Racism

It’s not because it’s the hottest topic now that I am writing this blog. It’s because of an incident that happened very recently to me on a trip to Hampi that left me so shaken.

Hampi, a place so amazing that the whole town is listed as a national heritage site. Indians as well as Foreigners throng the place to visit the engineering excellence of the era that once was. Musical pillars, pin hole cameras, secret passages, are a few of the wonders of the town that was built a few centuries back.

The Hampi Bazar is a place where lots of local people sell their wares. From stone carvings to Rajasthani bags, you have it all. A friend of mine went over to one of the many hand carts which sold assorted chuky jewellery like bangles, ear rings, belts etc. etc. and started looking around. The woman in charge got angry and told her that she could only touch or look around if she has an intention of buying something. Her attitude made us all angry, and we moved away, but near enough to see that when a foreigner came by, she was all in smiles and she herself came forward which a shell belt and tied it round the lady’s waist. We were appalled by her behavior and thoroughly pissed…. The only satisfaction was that the white lady in question did not buy the belt…..

Here, the whole country is screaming their heads off for people making racist comments at Shilpa Shetty and here we were being discriminated racially in our own country. In our own country we discriminate amongst our own people on the basis of religion, sex, caste, colour of skin, accent and so many more things…. Can we expect nething better from some other country?

Makeover

I got tired of the look of my blog and decided it to give it a makeover....as its the koooolest thing to do nowadays...... end result is what you see.... My intentions were to make it brighter and happier.... but.... huh!!!

Mismanagement

I have been thinking of writing a post on this topic for a very long time. So while my wounds are still raw, I will vent out all the frustrations :-).

Managers…. Ahem!!! My friend Vasu says that “Managers all are Damagers” something with which I wholeheartedly agree. But, first we look at the dictionary meaning of this M word….”One who handles, controls, or directs” … It states out very generically what they are supposed to do. The managers I am referring to in this post are related to the software industry…although I think it will be a common trait everywhere, but I will leave the others for the time being.

To the above definition I would like to add the word ‘efficiently’ at the end. The question is how many of the so called managers actually do their job? How many get away just by using borrowed management jargons and how many don’t do anything…. Just play the ‘blame game’…. The first category, have very few people in it…. I haven’t come across more than one or two in my limited experience in this field… but I can safely assume that they are a rare and endangered species. Most of the others fall in the second bracket, I will not discuss them as the main objective of this post are those who fall in the third group i.e., push the blame somewhere else and try to escape.

These managers do not want to take hard decisions or any decisions…they do not want to know if the resources are overburdened. They are more interested in knowing what vegetables are put in maggi noodles. Another trait of such great managers is asking the same question again and again…. try giving different answers every time; it really doesn’t matter as the previous answer has already been erased from memory and the current one will get erased almost instantaneously. They allocate resources even if the resources are not available during that period; useless informing them of leaves and reallocation. They don’t raise their voices when required, and keep pestering people for all the wrong reasons. They maintain scores of excel sheets to portray correct project status but do not act if the project is going haywire and then in the end put the entire blame on someone else…. Phew!!!! I am tired …. And I am not even half way through………. :-)

But, I’ll stop here. I think its enough of manager bashing for the time being…..

From rags to riches, in 18 minutes

This was an article in Rediff.... and no, it dosen't make u rich in 18 mins.... :-))

Sheer greed made me open this link to find out more..... I was dissapointed, but the story which was showcased was thought provoking.....

'I was on my way to work and Murphy's Law had struck in the form of a traffic jam. In an attempt to dissuade my cab driver from blaring Himmesh Reshamiya's latest assault on music, I began to chat with him. In the course of my discussion, I asked him if the taxi he drove was his own or was he on a shift system like many others.
'His reply had me speechless. Not only was the taxi he was driving his own, but he also owned six other Fiat taxis, one Toyota Qualis, which he hired out and was now debating between a truck and bus for his next acquisition. Wow!
'I asked him where he got the money from. . . slightly nervous that I was riding with a possible hitman for Dawood. And his answer was even more surprising.
'He said: "Madam, whenever you need to go some place you take a cab and go. When I have to go some place and I don't have a fare going in that direction, I park my taxi some place and hop into a bus."
'I listened as he spoke. "How much does it cost you to travel from your home to your office?" Rs 100, I said. "Well, Rs 200 for a round trip?" he continued. "Well, let's say you travel through the month by taxi. How much would that cost you?" Some quick math later, I came up with the answer: Rs 6,000!
'I was spending Rs 6,000 a month to travel. Then he said: "The bus ticket costs you Rs 10 and say another Rs 20 to get from your home to the bus stop. That's Rs 60 per day for a round trip. You are saving Rs 140 everyday. That's Rs 4,200 a month. . . nearly, Rs 50,000 a year. If you invested that in something, you'd be able to buy your own car!"
'What could I say? I now travel by bus. And am doing a Systematic Investment Plan in a mutual fund and paying a monthly premium in a Unit-linked insurance plan."

How many of us in the age group of 20-30 ever think of savings... I personally don't.....
Thinking of retirement now, makes me squirm... I don't know if I'll be alive tomorrow, to hell with what will happen to me 10 years down the line...... I believe in living in the present and if possible taking a shortcut to success, money and fame.....

The thing is it dosen't happen that way..... no shortcuts possible.... hardwork pays (not always - personal opinion) and making investments for the future are a step in the right direction.

Quote of the Day

"I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am"
------Joseph Baretti, quoted in Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson