? Naah – its too early for her rise so high in the world popularity charts. Besides, who plays Badminton in North America !!!

Still guessing , let me spoil the surprise…
It is Jeev Milkha Singh.
Can you faintly remember him? Oh am I talking about the Flying Sikh. Nops, you missed it by a generation. That’s his Dad, Milkha Singh. I am talking Milkha’s son – Jeev Milkha Singh.
But, are you aware which sport does he play. There comes the shocker – he plays Golf!!

Jeev is India’s numero uno Golf player and is ranked 29th in the world.

He has done spectacularly well last year winning 4 tourneys and achieving top 5 positions in another 5. He made a lot of money as well. USD 3.5 Million to be precise.

So what’s the big deal? Dhoni made close to USD 20M in 2008. But how many countries actively follow Cricket. Actually, you can count them on your fingers.

On the contrary, Golf is actively watched and followed by over 85 countries across the globe and this list spans all the 6 continents. Jeev’s tremendous performance in 2008 has made him a brand name across all popular golf playing countries and looking at his form in 2009, this popularity is all set to grow multifold.
Some of his successes in 2008-09

Jeev won Bank Austria GolfOpen in 2008
Jeev won Nagashima Shigeo Invitational Sega Sammy Cup, Golf Nippon Series JT Cup in 2008
Jeev won Barclays Singapore Open in 2008
Jeev signs off 4th at WGC-CA for best major finish in 2009

He won the Bharat Padma Shri Award in 2007.

What I would suggest to you is. If you have a handicapped trivia about this rising star, go to Google and find out most about him. After all you don’t want to get embarrassed in front of your American client when he knows more about Jeev than you !!!

Chief Review Officer ( CRO )

I got a review from a good friend who said that my writing style is very non-bloggy.
Its a style which is not followed by general bloggers. Though, he has his heart in the right place but he has one majorly annoying habit. Getting a positive feedback from him would be easier than building Rome !!! What he unrealizingly ends up doing everytime is giving just one piece of constructive advice, which is " I like it " as I metioned, if you get one !!! otherwise you will always end up getting a monotonous demoralizing " I dont like it " syllable from him.

I with couple of my frens ( he being one )are working on this new idea these days and there are major debates about each and every decision we have to make. Some of these debates are about stuff so trivial that I am too embarassed to even mention them here. So everytime we need to take a call, our C.R.O gives his expert review which is always " I dont like it ".
I felt like sharing something which is so-called "Bloggy", so this was the entry.
If you have a friend/manager/colleague who has this habit , don't take it anymore, Go ahead and nickname him the CRO of ur life!!!

A chinese proverb for the flat world

I have recently finished reading "The World is Flat". This book is written by "Thomas Friedman". The book talks about the benefits of economy boom in countries like India, China, Vietnam & Mexico. It elaborately discusses the impact of the flat world and how it has changed the economic equation of the world. Fantastic Read - would happy to suggest it to anyone who is half serious reader.

There is one quote in the book which goes something like this -

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.
Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.
The moral:
It doesn’t matter if you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be running.

What an amazing quote - it inspires you to the core.

This Holi - Save Water

Experts say that World War 3 is going to be about Water. The world population is growing at 1.2% every year. We added 66 million people to earth in 2008 stretching earth’s already limited and dwindling resources.


I know that I might be considered a grouch for suggesting this, but this year why don’t we change the rules. Let’s play Holi with dry colors in 2009 and eventually making it a tradition. Holi was originally the festival of colors and water has been added artificially to it. If we can avoid this water wastage, I think we should go for it.
Let’s enjoy the festival but at the same time help the world conserve water.

The Indian Hypocrism story

In all my interactions with Indians who have travelled abroad - particularly to countries like UK, Australia, US and the Gulf - they have one common story to tell.
They talk about the racial discrimation they face during their stay.
I have travelled to the US and have experienced that racism exists in the west.

However, when Indians talk about racism, they are being the biggest hypocrites in the universe.
What right do we have to complain about racial discrimation when we practice it more efficiently than anyone else.
When Indians can't accept their own people from other regions to migrate to their regions, how can we expect Americans to accept us ( we the people from different nationalities + religion + colour).
Indian politicians have used the race card to gain popularism and sensationalism for years and everytime I see the public falling for this piece of dirty politics, I realize the shortcoming of this countrymen and their mentalities and notions.
Whether it is Raj Thackeray & his anti-Bihari policies or ULFA & its anti-UP/Bihar practices or the ever-famous North India vs South India duel, I have witnessed all and trust me, its not a pretty sight.

