Birthday Celebrations: A year added or subtracted from your AGE!!!

There is a big transition in birthday celebrations from the time we were born and to this point and we will see a lot of things happening in this drama of events in the near future as well. These two transitions are different in the sense is that in one case( School days) we eagerly wait for out birth day to come and in the other state(College days) we don’t want our birthday to come and we don’t make it public and avoid as much as possible.

When we were born, Our parents used to celebrate our birth on our behalf and there is this tradition in some parts of our country that if a boy is born then we used to have a lot of parties and if a girl is born then that is not seen as a moment of celebration. Then in the next 2-3 years, Parents gets an excuse to spend lavishly on their kid’s birthday depending on the condition of the family.

Then comes the age when we start going to school and during this time we used to carry toffees and chocolates to the school and class teacher used to announce before the start of the class about the birthday and the event of toffee distribution commences after the announcement followed by classes and that day we get the liberty of not studying and can do any mischief without being punished.

Then comes the age when we start going to high school and we used to give party in the school to our close friends and to the home friends in the evening. And the planning for this day starts well in advance .We negotiate for the gift part with our parents as to which gift, what cost and all that stuff and parents also gives us an option of celebrating birthday or getting a gift.

Then comes the stage where you believe that birthday should not be celebrated and avoided as much as possible. The first paradox is that you fail to understand whether “ One year is added to your age or a year is gone by from your age”.

When your birthday comes then the first thing that scares you are the “ Birthday Bumps”. You are treated not like a birthday boy but an object on which you can take out your frustration and that day anybody and everybody want you to realize the mistake of coming to this world and specially to this college. That day everybody gets this license to lift you anywhere on four shoulders and start giving thrashes with whatever objects they have and favorite ones are “chappals”,”Legs” and sometimes “Belts” and the most favorite places are classrooms, night canteen and hostels.

Then comes your birthday night and the real drama starts and this time you don’t plan your birthday but your friend does it and a mail is sent to all the students of the college on your behalf to come and enjoy your birthday. First these luxurious birthday bumps are given to that guy in the hostel and after this he is taken to the night canteen popularly known as NC where a bunch of frustrated people assemble together to give the Traditional Bumps to this guy. Then “Rajyabhishek” is done to this guy where milk, cold drinks, sauce, eggs are poured over this guy and the birthday cake becomes a cosmetic material that day.

Then for the next few days whenever he sleeps or sits (Because hips don’t Lie), he used to think why birthdays are celebrated and whether this day is a day of Joy or the other way round.

Modern day cricket !!! More of a Drama...

I am writing a post on Cricket, which is treated not only as a game but also as a religion in our country. And the Sachins and Yuvrajs are called the Gods of this religion. I will throw some light on the taste of the spectators, which has transformed drastically in the past few years. The taste can be called the behavior of the consumers, which are spectators in this case.

 The cricket has changed its color right from the Don Brad man’s era to Sachin’s era. And now the world will see a great transformation in the way the game is being played.

Earlier during early 1900, we used to have spectators who appreciated the game of cricket and who spared 5 days of their busy schedule to watch cricket and they patiently watched the match. That was the Era of test cricket and we used to have full 5 days match and Lord’s was called the home of Cricket. Test cricket tested the perseverance, technique, skills, and character of the players. Players needed stamina to battle it out for 5 days and that was very much appreciated and lauded with respect by the spectators. Even though most of the test matches ended up in draw but still spectators were happy watching the test cricket.

Then during 1950’s, the cricket changed its state from test cricket to one-day cricket. This happened mainly because of busy schedule of people and lack of patience of spectators to wait for 5 days to get the results. They were happy watching 100 overs in one day and were more interested in getting the result in one day. The tastes of spectators changed drastically and they were more interested in watching batsman hitting all around the ground and bowlers making fun on fast pitches. The pitches were made fast so that bowlers also have something in the pitch to have a real go at the batsman.

Then came the Era of late 1980’s and 1990’s where cricket took the commercialization way and spectators were interested in who is winning the match and there were lot of gambling took place during that time. Spectators had the power to turn the match in their favor by hook or by crook. So those matches insulted the game of cricket and the players underperformed to get the results they wanted.

Then came the Era of early 2000 and the cricket changed its path from 50-50 overs cricket to 20 overs a side game. The match is a matter of just 4 hours and spectators were happy watching the match for 4 hours and getting the results. Then the 20-20 era resulted in commercialization of cricket where players and teams were sold and this was a huge hit across the world and tournament called IPL was a huge success in India. Spectators were least interested in who is playing as long as batsman is hitting all around the ground and cheerleaders are swinging their booties.

And now the era will come in which spectators will be interested in watching cricket for 2 hours after their office or working hours just to relax and nobody will be interested in testing and appreciating the skills of the players but will be more interested in the glamorous quotient of the game like cheerleaders and short version of the game. An era will come where match will be played 5 overs a side and the game for last for an hour but the preparations for the match will take more time than the match duration.

Recession Unplugged

Hi all,

Today i am commenting on a topic which is prevalent everywhere and which is the most happening topic in recent times which affects almost everyone from business men to working class to students to home maker and even its affecting animals in a good way that now they are feeling happy as they are not the only ones getting exploited :-P.

The intensity of this recession is such that it has been taught even to nursery children to make them aware reduce cost and reduce their expenses on toys and playing material. Everyone is feeling the heat because of this black hole thing which is eating away people's peace and harmony.

In the past also we have experienced similar kind of recession and in 1930 it was even called depression because of its tenure and it lasted for some 10-11 years. We have experienced Oil crisis during 1970's and Dot com bubble in 2001 and we came out of all these crisis without learning anything. And nowadays people are predicting these recession to happen after every 7-8 years. 

