I hear this remark often made by the likes of Arnab, Rajdeep and all the other media folks who talk about terrorist attacks.
They comfortably blame it on fundamentalism. But I find that stupid. Simply because it is incomplete!
The "www.freedictionary.com" definition of this term is roughly "rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism."
Hence, if you say it the problem of adherence to "something".....then.....
unless that "something" gets filled with Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Communism, Marxism, Capitalism etc. it is not complete.
Hence "Fundamentalism" CANNOT be the problem standalone.
It has to be what follows/precedes "Fundamentalism" which acts as the base.
The following things lay the foundation of fundamentalism
1) A doctrine/philosophy in which you absolutely believe
2) A leader/teacher/motivator/father figure who has applied that doctrine/foundation in real life (or has at least pretended as if he/she followed it and is misguiding you)
3) The context of your life (where/when are you born, who are your parents, where did you study, what did you study, how poor or rich were you? etc.)
The three factors above play a huge part in what you turn out to be.
Now, assuming you are a fundamentalist, that STILL is NOT a problem.
Why?
Mahatma Gandhiji was one of the greatest fundamentalists in recent history. Although a Hindu, he was unknowingly or knowingly in my opinion, a hardcore Jain philosopher who probably resembled Jesus Christ (he actually refers to Leo Tolstoy's works in his book My Experiments with Truth, who in turn takes on Jesus Christs Non Violent ideology).
Bill Maher once calls the Mahatma "He was so f***ing Christian that he was a Hindu".
The context in which he was born into turned this combination to lead him to become the greatest crusader of freedom movement in India. Take away the doctrine or the leader or if he was born today, it is hard to tell if he would be revered the same way he is.
Turn it the other way, if you look at an Ajmal Kasab, who was made to believe in a version of Islam, by a group of terrorist elements, and he was a poor man (who in his own interview goes to say that he would have done anything for Rs. 1.5 lakhs and that was the amount that the terrorists had promised his mother would get). And what you get out of the above is a terrorist.
Now, having seen the examples, let us analyze these three factors in a bit more detail.
1) Doctrine/Philosophy - you can NEVER have a Fundamentalist Jain terrorist bomber. It is an oxymoron to call a true Jain, a terrorist. Hence it is wrong to say that the doctrine has "Nothing" to do with making you a terrorist. It does. It very much does.
If the doctrine is full of violence, it has expletives, it encourages violence, if it promises wild rewards for acts of violence etc. then it is quite possible that it will play a role (how much of a role it plays is also dependent on who your teacher or motivator is) in turning you into something which is not desirable for the society.
I certainly believe that all the doctrines of the world can easily be compared scientifically and we can definitely grade them on some parameters such as
1) Equality of gender
2) Freedom of speech
3) General violence factor
etc. etc. what is today considered as a moral construct for general human well being (as what a Sam Harris would say)
I will not be giving out what i think is the gradation of the different religions of the world, but it is definitely possible to do this scientifically. Take for example violence, we can look at
1) How many instances of chopping of limbs/head etc. per 1000 words in the text exist?
2) How many instances of child abuse are shown as examples?
3) How many instances of robbery etc. are there in the doctrine?
4) What kind of punishments does the book prescribe?
etc. etc.
Basically what I am talking about is giving a CBFC(Adults only or Universal) type rating to the religious texts around the world and you can decide the gradation of violence, equality , freedom etc.
Take the above and you can easily plot a graph around it.
The basic point of this exercise is that if you arrive at the conclusion that religion X is the most violent based on the above gradation, there is a good likelihood that if you belong to that religion and the below two factors are also right, you may end up being an anti-social element. I am willing to bet Jainism will be the least violent religion as per above yardstick!
And I do believe that the doctrine is the most important factor in contributing to fundamentalism - because it is the basis. Without it, a leader/context is going to do nothing to you
2) Now comes the motivator. This is another important factor. A clever speaker can twist the most non-violent doctrine to make it the most violent, while at the same time can moderate a very heavily violent text into something which is very peaceful.
We can see for example a doctrine being, rights for Tamilians. Combine it with a Prabhakaran and you may get the first suicide bomber in modern history Thenmozhi Rajarathnam (who killed Rajiv Gandhi) - combined of course with the context in which she was born and brought up etc. Now, a similar Tamil sentiment exploited in India for instance during Indira Gandhi regime, and you may get a DMK party in a different context, under different leaders which is now a leading political party in Tamilnadu. Completely different results in both cases.
3) Lastly, the context, I believe critical too. And it is quite self explanatory why a context can shape you completely differently. A most violent doctrine, combined with a most violent leader may still not force you into committing a crime, if you are quite well off, and are well taken care of in your life.
Now, to conclude, to say that fundamentalism is the problem in terrorism, and NOT that of the religion is NOT correct.
Religion or Doctrine has the most important role.
So does the motivator as well as the context. You cannot separate these from a terrorist or a hero.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Secularism = Anti Hinduism = Minority Appeasement in India
Indians, and especially several
Hindus find it very fashionable (take our Home Minister Mr.Shinde’s recent irresponsible
remark) to bash other Hindus and organizations which are doing welfare in
the country with a nationalistic bent of mind. More so if you are from the
Congress party (who call themselves secular but have been directly/indirectly
behind some of the worst communal riots in India).
There are some events that I have
been seeing in the recent past as well as some of the events which have
happened in history which I want to bring the readers’ attention to which have
led me to writing this article.
Discrimination of Hindus by the Government
1)Several
lakh temples in India have been nationalized. Their revenues are not being
utilized for Hindu Temple development. There are several temples which are now
collecting spider webs because of lack of money to renovate them. I recently
learned that much of the revenues of all Hindu temples go to the Government of
India which turned out to be a shocker.
You can google
for this, but I can post a few places where you can read about this
Now I do not
have a problem with this if the same is done to mosques and churches. However
the sad truth is that mosques and churches and other sacred places of worship
are not even audited.
Why this double
standard?
Is this the
Government’s (read-Congress as they have been in power in India for over 80% of
the time) idea of secularism?
2) The
clear hypocrisy when the Government deals with Hindus vs. other religions is
visible with the examples below
a.
As per indications in some of the Vedic rituals
a recommended age for marriage is prior to puberty for both men and women (not
that I am in favor of this in today’s context). Please read Shri Chandrasekara
Saraswati’s book “Hindu Dharma” for references to what the Vedic rituals
prescribe on marriage. However, the Government finds it convenient to BAN this
effectively and increase the marriageable age to 18-21. However, in 2012 a high
court declared that Muslim women can marry at 15. On top of this, to be
tolerant to the Muslim faith, a Muslim man can marry more than one woman under
the Indian law.
Don’t get me wrong, you can tolerate other faiths and
you should.
But why do you go “anti-Hindu” in your policy? Why the
double standard? Either you permit a much younger marriageable age for Hindus
as per their customs or you do not allow it for everyone in the country. When
it comes to passing a law which hurts Hindu sentiments people find it ok, but
not when it comes to other religions
b.
Next comes the way divorce is handled. People of
all other religions go through a rigorous process when it comes to divorce.
However, the triple talaq is accepted in the court of law.
As per the constitution of India, equal rights are
given to men and women (Article 14, Article 15 and Article 21). Fundamentally
the triple talaq allows a man to say it and be done with the wedding, but does
not bestow a similar privilege to a woman. So this is in direct violation of
the above articles.
Men are misusing this left right and center (such as
giving telephonic talaqs) and there are several people in Islam itself who say
this is a repugnant practice. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce_(Islamic))
Please also read the famous Shah Bano case. The Congress (under Rajiv
Gandhi) in an effort to pose as secular, passed the The Muslim Women
(Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, which denied even utterly destitute
Muslim divorcées the right to alimony from their former husbands. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Bano_case)
To me, it is a simple question.
Does Indian Constitution come first or does Sharia
come first in India?
If you say the Constitution comes first, then the
triple talaq as well as the above act should be disallowed or changed as it
violates the fundamental rights espoused in the constitution. If it is religion
above the nation, then is it not a question of danger to national security? I
am not sure if I am missing a point here?
Any self-respecting Indian should proudly say they are
Indians first and Hindus/Christians/Muslims/Sikhs/Parsees etc. next.
c.
Why does the Government give subsidies only for
Haj Pilgrims? Why not for Kashi/Amarnath/Rameshwaram yatra for the Hindus or
for a trip for Christians to the Vatican or Jerusalem or the Sikhs to Amritsar?
I am not against giving subsidies for the Haj
Pilgrims. By all means do. But please also give it to the Hindus in that case.
Do not show leniency to one religion and call it secular.
Increasingly I get the feeling that “anti-communal” is
seen as secular and true secularism is just dropped into the dust bin.
These are just some of the things which the Government
does. I can go on about the Kashmir problems, Tripura conversion problems and several
other areas where the Government chooses to look the other way.
Media Discrimination of Hindus
It is not just the Government
which has acted in a biased way in this regard. The media too has played a
significant role in contributing effectively to defining anything “Anti-Hindu”
or “Anti-Communal” to mean secular.
Let us take some examples
1) One
of the Heads of Hindus, Seer of Kanchi – Shri Jayendra Saraswathi swamigal is
arrested (for a crime for which he was eventually absolved by the courts), and
all that I could see in the TV that day was how he “conspired” to commit the
crime. There was absolute horror in our houses, and the media only portrayed
one side of the story.
Turn it around
and there was hardly any attention paid to Owaisi who openly declares war
against Hindus and no action is taken even for a month and a half. Eventually
media wakes up and we see our dear Arnab trying to play the Devils’ advocate.
Instead of focusing attention on Owaisi (who by the way I did not see any
Muslim cleric openly declare that what he said was wrong), he talks about
Praveen Togadia and Hindu Terror. Talk about changing the gear and shifting
attention toward Hindu terror.
I really fail to
understand how one can compare the two?