I agree India with its multi-cultural diversity, these kind of problems do come up, and I am proud of India for staying an united country for 60 years now inspite of these problems. We could easily have gone the Yugoslavia, the Zimbawe or the Fiji way
What I don't like is that we don't acknowledge this problem and we are more than ready to play the blame game against other countries.
I hereby invite all to be Indians and not Tamils or Rajasthanis or Bengalis. You ll find India to have become a much better country to live in.

Rebirth of the brand "Public Sector"

I have watched the Anil Kapoor starrer " Nayak " many many times.
The concept was unique and I loved the movie.

One distinct scene in the movie I remember very well is the part where the bride's father is adamant on his daughter's groom to be a public servant ( employed in a public sector division/ government job ). During those days, I was astonished & amused by narrow mindedness by the old aged & "minded" father. But, in India we have a "postulate" - Always listen to your elders, they are never wrong"

I guess the postulate holds true today -

Today, Indian private sector is reeling under extreme pressure. They are closing shops, laying off workers and trying to somehow navigate through this economic slowdown of slowdowns. What it has done is created financial & mental instability of mind of these employees. Today, again the public sector is back to being the cream job creator in the country.

So, these days, maybe a BEL would be a better idea than Sasken, or India Post a better bet than DHL or SAIL a safer haven than TATA Steel.

What the public sector in India needs to do is utlize this opportunity to bring home the public sector brand on the minds of prospector employees. After all, Public Sector like all other companies needs to hire and retain the right talent to prosper and grow.

Linkedin - Have you joined the bandwagon

LinkedIn was officially found in 2003.

At that time, I was in college and power of internet had start hitting me.

We had reached a phase where software development converted from Anti-Internet to Pro-Internet ( software were getting customized for the internet, instead of software companies expecting the internet to get customized to their products )

The time was ripe for a business networking product to be launched in the web space.
Like all famous start-ups, LinkedIn was started by 5 partners in humble surrounding (read a one Bedroom apartment). ( sometimes, I feel my start-up hasn't done so great for the fact that we started in an office instead of a Garage/storage room :-)

In a month's time, Linkedin had 4500 registered users and by end of year, it had 82000 users listed with it. By that time Sequoia chipped in USD 4.3 Million in the venture.( the same VC firm which funded Google, Apple, Oracle, Atari, Yahoo, Paypal and many more )
Linkedin registered its first 1 million users in mid 2004. Today, Linkedin has over 33 Millions registered users and it gets a monstrous 7 Million hits everyday.

Enough about LinkedIn History.

The bottom line is, LinkedIn is doing to business networking what MySpace & FaceBook did to social networking. It has become the ultimate channel for recruiters to get right talents. (I hire all my freelancers through linkedin).
If you want to lookup a person, and cant find him on Orkut, facebook and Myspace, you are sure to find him on Linkedin.
Today, if you are not in linkedin, you are not on web !!

So what are you waiting for? if you still are reading this blog - goto www.linkedin.com and register your profile. Trust me you will not repent it !!!
And if you want to add me - Search (Amit Agarwal DivideByZero)

See you at Linkedin

The Indian Fiscal Deficit Story

The Congress is back to its election propaganda with its so called " Common Minimum Programme"
This programme "ensures" that "AAM AADMI" has employment, daily meal and access to education.
So what did the UPA do?
It waived off Rs 60000 crore loans to the farmers. They got many applauds and importantly " dedicated vote banks" for doing that.
What it has done is created a LEGACY. Now, no matter which party is in power, they don't have a choice, due to the populist nature of Indian politics, every Government would need to continue this policy. THE RESULT - USD 12 Billion fiscal pressure on the Government

A hypothetical situation is the SC/ST Reservation system in India. It started in 1950, and there is no way , its going to end anytime soon.

I am not surprised by this LOAN waiver scheme by the UPA. I am used to illogical political judgements from Congress. What hurts me the most is that- Manmohan Singh approving it. He is the same guy who liberated our economy in 1991 - ( the reason why we are a superpower today ). Such an irrational decison from such a rational person is shocking.

