tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73726072024-03-08T07:54:46.423+05:30Mi Mazaa...Living Life... Looking at people around me... Laughing at them... Looking at them Laughing at me... Questioning and accepting rules of society... Dreaming Big... Feeling helpless... Thinking... Dreaming again... Thats Me...Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-51954049840183805652009-11-01T01:38:00.003+05:302009-11-01T01:43:00.308+05:30Web 2.0 and beyond<a href="http://www.web2summit.com/web2009/public/schedule/detail/10194">http://www.web2summit.com/web2009/public/schedule/detail/10194</a><br /><br />A must read for every technologist and everyone who is going to be affected by the web...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-84536918894045995972009-09-05T16:23:00.001+05:302009-09-05T16:24:45.323+05:30Are We Out Of The Woods Yet?<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://calameo.com/books/000086527d19063f8b8f0?authid=GZ4t1nCV65w1">Investocraft</a></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" width="240" height="147"><param name="movie" value="http://v.calameo.com/1.0/cmini.swf?bkcode=000086527d19063f8b8f0&langid=en&clickTo=public&clickTarget=_self&autoFlip=0&showArrows=1&page=1"><param name="scale" value="noscale" /><param name="loop" value="false" /><param name="salign" value="t" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><embed src="http://v.calameo.com/1.0/cmini.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" scale="noscale" allowScriptAccess="always" loop="false" salign="t" wmode="transparent" style="width:240px; height:147px" flashvars="bkcode=000086527d19063f8b8f0&langid=en&clickTo=public&clickTarget=_self&autoFlip=0&showArrows=1&page=1"></embed></object></div><div style="font-size: 11px;"><a href="http://calameo.com/upload/">Publish at Calaméo</a> or <a href="http://calameo.com/browse/">browse</a> others.</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-91052713078275772202009-08-13T04:22:00.004+05:302009-08-13T04:32:41.533+05:30Reliance Money - A Hydro Power Company?Here's finding fault with either the Google's search indexing, or bad meta tags by programmer or my lack of ability to comprehend the reliationship between the two but when I searched "Reliance Money" in Google today @ 04:15 AM, it gave me following in the search results:<br />"Reliance Money" - Largest Hydro Power Company in India".<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDKe5YWr-bmqTiDsXLFn5z52_QK1UiugJykj1C9Au3q3D6zgQswi4aRg6_5xp-yEvz8xMlWhXgu1RUt8PNUB_fv2Zdrt9661xXacE34qxKAa9vRI_lHutXKRpp3qVh8ylg1sA/s1600-h/FaultFinding.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDKe5YWr-bmqTiDsXLFn5z52_QK1UiugJykj1C9Au3q3D6zgQswi4aRg6_5xp-yEvz8xMlWhXgu1RUt8PNUB_fv2Zdrt9661xXacE34qxKAa9vRI_lHutXKRpp3qVh8ylg1sA/s320/FaultFinding.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5369215756996411314" border="0" /></a><br />(The timing 04:15 AM is very important here as I would want to read this blog when I am 50 or 60 and remember the good old 20s and my present B-School life when I can simply do the things that I want to do at the time I want to do them :-))<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-22868926463340968992009-07-20T02:55:00.011+05:302009-07-21T23:00:41.434+05:30Away from HomeI have been staying in Vile Parle for the whole of last year and I will be staying in Santacruz for the whole of next year till 2nd year of my MBA course is completed. Now what makes this seemingly unimportant thing a topic for a blog post is the fact that this was for the first time ever in my life that I stayed away from my home for more than two odd months (which happens to be in Thane – about an hour from my college).<br /><br />Call it lack of infrastructure or whatever but NMiMS does not provide a residential MBA programme and those who stay in Mumbai are not allowed to stay in the hostel. Last year, around this time when I joined NMiMS all I wanted was a decent residential MBA programme. So, I decided to rent an apartment with a few of my classmates near college. To my surprise, my parents agreed to my proposition of staying away from home while I was still staying in Mumbai (I must admit here that I expected a more emotional farewell like the one that they show in most of those Star plus and Zee serials).<br /><br />The first problem with renting an apartment in Mumbai is the astoundingly high rent. An advice for those who are hunting for a rented house in Mumbai here – You may at times experience emotions like sheer disbelief, extreme anger for your landlord and may hear numbers of unimaginatively gigantic sizes but get used to it as the homeowners here have been taught numbers beyond 25000 during their kindergarten days and that is where they start quoting from.