2) Hindutva
– The moment the word is used the media persons turn pale. Nobody wants to use
the “Hindutva” word because that has been clearly branded as a communal word. I
strongly contest this. Here is my take
a)
The western world (who we acknowledge as secular
democracies) – be it US or Canada or UK, are all Christian states. They support
all religions and they allow all religions to flourish, but they are clear
about their roots. There are hardly any communal riots in the US. There are
instead more communal riots in Pakistan where Shias are murdered in hundreds
every year. Why is it wrong for an Indian to acknowledge that long before we
had our Christian, Muslim and other brothers stay with us, the land was practicing
the Vedic religion? Why is that so hard to believe? There is today
archaeological evidence of this.
But no – the media will never allow such topics to
even be discussed
b)
Aryan invasion theory is now gone to dust. It
has also been clearly established through DNA analysis that all Indians have a
particular DNA strain. Why is this not mentioned at all in the media?
The moment this calling everyone as “Hindustanis” or “Bharatvanshis”
is called for, media brands us as communal forces
Take this data point for a minute - at the time of independence there were close to 20% Hindus in both Pakistan and Bangladesh and about 10% Muslims in India. Today, there are 2% and 7% Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh whereas there are over 15% Muslims in India (probably a lot more as latest census data has not revealed the religious mix, this is based on 2001 census)
This goes to show who is secular and who is not.
There is nothing wrong in proudly
declaring that I am a Hindu. I am NOT COMMUNAL if I do so. There are Sikhs, Christians
and Muslims who I am proud to have known. Nevertheless, I am an Indian and I am
a Hindu and I will not let my religion be exploited at the cost of pseudo-secularism.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Raavanan
Saw the movie yesterday (had an early getaway from office citing my birthday as reason) in Tamil.
I can see why people dont like the hindi version. I did not like the tamil version either. A big dissappointment from Mani.
What rocked
1) Exotic locales. I loved the shot where there is a huge statue of Vishnu in the middle of a river and Aishu is praying to give her strength...
2) Beautiful cameramanship
3) Aishu - old but still gold
4) Music was good
What sucked
1) There is a lot of buildup for the Raavanan character - but there is no back up in it
2) The completely goofed up attempt to link this to Ramayana
3) All the monkey noises, dandanaa dan nonsense and characters behaving like a gorilla half the time
4) Mani always has a wierd sense of the setting - which I personally hate. Some may like it. It is either a dark room with just a zero watt bulb (anjali, iruvar, mouna ragam) or it rains a lot throughout the movie (raavanan, nayagan) .
5) There were no gripping dialogues
6) There was not a single moment where I sat at the edge of my seat
Casting I liked
1) Aish
2) Prithviraj
3) Priyaaaaaaaaaaa
Casting I hated
1) Karthik
2) Prabhu - he gave the cameramen the real challenge of keeping him within the frame
3) Vaiyyapuri - why is he an Ali?
Anyways - dont waste your money. Watch it in Sun TV after 2 months
I can see why people dont like the hindi version. I did not like the tamil version either. A big dissappointment from Mani.
What rocked
1) Exotic locales. I loved the shot where there is a huge statue of Vishnu in the middle of a river and Aishu is praying to give her strength...
2) Beautiful cameramanship
3) Aishu - old but still gold
4) Music was good
What sucked
1) There is a lot of buildup for the Raavanan character - but there is no back up in it
2) The completely goofed up attempt to link this to Ramayana
3) All the monkey noises, dandanaa dan nonsense and characters behaving like a gorilla half the time
4) Mani always has a wierd sense of the setting - which I personally hate. Some may like it. It is either a dark room with just a zero watt bulb (anjali, iruvar, mouna ragam) or it rains a lot throughout the movie (raavanan, nayagan) .
5) There were no gripping dialogues
6) There was not a single moment where I sat at the edge of my seat
Casting I liked
1) Aish
2) Prithviraj
3) Priyaaaaaaaaaaa
Casting I hated
1) Karthik
2) Prabhu - he gave the cameramen the real challenge of keeping him within the frame
3) Vaiyyapuri - why is he an Ali?
Anyways - dont waste your money. Watch it in Sun TV after 2 months
Friday, June 18, 2010
Why dont you start a company of your own?
Have you ever been asked this question? Have you ever wondered yourself about this question?
To be frank, I have.
And the answer I get is the same as "Why dont I become a zoologist?" or "Why dont I become a cricketer?"
I am not entirely convinced that that is what I want to be doing.
I am not saying that I wont start a company of my own - all I am saying is that I dont know if I will, I dont know when and I dont know how. The things that are needed for me to be an entrepreneur (whatever they may be) havent yet taken place in my life.
I am yet to get an idea that excites me. I am yet to get the inspiration to act on an idea. I am yet to get enough guts to start doing something on my own. And last but not the least - I am still not convinced why "entrepreneurship" is the right option for me. Heck, I am an MBA and I dont even know how that degree is going to help me yet.
But all of this apart,
What I dont understand is, why do people give entrepreneurship such a high regard?
I hear sentences like
1) Entrepreneurs control their life and they have a complete rein over what they want to do (they can come to office when they want to, go when the want to, do what they want etc)
2) Entrepreneurs are wealthy
3) Entrepreneurs can hire anyone
4) Entrepreneurs are famous
Well, I do agree that Entrepreneurship is an exciting career option and many at some point of time in their career have always wanted to have a company of their own. It has been like this little dream in almost everybodys heart to own their own company and provide job opportunities. But that doesnt mean that Entrepreneurship is the end all of life. If you are not an entrepreneur then so be it. There are so many professions out there - and each come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. There is no one career option that can be "best". The "best" career option is the one where you are enjoying your work. Thats it.
If by chance - your career and your passion match - then you can consider yourself lucky. If per chance - you happen to enjoy painting - but are a software developer - then you can always paint in your spare time - but be a developer for your living.
Entrepreneurship has its own advantages, namely
1) The feeling of self satisfaction
2) Best possible way of getting paid what you are actually worth
3) Its a service - you provide job opportunity to so many
4) Fame. A lot of people look up to you
But it comes with its baggage
1) Risk Factors. Competition, changing technology, changing needs etc. Any of these can put an end to the business.
2) Ability to spend time for personal life
3) Stress
4) Success Factors are low in many cases
The above mentioned are hard aspects. But there is one very critical baggage which this career option brings - which is
With success in entrepreneurship comes the difficulty in managing success. There is nothing that people like to see - more than to see someone high up - fall down. You always want Australia to lose a cricket match. You always prefer a Tata to a Reliance group. You always prefer an AR Rahman to any other musician. You prefer Tendulkar to Ponting. You prefer a Narayanamurthy to Azim Premji. You prefer a Kalam to any other politician.
Why?
The way these companies, teams, individuals manage success.
With success in entrepreneurship - comes the great responsibility of managing it right.
People always love to hear a scandal more than anything and it is human nature. A simple mistake on part of an entrepreneur is enough to put at risk the personal and professional relations.
Some qualities which look bad on a CEO or Entrepreneur are
1) Arrogance
2) Negligence
3) Disrespect for others
4) Show of wealth/power/fame
I am not saying that they would impact the CEO personally. It is just that others love to see such persons fail - and it is always not a good feeling to have for a CEO.
People always love a Warren Buffet to a Richard Branson.
Both are successful. But I enjoy to see Buffet successful while I think "man - God has been kind to this Branson"
What I think does not matter to Branson. But I would personally want to be a Buffet and not a Branson.
To be frank, I have.
And the answer I get is the same as "Why dont I become a zoologist?" or "Why dont I become a cricketer?"
I am not entirely convinced that that is what I want to be doing.
I am not saying that I wont start a company of my own - all I am saying is that I dont know if I will, I dont know when and I dont know how. The things that are needed for me to be an entrepreneur (whatever they may be) havent yet taken place in my life.
I am yet to get an idea that excites me. I am yet to get the inspiration to act on an idea. I am yet to get enough guts to start doing something on my own. And last but not the least - I am still not convinced why "entrepreneurship" is the right option for me. Heck, I am an MBA and I dont even know how that degree is going to help me yet.
But all of this apart,
What I dont understand is, why do people give entrepreneurship such a high regard?
I hear sentences like
1) Entrepreneurs control their life and they have a complete rein over what they want to do (they can come to office when they want to, go when the want to, do what they want etc)
2) Entrepreneurs are wealthy
3) Entrepreneurs can hire anyone
4) Entrepreneurs are famous
Well, I do agree that Entrepreneurship is an exciting career option and many at some point of time in their career have always wanted to have a company of their own. It has been like this little dream in almost everybodys heart to own their own company and provide job opportunities. But that doesnt mean that Entrepreneurship is the end all of life. If you are not an entrepreneur then so be it. There are so many professions out there - and each come with their own set of advantages and disadvantages. There is no one career option that can be "best". The "best" career option is the one where you are enjoying your work. Thats it.
If by chance - your career and your passion match - then you can consider yourself lucky. If per chance - you happen to enjoy painting - but are a software developer - then you can always paint in your spare time - but be a developer for your living.
Entrepreneurship has its own advantages, namely
1) The feeling of self satisfaction
2) Best possible way of getting paid what you are actually worth
3) Its a service - you provide job opportunity to so many
4) Fame. A lot of people look up to you
But it comes with its baggage
1) Risk Factors. Competition, changing technology, changing needs etc. Any of these can put an end to the business.
2) Ability to spend time for personal life
3) Stress
4) Success Factors are low in many cases
The above mentioned are hard aspects. But there is one very critical baggage which this career option brings - which is
With success in entrepreneurship comes the difficulty in managing success. There is nothing that people like to see - more than to see someone high up - fall down. You always want Australia to lose a cricket match. You always prefer a Tata to a Reliance group. You always prefer an AR Rahman to any other musician. You prefer Tendulkar to Ponting. You prefer a Narayanamurthy to Azim Premji. You prefer a Kalam to any other politician.
Why?
The way these companies, teams, individuals manage success.
With success in entrepreneurship - comes the great responsibility of managing it right.
People always love to hear a scandal more than anything and it is human nature. A simple mistake on part of an entrepreneur is enough to put at risk the personal and professional relations.