What is UPA doing under CMP is reducing the price of Petrol& Diesel.
What is Government is doing is " They are adsorping losses by selling petroleum products cheaper and to compensate these losses they borrow money from the world ". This is done by using a financial instrument called OIL BONDS. Oil bond is nothing but “postponing the pain & Problem for another other day.
Total withstanding OIL Bond commitment on the Government is around Rs 5.5 Lac Crores or
USD 120 Billion. Does anybody have any clue, how are we going to pay for this.

And to maintain their populism, further reduce the price of petrol & diesel.
Who will eventually have to bear the burden of this irrationality - THE COMMON MAN !!!
and we talk about CMP - Hilarious

What does all this eventually boil down to ?

They increase India's Fiscal deficit - Now what is Fiscal Deficit

- Fiscal deficit is essentially the difference between what the government spends and what it earns. It is expressed as a percentage of GDP.

India's fiscal deficit in 2007 was 3.17% of GDP. ( thats a staggering - 1.40 LAC crores ) India's fiscal deficit continues to be one of the highest in the world.

S&P - the most respected rating agency in the world recently revised India's status from STABLE to NEGATIVE. The reason - because of our fiscal deficit.

This rating is a key parameters for funding institutions like WORLD BANK, International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), use this rating to decide on funding a country or a project. SO the implications of S&P ratings are quite clear.

We all applauded the Government for reducing the price of fuel last month. But ask yourself, is it correct and rational. Wouldn't you rather pay a buck or two etc instead of enjoying this cosmetic luxury.

Take a call now. Fiscal deficit is going higher & higher, and there will be stage like 1991 when India is bankrupt again.

Traffic woes

THIS IS MOSCOW DOWNTOWN .

AND WE COMPLAIN BANGALORE HAS TRAFFIC !!

Do you waste food ?

Every time, I see this picture, my body goes into a shiver. I appreciate my life more. I appreciate the abundant food I get everyday and I ensure that I don’t take this abundance for granted.

But, every time I go to a party or to a restaurant and see people throwing food , wasting food, my blood boils. I wish I could have given my piece of mind to that person. But my rationality or my lack of it , stops me from doing it.

Everyday, world over, 18000 children die of hunger. I respect Obama, he seems to be the solution to America’s woes. But what is outrageous is that his presidential ceremony cost USD 170 Million. That’s simple unbelievable, that much money could have ensured that for 2362 days, not a single child would have died because of hunger.

I am sure this figure is staggering and baffles you as well. But, REMEMBER the food you waste also has a same story to tell. We all need to realize the implications of this wastage.
What we need is a national.. actually an international level public awareness campaign to create a social consciousness against wasting food.
Just because it’s available abundantly to some, they don’t respect it and this notion has to change ASAP.

pachaas rupaiye do aur vote le lo

Yes, in India many look forward to elections

WHY, because they can get one kilo of free rice + 50 rupees + and if you are lucky ( one umbrella as well )
Who gives these "election perks"? The currupt politicians ofcourse.
But the next question is " where do they get the money to give such rewards"
The answer is " Indian Tax payers and the Indians treasury "

So who has the power to stop them? The Election Commission .
But why is nothing happening ?
kyuki , Yes hai India meri Jaan !!

Yes, we love Rahman, but should we love the film?

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE ..
Yes, it's in news these days. 8 oscars , 7 BAFTA awards, 4 Golden Globe.
Mass Euphoria in India when the movie won 7 BAFTA and the whole India was glued to the screen and went exuberant when we won 8 OSCARS.

But , do you think we should be proud of slumdog millionaire.

Do you think we should be proud of depiction of India in this movie -

The movie only showcases the following points about India and Indians

1. Adrocities against poor
2. Police Bullying
3. Communal riots
4. Thiefs and robbers
5. Crime

Do you think India is all about all this. Aren't we the same country who has never attacked an another country ever. Aren't we the same country where we have the self governance in the form of village panchayats? Aren't we the country whose leadership exhibits an epitome in communcal harmony ( We had a Muslim President, a Sikh PM, an Italian Head of ruling party )

We are celebrating Slumdog's success, we should be ashamed ourselves.
Instead of celebrating or also PROTESTING ( We are very good at it ), we should benchmark Slumdog to buckle up and improve the living standards of Indian slums.

Slumdog has no doubted helped India as well -
Indian film technicians have received tremendous exposure. Russell Pookutty was not known by anyone. Today he is a household name.
A R Rahman has received the well deserved acknowledgement of his brilliance
Talent of Indian actors have been showcased to the world

Does the US or the British rue on the fact that they dont win any awards in Filmfare 2009? In the same way why do we strive so much to win an OSCAR. After all, Oscars are American awards. They are not global awards.