<br /><br />So, my pseudo hostel stay began in May last year. Staying with classmates was always fun as I could watch TV at any time of the day, drink gazillion cups of coffee and have other junk food at will, listen to loud music late at night, hang out in the college for most of the time. The direct impact of this liberalization in my life resulted into more frequent viewings of my Friends’ collection and addition of some other sitcoms like “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Big Bang Theory” to my collection.<br /><br />The sad part of staying away from home is when it comes to washing your own clothes which had actually turned a 3 hour long Sunday afternoon grand ritual for me.<br /><br />I can surely say one thing about staying away from home. You learn a hell lot. I have been seeing several improvements in me ever since I have shifted base. For starters, I realized that there are so many household things that need to be done that were virtually non-existent for me when I was staying at home. This includes taking Doodh from Doodhwalah in the morning, arranging and more importantly managing the maid, paying bills, buying routine household stuff from matchbox to mosquito repellents. I have changed from being a really pathetically lazy person to a more acceptable lazy person and I still continue to show progress. :-D<br /><br />This post would be incomplete without mentioning my roomies.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SRSYk5aiinBDS6e2R30gQHGKyqQlnh8swNSb_hA0t36rdJB1AIs3TtoCfD6OXIPpXWaE9mn6ukyahJUHUD0T6PyetPZwAvEoHxNDDJ-aFaB2whZhf3VZlcVWs-bV1j-1mDqy/s1600-h/Roomies.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4SRSYk5aiinBDS6e2R30gQHGKyqQlnh8swNSb_hA0t36rdJB1AIs3TtoCfD6OXIPpXWaE9mn6ukyahJUHUD0T6PyetPZwAvEoHxNDDJ-aFaB2whZhf3VZlcVWs-bV1j-1mDqy/s320/Roomies.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360287452337786210" border="0" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote>Trying to study<br /></blockquote></div><br />Jigar aka Jigga, Saurabh aka Baldy (Ref: Barney from How I Met Your Mother) and Dhawal aka Kanta aka Horney Thorny (Don’t ask me why).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmZrfXRyjM0iXTxRTXRh227aBXnfeXOCEcv0yu3hm66M3J9N6w103Rbfw5-beLOsqs77NGYkgMA_O4tOresmMXjmiF8SnNFXeOLghZapLmGoRpR9xgt_77DHC6ByV-SGZcg17/s1600-h/100_1259.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmZrfXRyjM0iXTxRTXRh227aBXnfeXOCEcv0yu3hm66M3J9N6w103Rbfw5-beLOsqs77NGYkgMA_O4tOresmMXjmiF8SnNFXeOLghZapLmGoRpR9xgt_77DHC6ByV-SGZcg17/s320/100_1259.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360290430457708386" border="0" /></a>Jigga @ Hareesh's B'day Party<br /><br /></div>Jigga is the most sincere guy in the class and I had obvious advantages like getting assignments and notes from him. I also managed to read some stuff and study for sometime because of him (Peer pressure you see...). While he was busy in putting up an extraordinarily large family (Details can be obtained on special request ;-)) and challenging the existing rule of "One wife One family" ;-), he has been a true inspiration and pushed me every time from taking CFA to enrolling for different competitions.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmcUnDiMdJLgg3ahR_esOjVZlKJETJhOScCu5JCRHS8EM2gsoYh6Ghecsdbshyx-yP0uuyExBkZ7e1dp0a5hCENhgI4ErrxtrkHZGM93GiIMkDXVvAOV9WOm6UxsClJh8Q-By/s1600-h/DSC03158.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPmcUnDiMdJLgg3ahR_esOjVZlKJETJhOScCu5JCRHS8EM2gsoYh6Ghecsdbshyx-yP0uuyExBkZ7e1dp0a5hCENhgI4ErrxtrkHZGM93GiIMkDXVvAOV9WOm6UxsClJh8Q-By/s320/DSC03158.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360290950904474338" border="0" /></a>Saurabh - Notice that developing spike<br /><br /></div>Saurabh is somewhat quiet and was like the big daddy of the house. Everyone feared him and we made it a point not to disturb him during his morning ritual of creating one large spike on his head ;-). A warning here - Though he is generally very calm and composed, he will stump you with his occasional one liners. He was the encyclopaedia of our lot and has helped me notice, understand and comprehend things beyond what is called “Mumbai”.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkng4FqfTZ7YGMOnBjMoeIaYtnwjUFUTnM0j7aq_d57fIgHgcLyGIICOTlQ5j59aCt2wGQp8kIE9WWiMNMruk9XWTNsrOoVU6r_NbX9Xti3yi4sfhrgKI1CObUjc6m4fNrsJmH/s1600-h/11032009191.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkng4FqfTZ7YGMOnBjMoeIaYtnwjUFUTnM0j7aq_d57fIgHgcLyGIICOTlQ5j59aCt2wGQp8kIE9WWiMNMruk9XWTNsrOoVU6r_NbX9Xti3yi4sfhrgKI1CObUjc6m4fNrsJmH/s320/11032009191.