Some qualities which look bad on a CEO or Entrepreneur are
1) Arrogance
2) Negligence
3) Disrespect for others
4) Show of wealth/power/fame
I am not saying that they would impact the CEO personally. It is just that others love to see such persons fail - and it is always not a good feeling to have for a CEO.
People always love a Warren Buffet to a Richard Branson.
Both are successful. But I enjoy to see Buffet successful while I think "man - God has been kind to this Branson"
What I think does not matter to Branson. But I would personally want to be a Buffet and not a Branson.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
World of Warcraft
This amazing game from Blizzard has me hooked for the past few months.
This article might not really make sense to many of you ... but for those of you to who it does - heres some of my learnings from the game
Call this my own personal WOW Guide if you may....
I have levelled up a hunter to level 80 and a priest to level 77 as I write this article - and I also have a few mid level characters....and here are my general do's and donts for the game
So here goes....
Game Aids
1) Please get the relevant addons for the game...especially get yourself Questhelper and Auctioneer addons. These are quite useful and you can do so much better with these addons
2) Get a wide screen monitor - the game experience is really much better the bigger your screen. Believe me. I had used a small monitor before and now I use a big one and I love it...
3) I play in Windowed mode. That way - I know if someone pings me in Gtalk or something while I play :). Choose your preference! Some like their screens filled up...but I like it this way
Gold Making
I dont consider myself a great gold maker in WoW or something - but there are some fundamental things you can do - to make gold in WoW. Some of these are very simple things which anyone will know once they play the game for sometime
1) First and foremost thing you want to do - is to forget all those stupid crafting professions. I mean all of them. ALL OF THEM.
Be a miner/skinner or herb gatherer at the starting levels. This is especially true for your first character in a realm/faction.
However tempted you may be to roll a leatherworking profession since you are a hunter or an engineering profession to get that cool bike ride - it is not worth it.
Crafting professions give you value (if at all) only VERY VERY VERY late in the game - and that too - the value can always be purchased. For levelling up your leatherworking from say 1-450 you will easily spend a hell of a lot of money and time which can easily be spent gathering stuff and making money.
Take my case - my leatherworking is now at 441 (my character can bee seen here)
Even with skinning as my primary profesion - I still need Artic Furs, Primal Fire/Water/Shadow etc. / and Orbs and what not - in order to level - and not a single crafted item that I am wearing is made by me.
I never even found anything worth selling - maybe a few armor kits here and there - and a few of the items which are used by disenchanters. Hardly worth the effort I put into L/W. End of the day - it did not make me money and it did not make me anything worth wearing.
Had I taken a mining profession - I would be riding an epic mount by now and still had the same gear I am wearing.
The highest gear items - are almost 90% available only on 10/25 man dungeons in PVE and by playing Arenas for PVP. You dont craft them. So what is the point of a crafting profession?
This is seriously an area where I See that Blizzard needs to add more value for people to actually make value from taking a crafting profession.
So - be a miner/skinner/herba.
Personal preference would be miner/skinner or herba/skinner (you hunt animals often you might as well skin them and since ores share the minimap with herbs - you dont usually get too many of them anyways)
Sell any crap you mine/herb/skin and you are easily making money in no time. I started a character with these professions now and I am comfortably making good money even in level 20.
If at all you choose not to listen to my advice and want to roll a crafting profession - be a Tailor. Netherweave Bags are a good source of money and later Frostweave bags. My other character is making good money off of tailoring.
Thus far Enchanting hasnt made much money for me - maybe I am just not spending enough time Disenchanting to make money. I need to investigate.
But if there were any advice I were to give on Gold making - it would be roll a gathering profession. No matter how high a level you reach - you can always use the gold.
2) My second tip on gold making is the Auction house. There are some simple rules in auction house
a) Sell what people want -
nobody wants a stupid Green item (except maybe enchanters) which is priced above 4G. You get better items in a random dungeon run
nobody wants a 6 or 8 or 14 slot bags...they want what they cant buy off the vendor.
nobody wants vendor trash - so dont sell it
Money is almost 80% of the time to be made off items which are "Raw Materials" to a profession/item. It is very rarely to be made of Actual items. Learn to identify raw mats
Stop making frostweave bandages after you hit level 80. The frostweave cloth in my realm sells 4G a stack - you are better off selling it than making bandages
b) Sell competitively - just because somoeone just put up a frostweave bag for 10G a piece - does not mean you have to jump on it and sell it at 9 G. Wait for the item to get sold and then resell in the market price. Patience is a virtue. Some noob idiots will always sell stuff at a value much less than what an item is worth. Dont waste your time and energy trying to undercut noobs. It is not worth it.
c) When you undercut someone - undercut sensibly
If the cheapest price in AH is currently 10G 99S 99C for an item, you only need to price it at
10G 99S and 98C to undercut him/her
Dont be a noob and take the price to 9G...that is just plain silly. Not only are you losing 1G 99S 98C but you are in effect bringing the market itself down drastically
3) The third tip to gold making is to farm
a) Farm for fish - there is a lot of money to be had by selling raw fish in the market. Whenever you are just plain bored to do anything else - go fish yourself to money. It doesnt matter which level you are. You can always fish and sell what you catch.
b) Farm for leather - a good place is Gundrak Raptors near Zuldrak - they give you 2-3 Borean leathers a kill. I cant think of any other place where you can get 2-3 Borean leathers in 1 kill. In an hour I create 200 Borean leather which is roughly 40 Heavy Borean Leather - each of which is easily worth 8-10G - which is 300-400 gold per hour
c) Farm for Emblems - you can convert them into Orbs which sell for good money in the AH.
4) (applicable to level 80s - who can easily get a lot of Emblems of Triumphs)
4) Dailies - Especially once you are level 80. They give you 13G and 23S per daily. You can do 25 of those. Argent tournament grounds and areas in Icecrown (shadow vault) have dailies which can all be finished in 1-2 hours and would fetch 13G 23S per quest and you can do 25 of those every 1-2 hours. This is easily 331 G in just the quest reward - plus you get to loot the corpses which would separately yield another 100-200G worth of items and you get to skin the kill sometimes, not to mention the occassionaly mining/gathering which you do in the process (if you are a miner). This is one of the fastest ways to earn money in the game.
5) Be Sensible.
Yes.
Be Sensible.
You dont need a heavily overpriced gun in the AH - which would cost you 10G and you are in your level 10 - just entering the WSG battles . You are much better of saving that money for your first mount. Remember the epic flying mount and Artisan Riding skill - they take a ton of gold. Also - you need to save for your skill learning/profession levelling/travel/repair etc.
Resist the urge to make unnecessary purchases in the AH.
A simple rule of thumb you can use is - never make a purchase which is than XX% your bank balance (until you are level 80 or are making the purchase because you ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY MUST) and you should be fine.
You can decide the XX suitable for you. I would recommend 20-30%.
Social Tips
1) Please learn to be polite. It is very important that you are polite to people. Dont go shouting "noob &£$% idiot" if someone accidentally does not heal you - or you die because of a fault in a dungeon group.
Everyone makes a mistake.
This is just a game. Its not as if you got really killed or something. You can always respawn and get back into the game
2) If you are a Tank/Healer in a dungeon group - it is very important you dont just ditch the group because you got a stupid dungeon or because the group is not keeping pace with you. DPSers are easy to find. But not a tank or a healer. So before you roll as a Tank/Healer - think about if you are serious about doing a dungeon - or if you might go for a bathroom break and not come back.
3) Always inform the group the buffs you need when you need
4) Watch for mana breaks (mb) and dont just keep running and killing everything in a dungeon
5) Dont "Need" when you dont "Need" an item
6) To sum up - just dont be a jerk and dont show off.
Gear
1) maxdps.com is a good site. Use it to identify the right gear
2) Gearscore addon is quite good. Use that as well.
3) The path to a good gear needs patience. I would suggest you start off with the 5 man dungeons and slowly move to 10-25 man once the gearscore is decent (say 4K + )
4) Join a good raiding guild and take part in the weeklies
5) End of the day it is just Gear and Skill which matter in WoW. Gear is something you surely can improve quite easily and you better work on it.
6) Make sure you Enchant/Socket and use all your Glyphs when you have the money to do so. Currently my characters lack the enchants - and I am still working on it - (not sure if I want to enchant tier 9 gear or want to wait to get to tier 10 and enchant it once and for all)
Seasonal Contests
1) Take part in the seasonal games and also on the Fishing tournaments. Some of the items they reward like the Darkmoon cards/the ring from the Kaluak fishing etc. are very useful items to win.
2) Easy money and easy way to gain levels as well.
PVP
1) PVP is different from PVE. Learn the essential differences.
The most critical one would be your gear changes. You need more +sta and +resilience items in a PVP scenario - as it is more important that you live first. Only if you live you can tank/heal/dps.
2) In a PVP scenario - be realistic. Dont try to be a hero. If you are Horde, dont think you can take on 5 allys of the same level as you.
You can't. Period.
Go in groups in Battlegrounds. Unity is strength. You go alone - and you will soon spawn in the nearest graveyard.
I am not saying be a coward. All I am saying is it is better to live and win another day than to die brave and lose the bg.
There are no honor points for dying bravely in battle. You will only be sitting and doing nothing.
3) If you are in a flag carrying scenario (EOTS or WSG) - allow a player well equipped to carry it - if it is possible. A well equipped player is - ideally a druid who can shapeshift and run quickly or a tank who can take tremendous punishment before dying or a mage who can teleport quickly. If you are a hunter/priest/lock/rogue etc. it is maybe better of if you wait unless you have a very good idea of what you plan to do.
If you are a priest - and you do take the flag - keep your shield up all the time - and cast dispersion/use trinket wisely to get out of a stun/lock situation
If you are a hunter - use the Mark of Wild to give you boost to run speed and cast deterrence at the right time
Locks/Rogues - Try to stay away from flag as much as possible
4) If you are a caster - behave like one.
You strength is in staying away and causing damage. Dont be a fool and run into the enemy.