We as Indians need to be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments and shouldn't look for Westerm world acknowledgements of our success

Vote India Vote

Jaaago Re ...

Everytime I think about Voting, this bright young guy's face comes to my mind who is offering chai to everyone. He is commanding everyone to wake up because they are not voting. Though this is a TV advertisment, it creates this feeling of disgust in all our minds who dont have thier voting cards ready
or those who have their voting cards ready but don't have the INCLINATION or TIME to go and vote.
Remember, you have complained about the Government , the public officials, the system for last 4 years. Now, its your time to go and change that.
And , NO ONE is STOPPING YOU

Goto www.jaagore.com and register to create your voting card

There were over 670 million people who are eligible to vote in 2004 Lok Sabha elections, 388 million of them voted. Thats a disgraceful 57% votes. and I am confident whoever is reading this blog belongs to the 43% of India who didn't vote.

This is not the end of it.
Of the 388 Million who voted, 297 million were not even primary level educated. Only
91 Million educated Indian voted in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. of which majority were primary or secondary educated.
DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE OF YOU AND YOUR COUNTRY SHOULD BE DECIDED BY THESE 297 MILLION? I am not trying to disrespect them, infact I am trying to glorify these 297M responsible citizens of India.
But you need to understand that when majority of them vote, they only consider their perspective. That might be electricity, fertilizers and irrigation. Its our responsibility to consider Foreign Policy, Economic Policy, Education Policy as a benchmark to chose our leaders.

COME ON GUYS, miss one movie and utlize that time to VOTE and create a difference

Email Marketing - Why do you need to do it?

Email marketing is an extremely cost-effective marketing tool and when used properly, can catapult your sales to new levels. Whether your business is found solely online or is a mom-and-pop store whose greatest technology is the thirty-year-old cash register, your business can definitely benefit from email marketing. In this age of high technology, you can use email almost as an automated marketing staff member. Email can be used to turn those with no interest in your product into prospects, prospects into customers, and then follow-up with customers x number of days after a purchase, helping them become a repeat customer. Imagine if this process could be automated…that would free your mind to think of so many new ideas, rather than dealing with the tedious task of emailing prospects and old customers daily.
In order to effectively discuss email marketing, it must first be defined. Email marketing as it will be discussed in this article is defined mainly as sending out newsletters or e-zines to your subscriber list. For our purposes, this subscriber list is assumed to be an “opt-in” list, meaning that they must somehow request (via a sign up form on your website, in person, or by making a purchase, etc.) to be placed on your email list. The benefit of using opt-in lists is that these are people who actually want to receive your newsletter, which will include information about your product and industry.
The key to turning your first-time customers into repeat customers is by building relationships. Even though email is faceless, it can still greatly assist you in building a solid relationship with your customer base. Tough competition will attempt to draw your customer base away by undercutting your costs and doing whatever possible to switch your customers over. The best way to prevent your customers from jumping ship is to build a relationship with them over time. What better way to do this than to provide useful information right to their email inbox? Providing helpful hints or coupons in an email message is a great way for recipients to want to continue receiving your email, and coupons will motivate action on the part of the consumer, providing you a way to instantly obtain feedback on your campaign. The better providers of email list management software offer open and click-through tracking, giving your marketing department instant feedback on the e-mail’s effectiveness.
Email marketing gives your brand an edge in a tough market. Daily, weekly, or even monthly emails will keep your brand in your target consumer’s mind. As more and more of the population begins to use email, email marketing will become a standard in the marketing industry. Finding another marketing method that comes close to all the benefits that email marketing offers is nearly impossible

To India - my clean land

How many times have you dumped some wastage on the road from a moving vehicle.
I am sure we all have, but we hate to agree to it.

I will go ahead and agree that I have done it pretty often. I try to be courteous enough to ensure that my junk doesnt hit another person ( or an animal ). and I am proud of my "thoughtfullness"

Recently, I was reading an article about Singapore and their commitment to cleanliness. The amusing aspect is that this article has been written by a hotel security guard in SG. He writes that Singaporeans consider littering to be a worse crime than stealing and burgalary. He mentions that in his last 3 years of service, he has not witnessed even a single littering incident by a local.
However, he has horrid tales to tell about Indians who visit his hotel.
He have seen Indians leaving behind plastic glasses, tissue papers, mineral water bottles on the parkway, on the reception lobby, at the parking lot.
He was amused to see an Indian spit Pan Masala in his swimming pool lobby.