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360290749657444674" border="0" /></a>Dhawal on Holi day<br /><br /></div>Dhawal aka Kanta aka Horney is another being that belongs to the species called “Toppers”. He spent most of his time reading self-help books like The Secret and Vedanta Treatise. A Cricket fanatic and a former Satyamite (I’m sorry but I had to mention this), he was in search of true Gujarati love and tried to find it in many girls including some South Indian girls ;-). He thinks putting a couple of drops of Vodka in a glass full of Sprite is called “Drinking Vodka”.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpa8GnKXDCBny9uF73D2II5PkiWxmbPYqGTP9QzifAYUFcYme0wDFvgIQ1fea44pmUYHp2sM3ePCUUZjJUugyQ6cz0XUIIvtKXfE9aT3DJlMaXtZMTuiB_KIHgl0Z5qlvi1SEg/s1600-h/01072008152.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpa8GnKXDCBny9uF73D2II5PkiWxmbPYqGTP9QzifAYUFcYme0wDFvgIQ1fea44pmUYHp2sM3ePCUUZjJUugyQ6cz0XUIIvtKXfE9aT3DJlMaXtZMTuiB_KIHgl0Z5qlvi1SEg/s320/01072008152.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5360290598200401282" border="0" /></a>Managing Household Chores - An attempt at Breakfast<br /></div><br />Four of us always made it a point to waste time in trivial arguments, in house cricket matches and other discussions which cannot be mentioned here as this is a family blog ;-). However trivial, it all seems fun in the hindsight.<br /><br />Diverging from the topic, among other things happening in my life, last month was one of the most hectic periods of my life... Managing my summer internship @ NSE and preparation of CFA Level 2 examination (Someone please let me know if I have violated the CFA Institute Code of Standards by this reference ;-)) was quite a task and kept me away from all the things which I otherwise like to do... Now that I have sucksessfully (No, it is not a typo) taken the seemingly difficult exam full of fictitious Balance Sheets and Income Statements, I have all the time in the world to get back to things I like the most... Reading, Writing and Imagining. So expect more of these from me...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-64350988690952274652009-07-18T15:12:00.005+05:302009-07-18T23:43:49.509+05:30Time- 03:30 AM... Location- Juhu Beach<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2T0wVHnuqN8VfjH9ljKwbHp7KKJHdzuaSfipCuB4g1013Kyu_SltK2fJWW7qVuTkuebRiztO-2ODARcHDq2xIUWuIlb2wtnPg2CA65XWH9iP8bsCHiGx4cmwN7bWy_ZPjeU2i/s1600-h/Night_Sea.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2T0wVHnuqN8VfjH9ljKwbHp7KKJHdzuaSfipCuB4g1013Kyu_SltK2fJWW7qVuTkuebRiztO-2ODARcHDq2xIUWuIlb2wtnPg2CA65XWH9iP8bsCHiGx4cmwN7bWy_ZPjeU2i/s320/Night_Sea.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359864351407225282" border="0" /></a><br />Next time you feel like bragging about your achievements in life, next time you feel like you have the power to control and take decisions on behalf of all your subordinates, next time you feel your race or religion is superior to that of others'; just walk up to Juhu Beach at night and stand in front of the vast Arabian Sea. The massive waterbody in front and never-ending black sky above will make you realize how inconsequential you are in this massive universe.<br /><br />The immensity of the sea and air will make you realize that all your afflictions, worries, pains and egos are really insignificant. The dark, cool breeze will make this all a humbling but magical experience. All I can say is that the experience cannot be described in words but can only be experienced.<br /><br />PS: A drink or two might actually help you enhance the wondrous experience<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-30183348464928133072009-04-30T16:35:00.007+05:302009-04-30T17:26:56.290+05:30Wow... Thats Future...<object width="580" height="360">One of the accessibility technologies being displayed @ TED Talks. May look like an extension of the Microsoft Surface, but the portability of this device makes it much much more useful in real life than just being a exhibit of modern technology...<br /><br /><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/mUdDhWfpqxg&hl=en&fs=1&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/mUdDhWfpqxg&hl=en&fs=1&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="250"></embed></object><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-29887566995202205842009-02-02T23:49:00.003+05:302009-02-03T08:30:19.184+05:30The Journey with Recession ContinuesThe flow of grim news continues... Layoffs, thinner bottom-lines, red tickers and bail-out packages. All the markets around the world seem to have rediscovered gravity for themselves and there is no sign of recovery...<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The slowdown starts showing in the Balance-Sheets of the corporate...</span><div>See the DLF results<br /><a href="http://http//economictimes.indiatimes.com/DLF_plunges_nearly_14_on_poor_results/rssarticleshow/4065321.