5) If you are a tank/melee - dont waste any time getting to the squishies
Rogues - Please learn to stealth well...that is the key to your success
6) In an Arathi basin - dont keep turtling. The moment you have 3 bases - stick to it unless absolutely necessary. Defend wherever you are and dont keep running up and down. A win gives more honor than you killing a lot of them and losing.
7) In WSG - once you pick up the flag - be sensible. Keep your allies close. And take your time to reach your base. You dont get brownie points for running back with the flag within 2 minutes (unless you are aiming for the 3-0 achievement in 7 minutes). Take your time. Find where your allies are. Choose the right path to run. Use the boosts within the small huts outside the tunnels. Get the fast move boost if possible. But most of all - dont just keep running. It is better to sometime stay back fight and then run.
Example - a level 71 hunter is attacking you and you are a level 78 pally. Take your time. Go kill the hunter. Then start running. If you keep running - you will keep losing HP. It is better to sometimes just fight and get it over with and then run.
8) In EOTS - Towers are more important than the flag. 3 towers al the time - and you win. You dont need any flag. First make sure you have 2 each defending a tower and only then go to the center.
10) In SOA - take out the tanks and machines. Concentrate more on them than on the players
PVE
1) In PVE - you need to have the gear which matches with what you are trying to do. A dps does not need a +sta or +resi at the cost of AP/Crit chance
2) PVE - dont pull the crowd which you cannot handle.
3) Learn what to do in different dungeons - this only comes with experience. But more importantly - if someone does not know what is the tactic - either educate him./her or be patient with them. Remember - there was once a time when you were new to the dungeon and someone else was patient with your "noob"ness
Levelling
1) In order to level quickly there are some basic rules
Always - pick all quests in a particular area and finish them. dont take 1 quest in Grizzly hills, 1 in borean tundra, 1 in crystalsong forest and 1 in icecrown and keep running up and down. Take 8 quests in same area and do it all in 1 go
2) Use questhelper
3) Always level in a region where the quests are closer to your level (quest color in the quest log should atleast be yellow). Abandon quests which have become grey/green
4) I have found dungeons to be one of the fastest ways to level. Always queue up for a dungeon and spend most of your time levelling in dungeons - they give good items/money and levels
5) Keep an alt for banking/selling/storage - and mail all items to the alt (or mule). Dont waste time running back and forth from Dalaran to Ogrimmar just to sell some stuff in AH
6) Remember to go to Outland/Northrend as soon as you hit level 58/68. Dont waste your time in Kalimdor/Eastern Kingdom doing nonsense runs which give you half the experience and practically useless items as compared to that in Outland/Northrend.
End of the day - remember. It is just a game. Enjoy it. Bring your friends to it. But always remember to spend enough time outside of it!
Cheers
cb
This article might not really make sense to many of you ... but for those of you to who it does - heres some of my learnings from the game
Call this my own personal WOW Guide if you may....
I have levelled up a hunter to level 80 and a priest to level 77 as I write this article - and I also have a few mid level characters....and here are my general do's and donts for the game
So here goes....
Game Aids
1) Please get the relevant addons for the game...especially get yourself Questhelper and Auctioneer addons. These are quite useful and you can do so much better with these addons
2) Get a wide screen monitor - the game experience is really much better the bigger your screen. Believe me. I had used a small monitor before and now I use a big one and I love it...
3) I play in Windowed mode. That way - I know if someone pings me in Gtalk or something while I play :). Choose your preference! Some like their screens filled up...but I like it this way
Gold Making
I dont consider myself a great gold maker in WoW or something - but there are some fundamental things you can do - to make gold in WoW. Some of these are very simple things which anyone will know once they play the game for sometime
1) First and foremost thing you want to do - is to forget all those stupid crafting professions. I mean all of them. ALL OF THEM.
Be a miner/skinner or herb gatherer at the starting levels. This is especially true for your first character in a realm/faction.
However tempted you may be to roll a leatherworking profession since you are a hunter or an engineering profession to get that cool bike ride - it is not worth it.
Crafting professions give you value (if at all) only VERY VERY VERY late in the game - and that too - the value can always be purchased. For levelling up your leatherworking from say 1-450 you will easily spend a hell of a lot of money and time which can easily be spent gathering stuff and making money.
Take my case - my leatherworking is now at 441 (my character can bee seen here)
Even with skinning as my primary profesion - I still need Artic Furs, Primal Fire/Water/Shadow etc. / and Orbs and what not - in order to level - and not a single crafted item that I am wearing is made by me.
I never even found anything worth selling - maybe a few armor kits here and there - and a few of the items which are used by disenchanters. Hardly worth the effort I put into L/W. End of the day - it did not make me money and it did not make me anything worth wearing.
Had I taken a mining profession - I would be riding an epic mount by now and still had the same gear I am wearing.
The highest gear items - are almost 90% available only on 10/25 man dungeons in PVE and by playing Arenas for PVP. You dont craft them. So what is the point of a crafting profession?
This is seriously an area where I See that Blizzard needs to add more value for people to actually make value from taking a crafting profession.
So - be a miner/skinner/herba.
Personal preference would be miner/skinner or herba/skinner (you hunt animals often you might as well skin them and since ores share the minimap with herbs - you dont usually get too many of them anyways)
Sell any crap you mine/herb/skin and you are easily making money in no time. I started a character with these professions now and I am comfortably making good money even in level 20.
If at all you choose not to listen to my advice and want to roll a crafting profession - be a Tailor. Netherweave Bags are a good source of money and later Frostweave bags. My other character is making good money off of tailoring.
Thus far Enchanting hasnt made much money for me - maybe I am just not spending enough time Disenchanting to make money. I need to investigate.
But if there were any advice I were to give on Gold making - it would be roll a gathering profession. No matter how high a level you reach - you can always use the gold.
2) My second tip on gold making is the Auction house. There are some simple rules in auction house
a) Sell what people want -
nobody wants a stupid Green item (except maybe enchanters) which is priced above 4G. You get better items in a random dungeon run
nobody wants a 6 or 8 or 14 slot bags...they want what they cant buy off the vendor.
nobody wants vendor trash - so dont sell it
Money is almost 80% of the time to be made off items which are "Raw Materials" to a profession/item. It is very rarely to be made of Actual items. Learn to identify raw mats
Stop making frostweave bandages after you hit level 80. The frostweave cloth in my realm sells 4G a stack - you are better off selling it than making bandages
b) Sell competitively - just because somoeone just put up a frostweave bag for 10G a piece - does not mean you have to jump on it and sell it at 9 G. Wait for the item to get sold and then resell in the market price. Patience is a virtue. Some noob idiots will always sell stuff at a value much less than what an item is worth. Dont waste your time and energy trying to undercut noobs. It is not worth it.
c) When you undercut someone - undercut sensibly
If the cheapest price in AH is currently 10G 99S 99C for an item, you only need to price it at
10G 99S and 98C to undercut him/her
Dont be a noob and take the price to 9G...that is just plain silly. Not only are you losing 1G 99S 98C but you are in effect bringing the market itself down drastically
3) The third tip to gold making is to farm
a) Farm for fish - there is a lot of money to be had by selling raw fish in the market. Whenever you are just plain bored to do anything else - go fish yourself to money. It doesnt matter which level you are. You can always fish and sell what you catch.
b) Farm for leather - a good place is Gundrak Raptors near Zuldrak - they give you 2-3 Borean leathers a kill. I cant think of any other place where you can get 2-3 Borean leathers in 1 kill. In an hour I create 200 Borean leather which is roughly 40 Heavy Borean Leather - each of which is easily worth 8-10G - which is 300-400 gold per hour
c) Farm for Emblems - you can convert them into Orbs which sell for good money in the AH.
4) (applicable to level 80s - who can easily get a lot of Emblems of Triumphs)
4) Dailies - Especially once you are level 80. They give you 13G and 23S per daily. You can do 25 of those. Argent tournament grounds and areas in Icecrown (shadow vault) have dailies which can all be finished in 1-2 hours and would fetch 13G 23S per quest and you can do 25 of those every 1-2 hours. This is easily 331 G in just the quest reward - plus you get to loot the corpses which would separately yield another 100-200G worth of items and you get to skin the kill sometimes, not to mention the occassionaly mining/gathering which you do in the process (if you are a miner). This is one of the fastest ways to earn money in the game.
5) Be Sensible.
Yes.
Be Sensible.
You dont need a heavily overpriced gun in the AH - which would cost you 10G and you are in your level 10 - just entering the WSG battles . You are much better of saving that money for your first mount. Remember the epic flying mount and Artisan Riding skill - they take a ton of gold. Also - you need to save for your skill learning/profession levelling/travel/repair etc.
Resist the urge to make unnecessary purchases in the AH.
A simple rule of thumb you can use is - never make a purchase which is than XX% your bank balance (until you are level 80 or are making the purchase because you ABSOLUTELY ABSOLUTELY MUST) and you should be fine.
You can decide the XX suitable for you. I would recommend 20-30%.
Social Tips
1) Please learn to be polite. It is very important that you are polite to people. Dont go shouting "noob &£$% idiot" if someone accidentally does not heal you - or you die because of a fault in a dungeon group.
Everyone makes a mistake.
This is just a game. Its not as if you got really killed or something. You can always respawn and get back into the game
2) If you are a Tank/Healer in a dungeon group - it is very important you dont just ditch the group because you got a stupid dungeon or because the group is not keeping pace with you. DPSers are easy to find. But not a tank or a healer. So before you roll as a Tank/Healer - think about if you are serious about doing a dungeon - or if you might go for a bathroom break and not come back.
3) Always inform the group the buffs you need when you need
4) Watch for mana breaks (mb) and dont just keep running and killing everything in a dungeon
5) Dont "Need" when you dont "Need" an item
6) To sum up - just dont be a jerk and dont show off.
Gear
1) maxdps.com is a good site. Use it to identify the right gear
2) Gearscore addon is quite good. Use that as well.