What is more amusing is the fact that this guy is uneducated while the Indian is an multinational executive ( the article explicitly mentioned that ). After reading that article, I was disgusted with myself for my own littering actions. Since that day, I am trying to stay clean ( literally ), but I request you to do the same.

Don't you think educated people like us should learn a bitter lesson from this.
Today Singapore is considered the cleanest city in the world. Who gets the credit? Is it the government or the police. None of them, its the local citizens.
Be exemplary citizens and take an oath to do the same.

After all, I would love to see Bangalore to be as sparkling clean as Singapore. WOuldn't you ?

Over Consumerism- what needs to be done

One of the biggest challenges the world is facing today is of over consumerism across the world. As the world is getting flatter and wealthier, large population countries like China, India & Indonesia are moving up on the consumer ladder. The rise in middle class along with higher affluence and spending power results in rapid consumerism in these countries. These 3 countries alone form 40% of world population. Just imagine how much materials would be needed to feed this consumerism euphoria. This rapid Consumerism in depleting our natural resources. The world needs more timber, more steel, more plastics, more petroleum to fuel this consumerism. Extracting these commodities pollute our environment and aid to global warming. Many of these natural resources are available in autocracies and its revenues are misused to propagate hate and anger.
For example. manufacturing 1 tonne of steel throws 4 tones of harmful gases in the air. The world consumes 800 billion plastic bags every year. Plastic bags are hazardous to produce; the pollution from plastic production is harmful to the environment. Most of them are made of polythene - they are hazardous to manufacture and are said to take up to 1,000 years to decompose on land and 450 years in water.

Majority of the world currently follows Cradle to Grave process where goods after usage are transferred to the dump yards. This is a gross wastage and underutlization of resources. There is a cap to the amount of resources land can provide. For example, we might be able to produce 6.3 Million tonnes of rice/ hectare and extract 20K tonnes of coal per hectare, but there is an threshold to this limit.

One solution to this problem is RECYCLING. Recycling is the most efficient method to reuse/ utilize resources.
The latest mantra in recycling is Cradle to Cradle ( C2C ). Here the complete product is built using recyclable materials which can be reused to create other products. I would like to come with a metric to categorize materials and products. This metric will be called Recyclable Index ( RI ). The government should come up with tax break incentive plans to promote this service where focus on using these products would be increased.

Its hight time the world now needs to take a stand. Because everytime you buy a plastic bag or an electric bulb, you are adding to the dump. So if you thought you are doing your bit by carpooling and using CFLs to prevent Global Warming, there is much more to do. Only procure recyclable paper, demand your furniture to manufacture furnitures using rugs and alumunium, ask your local chaiwala to serve tea in claypots. Remember, these small things make a difference, and its you have the mental ability to synthesize this diffrenciation

World's Biggest Problem - HUNGER

Biggest problem? World hunger,
Although we could probably fix it quite easily (remove the price-roof on the world market so there'll be an incentive for people in poor countries to grow their own food, for example. At the moment they lose money by growing food, since it's cheaper to buy it from the world market due to an artificial price roof. Noone wants to buy the local farmers' food either, for the exact same reason. Too expensive. So the solution to that particular problem is removing the price roof and putting the money they used to spend there into funds for local farmers in poor areas. Man, this was a long paranthesis)

Still, in its current state, it's a big problem.