And this time recession is a bit different and people are scared that it doesn't turned out to be a depression. Though a number of factors are responsible for this saga and lot many industries are getting affected by this dramatic thing but few factors stand out in making this recession a successful one.

The first thing that happened to make it work is the housing boom which happened in US economy. The Irrational Exuberance of a housing bubble created the climate in which homebuyers became eager to take on mortgages that they could not possibly afford and banks and investors were willing to make loans that couldn't be paid back. This bubble got bursted soon and this was the first nail in the coffin. and soon after lot many things happened like Investment banks bankruptcy automobile companies bankruptcy.

But as we look deep into this bankruptcy bore well,this recession is affecting all the luxurious objects and companies and people.

Lets take the case of GM motors,As they were manufacturing only luxury cars and didn't even thought of making small cars for common man,they are feeling the heat and are bankrupt now. And against this take the case of Maruti Suzuki India Limited,their sales even plummeted during recession because they made cars for common man and made small cars.

There are mainly two factors resulting in GM bankruptcy is the Oil crisis in 1970 because now people want small cars with good mileage rather than white elephants manufactured by GM and Real estate bubble. Now people don't have space to park their big cars and therefore the demand for small cars went rocket high with the Toyotas,hondas Suzukis stealing the show.

                                                     Take the case of B school students which we are more interested in,As investment bankers job was a high profiled job and can earn you lakhs in a month but that job is now a low profiled job and young talent is loosing their jobs on daily basis in investment banking because of the nature of the job. Now take the case of Commercial banking job against investment banking,banking sector is booming and jobs are not reduced and their demand will never went down.

                               Before this recession,Each and every B school graduate was getting the job whether he was skilled or not and this also resulted in a bubble where students were earning more than their expectation and skill set. Now what recession has done is that it helped in bursting this bubble and now students have to earn a job rather than take it for granted and they get their job and salary based on their skill set. This recession in a way have streamlined the society and businesses across world.

                                US which was under the impression of taking away the world in a different direction is now looking down the barrel and trying hard to streamline their economy.

So in my view,This recession in a way have streamlined different industries and helped in bursting different bubbles and helped people in realizing their worth in this world which is still having a lot of opportunities to ponder on.

I will continue my Fun quotient part in my next post. Till then keep waiting and commenting on my post.It helps me in posting without hiccups.

Fun Quotient @ IIM K though unorthodox

Hi Friends,

Here i am in front of you all again for the new season of my MBA.I spent almost one year in one of the most beautiful campuses in India.I will share my views and experience of the past one year of my MBA.

Exactly one year back,I joined IIM K with so many aspirations and full of energy which is unmatched and unparalleled  even till now. How Enthuthiastic we were at that time,i only can imagine at the moment.We a group of around 50 people were called for Preparation batch for English and Math classes but m still doubtful whether anybody learned anything in those classes though i am pretty much sure that i unlearned some of my fundas in those classes :-P.We had a maximum of one class during that one week and in the spare time we used to visit places and play volleyball on a pretty risky and customized court with full of risk involved in playing balls.

                     One fine evening we all were playing volleyball as always and that day some Unwanted things happened.A notorious chap named Dhruv while playing a shot couldn't resist falling freely from a decent height just to make the ball cross the other side and for no reward or prize money :-) .and when we reached the spot where he fell down,we were shocked to see him lying down and making some serious noises.We were feeling helpless and as we were new to college,We called our seniors to help us out and book a taxi so that we can take him to a hospital. Luckily , though that guy has been unlucky all throughout his first year,was operated on time. And our chances of visiting Wayanad beach on weekend went in vain. And we till today are striving hard to visit that place.

                                                              After that busy fun filled week,the real fun began in the subsequent weeks which followed that first week. Those weeks included official ragging by seniors,Hostel ragging and lot many parties and in the spared time we studied very little and took studies as secondary which should have been the obvious primary choice.

I will take you through my first year at IIM K in my subsequent posts to follow.

 till then good bye and enjoy life !!!

"It's a Fight between You and Yourself"

Hey guys,

I am back and today i am posting my first blog of the year 2009.I was a little busy with studies but i know that's an excuse because we hardly study relevant things.

Today for a change i will write something different and will keep myself away from me.In all the prior writings of mine ,i somehow showed my self centered approach but today i will talk about the conundrum which is there in everybody's life .

Right from childhood ,right from the birth we are being forced to compete with our fellow Childhood friends. Our parents used to say "hey that kid is looking cute,he/she always follows his/her parents but our child is so naughty and never do what we ask him to do". When we grow up and comes in school/Colleges,We are being told to compete with our fellow class mates and also to compete with our neighbors and also to compete with Family Friend's sons and daughters. And during this process we start taking this competition as the sole agenda and our life and we start measuring success on this basis.

There is no harm in competing with others but it becomes a curse when we give prime importance to this and only this and in the process forgets that there is somebody else also with whom you have to compete and that person is "YOU". Everyday we have to fight and that fight is with your true Self. Prime importance should be given to this fight and all other fights will fall in place by themselves.

We should start improving ourselves moment by moment,day by day and year by year to compete in this world( The world is not enough :-)). And this is possible only when we have a motive to live and that only motive will lead us to the path of success but the problem with most of us is that we don't have a motive.We take life as it comes and in the process blew away with the wind and our life then depends on in which direction the wind is flowing rather than where we want the wind to flow.

If we flew away with the wind ,then this will be shortest and the easiest path but mind you Success doesn't come cheap. "Success always comes up with a "Price tag"And this price tag is the price of the hard work that we have to do to earn it. The motive of ours should be the base of our life not the competition.

In the end i just wanna quote this " A leaf which falls from a tree goes wherever wind takes it.Be the wind to drive others,not the leaf to be Driven by others"