3) The path to a good gear needs patience. I would suggest you start off with the 5 man dungeons and slowly move to 10-25 man once the gearscore is decent (say 4K + )
4) Join a good raiding guild and take part in the weeklies
5) End of the day it is just Gear and Skill which matter in WoW. Gear is something you surely can improve quite easily and you better work on it.
6) Make sure you Enchant/Socket and use all your Glyphs when you have the money to do so. Currently my characters lack the enchants - and I am still working on it - (not sure if I want to enchant tier 9 gear or want to wait to get to tier 10 and enchant it once and for all)
Seasonal Contests
1) Take part in the seasonal games and also on the Fishing tournaments. Some of the items they reward like the Darkmoon cards/the ring from the Kaluak fishing etc. are very useful items to win.
2) Easy money and easy way to gain levels as well.
PVP
1) PVP is different from PVE. Learn the essential differences.
The most critical one would be your gear changes. You need more +sta and +resilience items in a PVP scenario - as it is more important that you live first. Only if you live you can tank/heal/dps.
2) In a PVP scenario - be realistic. Dont try to be a hero. If you are Horde, dont think you can take on 5 allys of the same level as you.
You can't. Period.
Go in groups in Battlegrounds. Unity is strength. You go alone - and you will soon spawn in the nearest graveyard.
I am not saying be a coward. All I am saying is it is better to live and win another day than to die brave and lose the bg.
There are no honor points for dying bravely in battle. You will only be sitting and doing nothing.
3) If you are in a flag carrying scenario (EOTS or WSG) - allow a player well equipped to carry it - if it is possible. A well equipped player is - ideally a druid who can shapeshift and run quickly or a tank who can take tremendous punishment before dying or a mage who can teleport quickly. If you are a hunter/priest/lock/rogue etc. it is maybe better of if you wait unless you have a very good idea of what you plan to do.
If you are a priest - and you do take the flag - keep your shield up all the time - and cast dispersion/use trinket wisely to get out of a stun/lock situation
If you are a hunter - use the Mark of Wild to give you boost to run speed and cast deterrence at the right time
Locks/Rogues - Try to stay away from flag as much as possible
4) If you are a caster - behave like one.
You strength is in staying away and causing damage. Dont be a fool and run into the enemy.
5) If you are a tank/melee - dont waste any time getting to the squishies
Rogues - Please learn to stealth well...that is the key to your success
6) In an Arathi basin - dont keep turtling. The moment you have 3 bases - stick to it unless absolutely necessary. Defend wherever you are and dont keep running up and down. A win gives more honor than you killing a lot of them and losing.
7) In WSG - once you pick up the flag - be sensible. Keep your allies close. And take your time to reach your base. You dont get brownie points for running back with the flag within 2 minutes (unless you are aiming for the 3-0 achievement in 7 minutes). Take your time. Find where your allies are. Choose the right path to run. Use the boosts within the small huts outside the tunnels. Get the fast move boost if possible. But most of all - dont just keep running. It is better to sometime stay back fight and then run.
Example - a level 71 hunter is attacking you and you are a level 78 pally. Take your time. Go kill the hunter. Then start running. If you keep running - you will keep losing HP. It is better to sometimes just fight and get it over with and then run.
8) In EOTS - Towers are more important than the flag. 3 towers al the time - and you win. You dont need any flag. First make sure you have 2 each defending a tower and only then go to the center.
10) In SOA - take out the tanks and machines. Concentrate more on them than on the players
PVE
1) In PVE - you need to have the gear which matches with what you are trying to do. A dps does not need a +sta or +resi at the cost of AP/Crit chance
2) PVE - dont pull the crowd which you cannot handle.
3) Learn what to do in different dungeons - this only comes with experience. But more importantly - if someone does not know what is the tactic - either educate him./her or be patient with them. Remember - there was once a time when you were new to the dungeon and someone else was patient with your "noob"ness
Levelling
1) In order to level quickly there are some basic rules
Always - pick all quests in a particular area and finish them. dont take 1 quest in Grizzly hills, 1 in borean tundra, 1 in crystalsong forest and 1 in icecrown and keep running up and down. Take 8 quests in same area and do it all in 1 go
2) Use questhelper
3) Always level in a region where the quests are closer to your level (quest color in the quest log should atleast be yellow). Abandon quests which have become grey/green
4) I have found dungeons to be one of the fastest ways to level. Always queue up for a dungeon and spend most of your time levelling in dungeons - they give good items/money and levels
5) Keep an alt for banking/selling/storage - and mail all items to the alt (or mule). Dont waste time running back and forth from Dalaran to Ogrimmar just to sell some stuff in AH
6) Remember to go to Outland/Northrend as soon as you hit level 58/68. Dont waste your time in Kalimdor/Eastern Kingdom doing nonsense runs which give you half the experience and practically useless items as compared to that in Outland/Northrend.
End of the day - remember. It is just a game. Enjoy it. Bring your friends to it. But always remember to spend enough time outside of it!
Cheers
cb
Monday, July 20, 2009
Why we like or dislike a movie?
I gave a very bad review to the Tamil movie "Achchamundu Achchamundu" and subsequently got spit on by 2 anonymous users of the internet who thought the movie was good. Their comments actually got me wondering as to why is it that sometimes we like a movie and sometimes we do not.
Many a times we find that a movie has received rave reviews and we rush to the theatres but we end up hating the movie. At other times we read dumb movie reviews and then find that the movie was really good.
In fact, the tamil movie which I mentioned in the below post - on hind sight - was not very bad. It is just that I was expecting a "thriller" - one which keeps me on the edge of my seat at all times - but the movie did not do that - and subsequently I failed to see some of the good aspects of the movie - such as , no thoppulla pambaram stuff, very naturally taken movie, atleast some concept which is not again and again based on puppy love, no "there has to be 5 song sequences and hence I am force fitting a dream song when the hero sees the heroine for the first time" nonsense etc. Movie was actually a matured, soft and easy on the brain one.
It was then that I realized that a movie gets a bad/good review based on the expectation you had from the movie before you saw it. If a lot of people say it is a "great" movie, then your expectation is already raised. So if the movie is not downright legendarily awesome, you think "Ah well..it was ok". However, the moment someone gives a movie a bad review and then you watch it , your expectations are already lowered, and then you find that the movie was "ok", but then its all relative. From a bad -> ok, you tend to think that the movie was actually good.
This has happened to me many a times. I saw this movie "Thenkasipattanam" in tamizh. First time I saw it I laughed so hard, saliva came out of my nose. I recommended it strongly to all my family members, relatives etc. I gave such rave reviews which made them think it was the best movie ever. But after they saw the movie they literally scolded me. They were sorely disappointed :(...
I guess it is because I had raised their expectation so much - that the movie sucked.
I guess, in order to enjoy/appreciate a movie with the right spirit, one should go and watch the movie first and then read the reviews next and then compare and contrast. The moment we read some review, there is a chance we get biased.
That apart, another reason why we sometimes like or dislike a movie is because we might not be in the right mood to appreciate it. If you watch it after a tough day at office, or when you are really sad about something, or when you are busy thinking about something else, even a "Titanic" would seem worser than "Thali Katha Kali Amman". However, when you are in the right mood, and watching a movie with the right crowd, even a "Yarukku Yar Stepni" will seem like "Michael Madana Kama Rajan"...
So there it goes, ... the perception of a movie is largely dependant on
1) Expectation
2) Mood
That said -> in spite of the expectation/mood - a movie has to also be good :)...a director cannot simply get away with a movie like "Boom" or "Kambakht Ishq" hoping for all the audience to come with a bad expectation and great mood. :)...
Until the next post
ciao
yours truly
Many a times we find that a movie has received rave reviews and we rush to the theatres but we end up hating the movie. At other times we read dumb movie reviews and then find that the movie was really good.
In fact, the tamil movie which I mentioned in the below post - on hind sight - was not very bad. It is just that I was expecting a "thriller" - one which keeps me on the edge of my seat at all times - but the movie did not do that - and subsequently I failed to see some of the good aspects of the movie - such as , no thoppulla pambaram stuff, very naturally taken movie, atleast some concept which is not again and again based on puppy love, no "there has to be 5 song sequences and hence I am force fitting a dream song when the hero sees the heroine for the first time" nonsense etc. Movie was actually a matured, soft and easy on the brain one.
It was then that I realized that a movie gets a bad/good review based on the expectation you had from the movie before you saw it. If a lot of people say it is a "great" movie, then your expectation is already raised. So if the movie is not downright legendarily awesome, you think "Ah well..it was ok". However, the moment someone gives a movie a bad review and then you watch it , your expectations are already lowered, and then you find that the movie was "ok", but then its all relative. From a bad -> ok, you tend to think that the movie was actually good.
This has happened to me many a times. I saw this movie "Thenkasipattanam" in tamizh. First time I saw it I laughed so hard, saliva came out of my nose. I recommended it strongly to all my family members, relatives etc. I gave such rave reviews which made them think it was the best movie ever. But after they saw the movie they literally scolded me. They were sorely disappointed :(...
I guess it is because I had raised their expectation so much - that the movie sucked.
I guess, in order to enjoy/appreciate a movie with the right spirit, one should go and watch the movie first and then read the reviews next and then compare and contrast. The moment we read some review, there is a chance we get biased.
That apart, another reason why we sometimes like or dislike a movie is because we might not be in the right mood to appreciate it. If you watch it after a tough day at office, or when you are really sad about something, or when you are busy thinking about something else, even a "Titanic" would seem worser than "Thali Katha Kali Amman". However, when you are in the right mood, and watching a movie with the right crowd, even a "Yarukku Yar Stepni" will seem like "Michael Madana Kama Rajan"...
So there it goes, ... the perception of a movie is largely dependant on
1) Expectation
2) Mood
That said -> in spite of the expectation/mood - a movie has to also be good :)...a director cannot simply get away with a movie like "Boom" or "Kambakht Ishq" hoping for all the audience to come with a bad expectation and great mood. :)...
Until the next post
ciao
yours truly
Sunday, July 05, 2009
A story that touched me
I had a visual treat on Friday evening when one of our office colleagues performed for us. He works in the HR Department of our company and he takes care of giving us our payslips. He is very calm and cheerful person and the last man you expect to possess the talent that he displayed to us.