India Inc’s struggle against the depreciating Dollar

She was 4 in 1947, 16 in 1990, 31 in 1995, 50 in 2002 and is close to 40 in June, 2007.Yes, she became 40 after being 50.
In case you are still fantasizing about the age of some beautiful maiden, you got it all wrong. I m talking about the US Dollar vs the INR currency rates fluctuations and the deep impact it has over the economy and the people of India.
When Y2K arrived, it bought along prosperity for India. Indians were getting rich and famous, and the complete economic scenario of the Indian household was transformed. This resulted in more spending, bigger cars, better homes, overall an enhancement in lifestyles. This sudden cash surplus in homes resulted in the anticipated rise in inflation.
Let me tell you a bit about INFLATION: It’s referred to the hike in prices of common goods over the rise in purchasing power. It’s basically the scene where there is a large supply of money and there is a demand for goods, thus demand resulting in an increase in the prices. Where other countries were facing inflation rates of 1 and 2 %, India had to confront a staggering rate of 6-7 %. Commodity prices right from cereals, fuel, metals, chemicals, machinery to land and rents everything went sky rocketing. In a county like India, which has extreme rich/poor divide, even a marginal rise in any commodity prices causes havoc in a poor man’s budget. Hence a low inflation rate is a must for India .When finally the Government and the Reserve Bank of India realized this rise, the counter measures were initiated. RBI raised the interest rates and stopped supporting the Dollar further. This resulted in the INR rallying against the USD and in 3 months March to May, Dollar shed close to 10% of its weight i.e. from 44 to Rs 40 per Dollar.
A country to be a competitive exporter needs to have a supporting currency rate. This 10% drop in dollar rate had a significant negative impact on Indian export especially for industries like Textiles and manufacturing. Industries which strongly rely on exports are under attack to preserve their margins and if this continues they all would be bankrupt very soon. For example, an American company, say Wal-Mart buys towels worth 1 crore from an Indian manufacturer for $230 thousand , now they would need to pay $250 k for the same consignment, which they would not , so this loss has to be borne by the Indian Company. Even the companies which rely on domestic consumption are going through a crisis. Statistics say that in last 5 months, there has been a surge of 15% in imports in the country. But the worst hit is the Information Technology sector.
The IT companies both Indian and MNCs which primarily transact on USD, reported huge reduction in Revenues and profits and have switched to cost cuttings and insignificant pay hikes. It’s the employees of such companies who have been the worst affected. Costs cutting in companies have resulted in cutback on facilities and perks to employees. This is turn has caused dissatisfaction among employees and hence higher attrition rates.
Taking an emotional stance on this issue cannot be justified on the grounds that we forget that the very existence of our jobs is a byproduct of cost cutting measures taken in developed countries in USA, UK, Japan, Germany and Australia. I fully acknowledge the fact that technical jobs came to India in the form of cost cutting in the developed countries. So we have to be reasonable when questioning a company's actions. After all, cost cutting took away the jobs in the US and the Europe and brought them to us.
There are over 20 million NRIs all over the world. Their total worth is over 1 trillion dollars, and they send back 22 billion Dollars to India every year. Due to the depreciating dollar, there is a negative impact over this sum too.
Though there are many advantages of the rising Rupee too.
It has made it relatively easier for Indian companies to acquire companies abroad.
It has resulted in decline in prices of many products which India necessarily imports, for example Crude Oil, Gold, Diamonds, Computer parts, medicines to name a few. These reductions in prices have helped in decreasing the Inflation rates to some certain extent but there is whole lot more to do.
The Government policy of artificially raising the prices of Rupee has short term benefits but in the long term, it’s going to have a dampening affect on the Indian economy.
A country like India which is on a fast track towards progress, needs a Government which supports and aids in its path to glory and fame not one which does just the opposite.
Though we can’t just blame the government, the complete political system has to be blamed for it. After all, in a coalition government, everybody has to be kept happy.
India's GDP is increasing at an annual rate of 8%, this growth may cause issues like inflation and economy overheating, but we can counter these issues by having a balanced and rational policy instead of a makeshift and a hasty solution.
I can completely understand the problems of high inflation in India, but it’s just that being a true Indian, every small obstacle which tends to suppress the great India growth story gets me agitated. Let’s hope that this saga of unparallel success and development sustains in India for a long long time to come.

My Quest for a Girl Friend

A human mind is an assortment of cravings and the human life is all about trying to attain them. There are some yearnings or wishes which are fulfilled, while there are others which are incomplete. A 2 month old baby’s primary want is food, while a 2 year old kid would want to be in the vicinity of parents. An 8 year old child may seek chocolates or toys and a 12 year old might be longing for play companions, though these days the demand has shifted to ipods and mobile phones.
When I was these ages, my demands were the same too. However, when I went to be 14, my only striving was for a girl friend and today I m here to narrate the story behind “My Quest for a Girlfriend”.