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/DLF_plunges_nearly_14_on_poor_results/rssarticleshow/4065321.cms</a><br /><div>I think there’s more pain to come. The Jan-Mar quarter will not be better either. God knows where the Sensex is headed...<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Look at the scary job cuts all across the globe</span><br /><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Job_trends_during_times_of_turbulence/Rising_layoffs_9000_job_vanishing_every_day/articleshow/4059166.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Job_trends_during_times_of_turbulence/Rising_layoffs_9000_job_vanishing_every_day/articleshow/4059166.cms</a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">It is not all that bad if you are an Indian techie though...</span><br /><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Job_trends_during_times_of_turbulence/Microsoft_Layoffs_for_some_visas_for_others/articleshow/4064164.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Job_trends_during_times_of_turbulence/Microsoft_Layoffs_for_some_visas_for_others/articleshow/4064164.cms</a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Assocham demands STPI benefits extension till 2012... Read the Story...</span><br /><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Extend_STPI_benefits_to_ITeS_till_12/rssarticleshow/4066059.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Extend_STPI_benefits_to_ITeS_till_12/rssarticleshow/4066059.cms</a><br /><br />The MSMEs are suffering... Though they have no one to lobby for them as hard... Where’s the relief package for them? Read the story...<br /><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Micro_industries_face_closure/rssarticleshow/4064142.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Micro_industries_face_closure/rssarticleshow/4064142.cms</a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Indian Exports put up a better show in December... Some sign of relief?</span><br /><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Exports_put_up_a_better_show_in_Dec/rssarticleshow/4063486.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Exports_put_up_a_better_show_in_Dec/rssarticleshow/4063486.cms</a><br /><br />Meanwhile interest rates are headed downwards... SBI to lend housing and SME loans at 8%. Way below their PLR... Government pressure or a bold business strategy? Time to short SBI for a couple of quarters it seems...</div><div><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Exports_put_up_a_better_show_in_Dec/rssarticleshow/4063486.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Exports_put_up_a_better_show_in_Dec/rssarticleshow/4063486.cms</a><br /><a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/SBI_contemplating_further_cut_in_lending_rates/rssarticleshow/4063716.cms">http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/SBI_contemplating_further_cut_in_lending_rates/rssarticleshow/4063716.cms</a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">China pushes rural consumption</span></div><div>A novel idea may be... But a non-market force cannot have it all right all the time...Reaffirms my faith that with all the controls and directives by the government, China is bound to fail in a few decades’ time...<br /><a href="http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/02/world-china-spurs-rural-consumption.html">http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/02/world-china-spurs-rural-consumption.html</a><br /><br /></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-88270545927274742762009-01-26T11:16:00.003+05:302009-01-26T11:31:08.997+05:30Things to be done before you’re in a B-School for a course in Finance<div>I know it sounds funny and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">far fetched</span> but last week a friend of mine asked me for advice on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">pre</span>-preparation before an engineer joins an MBA Finance course. The advice was for another friend of hers who had just finished engineering and was about to join a B-School. Obviously, she has chosen a wrong engineer for advice but however awkward as it may be for me, I generally never waste an opportunity to impart <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Gyaan</span> onto others. So here’s my advice for all those engineers who are about to join a B-School and have time for trivial things such as preparation and all...