He broke 10 bricks set on fire with his bare hands and he broke an ice slab with his head. When I went to congratulate him on what he did, he said that it was all childs play for him and that he wanted to give a much more grander performance. He has had a tempo traveller and a bus run over him and cause not even a scratch.
While he is a World Martial Arts member and 2nd Dan at Seisho Kai Shito , has some Guiness book of records to his name and has learnt pretty much all there is to martial
arts, he is, unable to pursue his true passion. For reasons of familial pressure has stopped practicing his art. Meet our very own Sr. Executive Compensation and Benefits, K. Natarajan of Salem.
His family stands justified in that they want him to be safe (a couple of family members met with serious permanent damage while practicing this art). His family is concerned about his welfare while he is concerned about his passion.
I was truly moved by this mans story.
I humbly salute to his talent and I hope he is happy in the end no matter what the path he chooses.
I have seen it in the movies where the Hero does not get to do what he "really" wants to do and parents/in-laws put pressure on him to pursue something else (Arjun in Mudhalvan studies for joining a Government job because Manisha Koiralas dad wants him to have a stable job, when he is a TV reporter who could have had the Government itself in his hands).
I have not met too many such people in real life. This is one such man who had multiple offers in the area of martial arts, but had to finally settle for a life very different to the one he dreamed of.
When I think of this man I am reminded of the advertisement in Monster.com where a cricketer uses his bat to wash clothes, and a dancer is showing signs to an aircraft etc.
I really do not know what I would do if I were in his place. When you have your family and passion conflicting with each other, it is a real tough choice to make! I hope things pan out well in the end for Natarajan and I wish him all the very best.
Your story really touched me.
He broke 10 bricks set on fire with his bare hands and he broke an ice slab with his head. When I went to congratulate him on what he did, he said that it was all childs play for him and that he wanted to give a much more grander performance. He has had a tempo traveller and a bus run over him and cause not even a scratch.
While he is a World Martial Arts member and 2nd Dan at Seisho Kai Shito , has some Guiness book of records to his name and has learnt pretty much all there is to martial
arts, he is, unable to pursue his true passion. For reasons of familial pressure has stopped practicing his art. Meet our very own Sr. Executive Compensation and Benefits, K. Natarajan of Salem.His family stands justified in that they want him to be safe (a couple of family members met with serious permanent damage while practicing this art). His family is concerned about his welfare while he is concerned about his passion.
I was truly moved by this mans story.
I humbly salute to his talent and I hope he is happy in the end no matter what the path he chooses.
I have seen it in the movies where the Hero does not get to do what he "really" wants to do and parents/in-laws put pressure on him to pursue something else (Arjun in Mudhalvan studies for joining a Government job because Manisha Koiralas dad wants him to have a stable job, when he is a TV reporter who could have had the Government itself in his hands).
I have not met too many such people in real life. This is one such man who had multiple offers in the area of martial arts, but had to finally settle for a life very different to the one he dreamed of.
When I think of this man I am reminded of the advertisement in Monster.com where a cricketer uses his bat to wash clothes, and a dancer is showing signs to an aircraft etc.
I really do not know what I would do if I were in his place. When you have your family and passion conflicting with each other, it is a real tough choice to make! I hope things pan out well in the end for Natarajan and I wish him all the very best.
Your story really touched me.
Monday, June 01, 2009
"Oh you are from IIM- you must be earning in crores?"
This is the first thing I hear whenever someone hears that I am from IIM B. I do not know who I hate more - the person who pops this stupid question or the newspapers which mention all sorts of things painting a rosy picture about the IIMs.
First of all, an income of USD 100000 is not equal to f***ing Rs.50 lakhs. There are things like taxes, cost of living, purchase power parity and so on. So if some IIM grad is getting paid in foreign currency, then it is bound to appear like a huge deal when converted into Indian currency.
Believe, me, in India, you DONT get paid in crores unless you are in the board of directors of a company or some senior vice president.
Instead of converting the dollars/pounds to rupees, lets all do this. We will all go to Vietnam and convert the dollars there to the local currency Dong (present conversion is 1 USD = 17700 Dongs). So the Vietnam newspaper would report - "IIM grad gets Vietnam Dong 3 billion as salary. IIM Grads are billionaires.".
Calling us as crorepatis right now is as absurd as a Vietnamese calling an IIM grad a trillionaire.
Second,
What kind of a dumb mannerless (DM in short) idiot will you be to ask someone "Hey what is your salary?"
2 things you should never ask are, a woman her age and a man his package(we mean all packages btw). They just hate it when you do. So if you are reading this and you have already asked someone his/her salary, then you are a dumb mannerless idiot. If you havent, then dont be one.
Ok, now to the more interesting thing.
Ever since the recession started, all the people I meet seem to get some sadistic pleasure in popping the same "DM question" to me. They hope against all hope that I will cut a sorry puppy dog face and complain that this year the placement season was bad and that I landed up in a company where even my driver would not have joined last year. In case I reply in the same manner then they are elated. Their day is made. (remember, they are still wiping the same table but the fact that I am wiping the next table after coming out of IIM, makes them doubly happy)! What dumb mannerless sadists!
Oh man!, reminds me of a joke
It is Queen Elizabeths birthday and our dear Santa and Banta decide to take her a gift. Santa takes a bag full of coconuts and Banta takes a bag full of betel nuts. Once they reach the palace, they find that everyone has bought diamonds and gold and other jewellery as gift to the queen when our two dumbos have taken a really stupid gift. This infuriates the queen and she asks the guards to shove the nuts into their asses.
They get dragged off, and as the betel nuts are being shoved into Bantas ass, he keeps laughing. The guard is surprised and asks "Hey Banta, we are shoving these Betel nuts in your ass, and how is it that you are not in pain and are laughing?"
Banta says, "The mere thought that Santa is getting a bucket load of coconuts into his ass makes me feel so happy"
So if you are Banta - here is my reply to you
"This year also IIMs had a 100% placement record. The average salary has not gone down. The profile of the companies coming to the IIMs are different this year compared to last. However, everyone is well placed, and in very plum jobs - the kind of job your mom and dad want you to be in. So stop popping the stupid dumb ass mannerless questions and get back to work."
Jokes apart,
The times are bad. Everyone knows it. It is basic decency that you do not ask embarassing questions to a person who is already not in the place he/she would have ideally wanted to be. People eventually reach their goals - wherever they be. Please do not embarass a student from an IIM just because the times are bad. Remember, that any day, you yourself would want to study in such colleges if you had the opportunity. Before you make fun of a student from IIM - think for a moment what you would give to study in such an institution and then pass the comments.
In fact, what you are doing is really "Sour Grapes" - I do not want to sound arrogant here that I am from an IIM. However, there are so many instances in my life, where people say things like "you are from an elite institution, is this how you behave, is this how you blah, is this how you boo". We are also humans first. Secondly, we have proven our capabilities in many a sphere to be where we are. We are proud of what we are but not arrogant. If you are not where we are, then it does not make you any less special. So stop treating yourself like you are less special.
I can only speak for myself. I have met some of the most brainy people in the world at IIM B. I have worked the hardest in my 2 years there. I have put as many night outs as I have never in my life before. I have slogged so hard, that hard work is now a habit for me and for my 250 batchmates. It is not without merit that Sachin is who he is, Abdul Kalam is who he is and an IIM is what it is.
So finally, the lessons we have learnt today - in case you are one of those dumb mannerless idiot are:
1) Dont ask someone his/her salary and about how the placements were in his/her college
2) Dont laugh at someone because he/she is in the same misery as you. Instead you try to get out of your misery (you might want to think of Banta here)
3) Dont cry sour grapes
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
An Exercise in vain
After reading this I decided I WONT let this stupid laptop be the end of my precious life.
I started to get up once every fifteen minutes to "relax" my muscles and did some stretches. I did some "hoo haa" pumping in the air and that cross legged (oh no you don't), exercise which you do for warm up.
My boss took notice. Thought I had no work to do.
Its been 8 hours since I did my last excercise or went for a cup of coffee :(
I started to get up once every fifteen minutes to "relax" my muscles and did some stretches. I did some "hoo haa" pumping in the air and that cross legged (oh no you don't), exercise which you do for warm up.
My boss took notice. Thought I had no work to do.
Its been 8 hours since I did my last excercise or went for a cup of coffee :(
Vegetarianism for the growing world
Was waiting for an article like this one which says "The Chinese are getting richer and, like their western counterparts, eating more meat, which in turn is spurring a surge in demand for foodstuffs to feed a growing population of pigs and other livestock. "
Pure economics would tell you that to create 1 KG of meat you need 10 KG of grain. Hence either the meat is priced 10 times that of grain or it is bound to happen in the near future. Prices of food have been on the "rice" :), and down the lane I guess it makes more sense to directly consume the rice yourself intead of feeding it to a pig and then eating the pig instead.
So all you tandoori chicken connoiseurs might just have to shell out more money or switch to panneer tikka masala instead :)
The Indian Government instead of inflation control tactics such as banning exports, giving out import licences, banning futures trading, sending the police to unearth `hoarding', hiking interest rates etc. , would do well to encourage vegetarianism :D hehehe....
I can almost hear P. Chidambu saying "All Saravana Bhavans and Pure Veg restaurants get a VAT waiver. Pure Veg restaurants to have a VAT of only 1% :D..."
Anyways, this is not in any way to hurt the sentiments of non-vegetarians...but just an economic point of view of mine in relation to being a non-veggie. If prices of chicken are going to continue to rise as given in this article, does it not make more sense to consume maize directly instead of feeding it to the chicken and then eating the chicken instead?
Anyways, I am predicting that down the lane the markets would decide for themselves the prices in such a way that vegetarianism is the way of life of the common man. Go free markets...
Jokes apart , as one of the comments below point out...the equation between veg food and non veg food is not going to be exactly 1:10...there are so many other parameters...