When Teenage strikes, it brings whole lot of changes in you. Awkwardly things which you loved just couple of months back seem irrelevant. Spending time on Cartoon Network, GI Joe, Hardy Boys all just become a waste of time. Suddenly both time and precious pocket money is spent on looking good. Combing hair for an extra minute at the mirror becomes the activity to invest time in. Earlier where 100 bucks was well spent on eating ice-cream and playing videogames becomes a luxury and this money has better use buying deodorants and hair gels. The worst is yet to come, cricket at afternoons became a strict No No, after all Indian Sun has a severe tanning effect.
Being no different, I went through all this and much more. But my transformation just didn’t stop here, it went a step ahead. Girls who were a subject of scorn and distaste among our band of boys amazingly found lots of favor.
Everything about them which we detested from bottom of our hearts, their simpering laughter, their “I know it all” attitude, watching saas bahu serials all became the sparkle of our eyes. My library which was packed with Hardy Boys and Tell Me Whys, found space for couple of Mills and Boons and Linda Goodman’s.
Now let me tell you about my first crush. I was 13 and she was 11. Xyzzy had this golden smile and her hair, every time she curled them, my heart use to skip a beat. If I had studied half the time I spent gazing at her, I would have been a rocket scientist or world would have had the cure for common cold. She gave me those knowing looks too and every time our eyes met, world stood still. Toastmasters and dear guests, doesn’t it sound like; the ideal match? I thought the same too; unfortunately, this is where the perfection ended. She was the only child of Mrs. Roy, my history teacher and I don’t know what God had against me, she and I gelled as well as 2 sides of a coin. You see I didn’t have a flare of history; it was all absorbed by Lovolgy. So my quest to find a girlfriend started with my quest to religiously mug where the 1st war of Panipat was fought and when did Humayun marry Mumtaj. Now this sudden passion to learn the history of the country had some benefits too. My parents were a happy lot to find the History book in my hand instead of the TV Remote or a videogame joystick and I was suitably rewarded with a raise in pocket money. And unbelievingly my hard work paid off, I scored tremendous marks in History and a good boy image of mine was inscribed on Mrs. Roy mind. Mission “attaining good image” accomplished.
So with flowery dreams and a red rose, I went to seek the woman of my life. I approached Xyzzy with charm and confidence. I gave her the flower and before I could express my undying love for her, she tied a shining rakhi on my wrist. You see, it was August times, and since I was totally lost about dates and months back then, the possibility of Raksha Bandhan didn’t strike me. It took me sometime to realize the consequences of her action, but once I did, my whole world came down crashing. There is nothing I have ever hated about myself, more than my wrist that day with that dreaded piece of string. This was followed by spending weeks listening to sad romantic numbers of Mukesh and Rafi. So there it ended, my undying love for her and also the affinity for history
But its hope which helps human cross the bridges of hardship, so xyzzy was a thing of past and I was on my way seeking greener pastures. Since then there have been many heartburns and lost and found loves. Now I m single and ready to mingle, after all for how long can the well hide from the thirsty. Bad analogies aside, I m letting life take its own course.

NO QUALMS IN SAYING NO !!

It was a bright serene Sunday afternoon, just the right ambience to study for my upcoming CAT 2005 exams. Just as I was going to concentrate on the next set of geometry problems, my friends barged in spoiling the harmony in the room. They had planned for a movie, and they wanted me to join them. My continuous resisting didn’t have any effect in front of their pestering. Eventually I gave in, and tagged along.
No friends in case you think I m in IIM Bangalore, I couldn’t crack the CAT and one of the reasons behind it was my Qualms in saying NO. Yes, NO to my ever partying friends in their endeavors, No to my relatives for their ever occurring functions and no to numerous other such occasions.
This is not abt focusing on priorities or commitments but to elaborate on the fine art of saying NO so that you don’t have to compromise on your goals, but at the same time not hurt the feelings of your loved ones.
There are many occasions where to ensure that our family, friends or colleagues are not disappointed, we take involuntary actions. Appeasing others gives us a lot of satisfaction but when these actions cost us personally, academically or professionally, they are just not worth it.
Swami Vivekananda before catering to any requests, would scale it with these 3 parameters
1. Is it benefiting me?
2. Is it benefiting someone else? OR
3. Is it a noble thing to do?
One should judge all such situations with these 3 constraints. The skill of saying no is not something which can be mouth fed at school or college or maybe corporate life but it’s an education which is acquired by experience. The significance of this ability can’t be explained, but has to be realized.
We Indians due to our politeness and the culture of Athithi Devasya don’t have the heart to say no to our close ones or in that case even strangers. But beware this feebleness has to be disposed of, otherwise you will the victim to lack of concern of others. Remember it’s your life and it’s you who will suffer and no one else.
I have learnt the lesson and hope would succeed in my missions in future.
But remember a thin line has to be drawn where one has to bear in mind that the zeal to achieve your aspirations cannot overpower the need to serve humanity.