Just thought I could get away with a "pro veg" argument....but no....someone had to come and spoil it everytime :(
Pure economics would tell you that to create 1 KG of meat you need 10 KG of grain. Hence either the meat is priced 10 times that of grain or it is bound to happen in the near future. Prices of food have been on the "rice" :), and down the lane I guess it makes more sense to directly consume the rice yourself intead of feeding it to a pig and then eating the pig instead.
So all you tandoori chicken connoiseurs might just have to shell out more money or switch to panneer tikka masala instead :)
The Indian Government instead of inflation control tactics such as banning exports, giving out import licences, banning futures trading, sending the police to unearth `hoarding', hiking interest rates etc. , would do well to encourage vegetarianism :D hehehe....
I can almost hear P. Chidambu saying "All Saravana Bhavans and Pure Veg restaurants get a VAT waiver. Pure Veg restaurants to have a VAT of only 1% :D..."
Anyways, this is not in any way to hurt the sentiments of non-vegetarians...but just an economic point of view of mine in relation to being a non-veggie. If prices of chicken are going to continue to rise as given in this article, does it not make more sense to consume maize directly instead of feeding it to the chicken and then eating the chicken instead?
Anyways, I am predicting that down the lane the markets would decide for themselves the prices in such a way that vegetarianism is the way of life of the common man. Go free markets...
Jokes apart , as one of the comments below point out...the equation between veg food and non veg food is not going to be exactly 1:10...there are so many other parameters...
Just thought I could get away with a "pro veg" argument....but no....someone had to come and spoil it everytime :(
Monday, May 12, 2008
That thing they call IIM - Part one
The last one year at an IIM has been one hell of a journey and cannot simply be covered in a blog article. So, what I am gonna do is make this a series and spread my life @ IIM over a set of articles.
Do I hear some groans? (Oh no not one of those stupid IIM/IIT stories again...)
Unfortunately it is. But you are a good person no? You won’t close this blog without reading it fully right. So stop complaining and start reading...
After four years of work experience, I must admit entering an IIM was scaring me a teensy weensy bit. My greatest fears came true when a few of the students ended up calling me "old"
:(... Hey come on, I am just 18 (I mean at heart)
Ok back to the story.
There are primarily 2 kinds of students at the IIMs. I will call them BF and SF (no no, its not what you think...)
BF stands for Big Fish and SF stands for Small Fish. (ya, I don’t want to use bad words in front of family audience see)
Ok, so what’s with the fish?
Big Fish
Before entering the IIM campus, the word "Derivative" vaguely reminded them of something that their math teacher was trying hard to push through their skull...
Was that dy/dx? arre chodo yar....
Small Fish
Derivatives are financial instruments whose value changes in response to the changes in underlying variables. The main types of derivatives are futures, forwards, options, and swaps.....ok enough there...
Big Fish
The third price they won in a fancy dress competition in their 8th class is one of their
resume bullet points
Small Fish
They are unable to find space in their one page resume for the international quiz competition
which they won last year
Big Fish
They attend classes to gain attendance
Small Fish
They attend classes to gain knowledge
Big Fish
They are serious when they say they haven’t prepared for the exam
Small Fish
They are serious when they haven’t prepared for the exam
Big Fish
Day zero of placements : They are probably sleeping till 1 o clock in the afternoon
and go in the evening to check out if their small fish friends have been placed
Small Fish
Day one and two of placements : They don’t know what to do and try to give moral support
to their Big Fish friends
So there you have it.
You are probably wondering why I decided to call them big fish and Small fish.
The logic is quite simple.
The Small fish are ones who are going to be "small fish in a big pond" (the pond being Mckinseys, BCGs and Goldmans and Lehmans where an IIM grad is perhaps just another guy among thousands of Wharton/Harvard and other IIM grads) while the big fish are going to be "big fish in a small pond" (the pond being some IT company or some other day 2 company which is more than glad to have them working for them)
Ok no judgment calls here. This is just a simple truth. Take a moment to digest it.
The ocean (IIM) is not just made of the small and big fishes, it consists of all kinds of sea creatures that swim and enjoy in the ocean, before taking a jump into a pond.
I for one am a dolphin and am a big fish (not the biggest though :( ).
Do I hear some protest?I am the author no? So I get to choose what I am. So don’t complain now. You pick some nice fish which you want to be called as.
So I guess, that should do with the intro. I would continue with this post later. Next time, I would be obviously talking about fishes, but would assume that you know what I mean when I say someone is small fish or a big fish? Ok? Now run along, go do that thing your boss asked you to do and stop wasting time reading blogs....
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Mumbai's Autowalla Harikrishna Misra rocks
My first encounter with him did not set off so well.
During my internship here at Mumbai, I have been going from Powai to Santa Cruz airport everyday for my work. I take an auto everyday and the rates usually are between Rs. 65-70. On one of the days, I took an auto and the meter read Rs.80, waaay before we even reached our place. There was a heavy traffic jam. I was quite irritated that the autowalla was using a wrong meter and hence I gave him the money, told him that the meter was way too high and I got down and angrily walked to my office.
Then the autowalla followed me and kept asking me to get onto the auto and told me that he would drop me off free of charge for the remaining distance. I thought his guilt was pricking him (as he used a wrong meter) and so he tried to pacify his guilt by dropping me.
I decided he is not getting away with his folly that easily and did not get on to the auto and kept walking.
A few weeks passed.
Today, I got onto an auto and after reaching the office, the meter read Rs. 75. I gave him the cash, and the
autowalla said "Sir, please tell me exactly how much it takes to reach here as you travel everyday in this route."
I said "It takes about Rs. 65-70"
Autowalla : "In that case please take back this Rs.5. You travel here often so you know better than the meter. The other day I brought you here and you got down and walked all the way as you felt the meter showed a very high value. That auto was not mine. It was a hired auto, neither is the auto I am driving today mine. I have informed the owner of that auto to check the meter the other day"!!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 important lessons learnt
1) Anger never yields a good result.
2) Never accuse without full information
During my internship here at Mumbai, I have been going from Powai to Santa Cruz airport everyday for my work. I take an auto everyday and the rates usually are between Rs. 65-70. On one of the days, I took an auto and the meter read Rs.80, waaay before we even reached our place. There was a heavy traffic jam. I was quite irritated that the autowalla was using a wrong meter and hence I gave him the money, told him that the meter was way too high and I got down and angrily walked to my office.
Then the autowalla followed me and kept asking me to get onto the auto and told me that he would drop me off free of charge for the remaining distance. I thought his guilt was pricking him (as he used a wrong meter) and so he tried to pacify his guilt by dropping me.
I decided he is not getting away with his folly that easily and did not get on to the auto and kept walking.
A few weeks passed.
Today, I got onto an auto and after reaching the office, the meter read Rs. 75. I gave him the cash, and the
autowalla said "Sir, please tell me exactly how much it takes to reach here as you travel everyday in this route."
I said "It takes about Rs. 65-70"
Autowalla : "In that case please take back this Rs.5. You travel here often so you know better than the meter. The other day I brought you here and you got down and walked all the way as you felt the meter showed a very high value. That auto was not mine. It was a hired auto, neither is the auto I am driving today mine. I have informed the owner of that auto to check the meter the other day"!!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 important lessons learnt
1) Anger never yields a good result.
2) Never accuse without full information
Indias Response to Bush's remark
US President Bush's remarks on rising food prices did not surprise me too much.
He is a dumbo who does not know half the time what he is speaking.
However, what surprised or rather annoyed me was that Indians (most of them atleast), were "denying" or atleast trying to "refute" what he was saying.
Why should we bloody deny what he says.
Our response should just be "Oh ya, so what? We are eating more food today. Is there a problem? If you have a problem go shove it up your ***. We dont care. Moreover, thanks for acknowledging the fact that we are finally on your mental map as a country that is not just about snake charmers."
He is a dumbo who does not know half the time what he is speaking.
However, what surprised or rather annoyed me was that Indians (most of them atleast), were "denying" or atleast trying to "refute" what he was saying.
Why should we bloody deny what he says.
Our response should just be "Oh ya, so what? We are eating more food today. Is there a problem? If you have a problem go shove it up your ***. We dont care. Moreover, thanks for acknowledging the fact that we are finally on your mental map as a country that is not just about snake charmers."
Monday, March 10, 2008
Arranged Marriage
I am back after a very long time. I am not sure if I would continue to blog. However, in light of some of my recent experiences I have been thinking a little about the concept of arranged marriage and as to why it is so successful.
Disclaimers as usual include,
1) This is not a debate of a love marriage vs. arranged marriage. Both have their own merits and demerits.
2) If after reading this you somehow feel that I have argued in "favor" of the arranged marriage concept then you are wrong. I have only highlighted the positives of arranged marriage.
3) I do not want drab comments that are similar to "you have to experience love so as to appreciate it".
4) There are exceptions to every compromise below. Exceptions do not make examples.
5) If you feel like tearing your hair and saying "no" to any of these compromises below, read point 4 again. Calm down. Drink some water. These are just my points of view. Take it or leave it.
Ok,
A few days ago I had a chat with a few of my friends on this topic and these are guys/gals who have seen quite a bit in their lives and have had their share of experiences on relationships. As the discussion went on, I began to wonder, what is it, that makes this concept of arranged marriage tick?
Before I go on, for those in the West who do not know anything about arranged marriages, please read this
This is what I could gather at the end of it the many discussions I had,
Before I go on to Arranged marriage, I would make an assumption. The assumption is that to make a marriage work, one has to make compromises. The lesser the number of compromises the easier it is to keep the marriage together. I may be entirely wrong in this assumption (i.e people may exist who keep making compromises to save their marriage, but I do not belong to this category and neither do most of the friends with whom I have talked to). By compromise, I do not mean silly ones like sleeping on the right side of the bed or eating in a restaurant of the other persons choice. I mean compromises which make you go against the way you have lived thus far in your life or are against your value system and make something in your stomach go uvack#@$@#.
That said, Arranged marriages work simply because there are very minimal compromises made in an arranged marriage. In an arranged marriage,
1) No compromise is made on the way of life - this includes your daily habits
2) No compromise need be made on food habits - Typically parents look for a match who is a vegetarian if you are a vegetarian and a non vegetarian if you are one
3) No compromise is made in religion/caste/community - whichever you have strong feelings for, pick that one
4) No compromise is made on regional traits - Mother tongue (which is important when you want to have a comfortable conversation with the other party). Try experimenting with some other language everyday and it is going to be one big compromise you make in your life
5) No compromise is made on Age - this is highly arguable, I do agree, but I believe that it is great to have a younger girl and an elder boy as a couple, with a gap of at least a couple or more years. The reasons are two fold. First of all men last longer physically in terms of sexual life than women do. Second reason is that the emotional reach of a woman is higher than a man of same age (arguable, but there are many scientific studies that say this, and I too kind of go with this)
6) No compromise made on physical appearance - You always can say "no" in an arranged marriage if you think the guy/gal is not up to your expectations
7) No compromise made on economic angle - Salaries of the people getting married are looked at, and the basic economic background is looked at. It is rare that you see in an arranged marriage that a pauper is wedded to a millionaire.
8) No compromise made on talent/intellectual capability - Typically men prefer to marry women who are less or at most as educated as they are. I.e, you don't see a bachelor degree holder get married to a masters degree holder that often (in Arranged marriage). I can hear all "non MCPs" shouting at me now. I don't care. However much men scream, they have this ego which would blow up at some point in time. Even women prefer men who are more/at least as educated as they are for precisely the same reason. There are exceptions to this rule. Exceptions do not make examples
9) No compromise made on geography - These days I see a very common trend. In case the boy or girl has decided to stay in a particular city, say Bangalore, they make it very clear before the marriage so that later there are no qualms about the same. Also they make it very clear if they are going to work post marriage and also about what they feel about going and settling abroad. I think it is best these issues get sorted before marriage than after.
10) No compromise is made as far as other habits go - This would hold true for guys/gals who look for partners who do not have habits such as smoking/drinking and are very particular about it. However, this would hold true only if the other person does not lie about his/her drinking/smoking habits. But in case they are truthful about these, then there would hardly be any issues post marriage.
So, there go the 10 major compromises I "DONT" see in an arranged marriage. Once these major compromises are taken care, almost 90% of your life is made easy. All that is left is for you to just understand the other persons basic nature better, and the rest of the things just fall in place.
I do agree that in-spite of all these advantages of arranged marriages, there simply will be pairs which cannot stay together. But think for a moment...are all love marriages successful? In UK, where there is no concept of arranged marriage, 50+% of women over the age of 40 are unmarried (says a bbc survey).
Maybe something to think about.
P.S. : I hate the contribution Indian cinema has done to screw up the arranged marriage system. They have eulogized love marriages to such an extent that, just like you pick a random chinese movie and there is a high chance it is some kung-fu shit, so is the case with an Indian movie, you pick one, and there is a high chance it is some boy-meets-girl bull shit.
Disclaimers as usual include,
1) This is not a debate of a love marriage vs. arranged marriage. Both have their own merits and demerits.
2) If after reading this you somehow feel that I have argued in "favor" of the arranged marriage concept then you are wrong. I have only highlighted the positives of arranged marriage.
3) I do not want drab comments that are similar to "you have to experience love so as to appreciate it".
4) There are exceptions to every compromise below. Exceptions do not make examples.
5) If you feel like tearing your hair and saying "no" to any of these compromises below, read point 4 again. Calm down. Drink some water. These are just my points of view. Take it or leave it.
Ok,
A few days ago I had a chat with a few of my friends on this topic and these are guys/gals who have seen quite a bit in their lives and have had their share of experiences on relationships. As the discussion went on, I began to wonder, what is it, that makes this concept of arranged marriage tick?
Before I go on, for those in the West who do not know anything about arranged marriages, please read this
This is what I could gather at the end of it the many discussions I had,
Before I go on to Arranged marriage, I would make an assumption. The assumption is that to make a marriage work, one has to make compromises. The lesser the number of compromises the easier it is to keep the marriage together. I may be entirely wrong in this assumption (i.e people may exist who keep making compromises to save their marriage, but I do not belong to this category and neither do most of the friends with whom I have talked to). By compromise, I do not mean silly ones like sleeping on the right side of the bed or eating in a restaurant of the other persons choice. I mean compromises which make you go against the way you have lived thus far in your life or are against your value system and make something in your stomach go uvack#@$@#.
That said, Arranged marriages work simply because there are very minimal compromises made in an arranged marriage. In an arranged marriage,
1) No compromise is made on the way of life - this includes your daily habits
2) No compromise need be made on food habits - Typically parents look for a match who is a vegetarian if you are a vegetarian and a non vegetarian if you are one
3) No compromise is made in religion/caste/community - whichever you have strong feelings for, pick that one
4) No compromise is made on regional traits - Mother tongue (which is important when you want to have a comfortable conversation with the other party). Try experimenting with some other language everyday and it is going to be one big compromise you make in your life
5) No compromise is made on Age - this is highly arguable, I do agree, but I believe that it is great to have a younger girl and an elder boy as a couple, with a gap of at least a couple or more years. The reasons are two fold. First of all men last longer physically in terms of sexual life than women do. Second reason is that the emotional reach of a woman is higher than a man of same age (arguable, but there are many scientific studies that say this, and I too kind of go with this)
6) No compromise made on physical appearance - You always can say "no" in an arranged marriage if you think the guy/gal is not up to your expectations
7) No compromise made on economic angle - Salaries of the people getting married are looked at, and the basic economic background is looked at. It is rare that you see in an arranged marriage that a pauper is wedded to a millionaire.
8) No compromise made on talent/intellectual capability - Typically men prefer to marry women who are less or at most as educated as they are. I.e, you don't see a bachelor degree holder get married to a masters degree holder that often (in Arranged marriage). I can hear all "non MCPs" shouting at me now. I don't care. However much men scream, they have this ego which would blow up at some point in time. Even women prefer men who are more/at least as educated as they are for precisely the same reason. There are exceptions to this rule. Exceptions do not make examples
9) No compromise made on geography - These days I see a very common trend. In case the boy or girl has decided to stay in a particular city, say Bangalore, they make it very clear before the marriage so that later there are no qualms about the same. Also they make it very clear if they are going to work post marriage and also about what they feel about going and settling abroad. I think it is best these issues get sorted before marriage than after.
10) No compromise is made as far as other habits go - This would hold true for guys/gals who look for partners who do not have habits such as smoking/drinking and are very particular about it. However, this would hold true only if the other person does not lie about his/her drinking/smoking habits. But in case they are truthful about these, then there would hardly be any issues post marriage.
So, there go the 10 major compromises I "DONT" see in an arranged marriage. Once these major compromises are taken care, almost 90% of your life is made easy. All that is left is for you to just understand the other persons basic nature better, and the rest of the things just fall in place.
I do agree that in-spite of all these advantages of arranged marriages, there simply will be pairs which cannot stay together. But think for a moment...are all love marriages successful? In UK, where there is no concept of arranged marriage, 50+% of women over the age of 40 are unmarried (says a bbc survey).
Maybe something to think about.
P.S. : I hate the contribution Indian cinema has done to screw up the arranged marriage system. They have eulogized love marriages to such an extent that, just like you pick a random chinese movie and there is a high chance it is some kung-fu shit, so is the case with an Indian movie, you pick one, and there is a high chance it is some boy-meets-girl bull shit.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
What I learnt from Corporate Finance
The present value of a classroom bunk is greater than the future value. Hence bunk classes as soon as possible and exhaust your holidays.
P.S : Later if you fall sick and lose a GPA of 1, then please consider yourself unlucky, as this is the risk associated with the future value calculations.
P.S : Later if you fall sick and lose a GPA of 1, then please consider yourself unlucky, as this is the risk associated with the future value calculations.
The Ten Commandments of Classroom Participation
Me and a few of my fellow classmates came up with the ten commandments. I am taking this from a fellow blogger aka vishesh.
MBA education uses levers as class participation (CP) and relative grading (RG) for effective classroom experience. Both mediums are powerfully effective when used (by students!) in the true spirit of learning, but have quite distasteful outcomes when the same students indulge in what they call RG-giri, i.e. trying to portray each other in negative light to score some brownie points in front of the instructor; and indeed, often these brownie points do translate into grades :)
.
Anyways, after one such session in a marketing course where the group presenting the case was massacered left, right and centre by an over-enthusiastic (Read: in the RG-giri mood) audience, yours truly too contributing with one question, we came out of the class laughing at ourselves...and then in the same lighter mood, postulated the Ten Commandments of CP.
.
Only if Moses was alive, he would not have complained of hearing just the Voice of the Divine.
.
(Some terms carry additional explanation in italics).
.
1) Thou shalt not CP in the last 2 minutes of a lecture; especially if the prof himself is overshooting the class timings
.
2) Thou shall not CP in XYZ course at all, the instructor already himself is a living CP specimen
(not mentioning the course to be, ah, politically correct)
.
3) Thou shall not CP if thou art Rajamundry
(an over-enthusiastic chap who CPs, I guess, without any RG intention)
.
4) The time between two consecutive CPs shalt atleast be 3 classes
.
5) Thou shalt treat the whole class if thou CP more than once in a single day
.
6) Thou shalt seek all CP-overdoer infidels and slay them in the name of God
.
7) Thou shalt NEVER EVER put in a follow-up CP
.
8) If thou art the last person to CP, thou get to be hooshed
(a popular physical torture over here in IIMB)
.
9) All case-presenters are thy brothers and sisters, thou shalt love them
.
10) Remember, thou shalt be CPed against the way thou CPed unto others
.
Credits: Vishesh, Sudhakar and yours truly
Friday, April 27, 2007
Made it into IIM B Finally!
Finally my MBA journey comes to a definite conclusion after IIM B announced its result today. Me headed to IIM B in all probability.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
I have Quit
Have Quit Oracle. Would be soon joining Great Lakes Institute of Management or IIM B (in case I get into it).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)