<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>“Engineers need not study anything before the course has begun. They can manage everything you see... ;-)”, I told her. But, on a second thought, I think I would have had a better time in the class if I had brushed up little stats or read a chapter or two of basic accounting. So here it goes:</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Statistics and Mathematics</span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Most of the part is covered during the 5 semesters of mathematics during engineering. Basic concepts of measures of central tendency (Mean, Mode, Median, etc), graphical representation (Frequency Polygon, Histogram), limits, sequences and series, calculus, matrices is what you are supposed to know</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Financial Institutions</span></div><div><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">NCFM</span> book for Securities Markets – Basic Module is a good read here. Different financial institutions, regulators and intermediaries in the Indian Financial System and their functions is what you need to know (You can download this book from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">NSE</span> website http://www.nseindia.com)</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Word, Excel and PowerPoint</span></div><div>I have seen many of my fellow classmates struggle with this. You at least need to have skills to make a ‘not-so-good-presentation-so-far-as-the-content-is-concerned’ look extremely good with different layouts and animations. For those who are already comfortable using office, some knowledge of macros and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">VBA</span> programming will prove to be a great help...</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Accounting Basics</span></div><div>If you don’t want to be in a position where you don’t have a clue what your accounts or <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">FSA</span> (Financial Statement Analysis) professor is talking to other commerce background students, you need to grab an 11-12 standard commerce book for basic accounting.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Laptop and Basic working knowledge of computers</span></div><div>Decide which laptop model are you comfortable with. Is it a Mac or a PC? Check out different models out there. See which one are you comfortable with. Another must have is a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">USB</span> Drive or preferably a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">USB</span> hard disk. If you are not comfortable with computers/ <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Internet</span>, spend some time exploring and using the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Internet</span>. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Meet-up with Friends</span></div><div>This is the best thing you can do during the holidays is that you can meet up all your friends. When the course will start you will not have time to do such things. The presentations, projects and other such activities will keep you occupied for your two years in the B-School.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think you’re all set once you are through with the things I’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">ve</span> mentioned here... Have I missed anything? Fellow <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">capmarks</span> students can chip-in with their suggestions...</div><div><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-81985544505526595102009-01-21T11:16:00.012+05:302009-02-07T11:22:52.553+05:30Bogie Number B2 / Seat Number 6<table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.in/lh/photo/azQF1W7RVYpiY49dRPh4Xg?authkey=W4Uv7Ombitk&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgISqdbua1m1iC1nRkyE0wHCNjAyjIjYx4ELCIv4OAnxLvWNTtocQiyQpsoq8YOKNhosvWDMj9zTaEF-_gylCXH7mv_PXKU4KfhBNVzkIBesby_4Pw76XZNtCmX4fBP5d06FOQg/s400/DSCN0069.JPG" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Team Fintellect</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div></div>My IIM Lucknow sojourn is almost over now. As I sit comfortably in Bogie Number B2/ Seat Number 6 on my way back to Mumbai, it is almost compelling to look back at the experience. It has been a couple relaxing and still busy days at IIML. For the uninformed, I was at IIML campus for last 3 days for ‘Call for Arms’ – a team event to adjudge the best B-School in India. We finally finished as eighth best B-School in India (I am aware that the B-School rankings are controversial and subject matter of a lot of debate, but eighth spot will do for me :-)). IIML guys had planned the event well and did all they could to make sure that we had sleepless nights.<div><br /></div><div>Talking about IIML campus, the first thing that came to my mind when I reached the IIML campus was that it was damn spacious with greenery and over capacities observable everywhere. Large lush green grounds, smaller buildings spread wide apart from each other, large canteen, large library, large classrooms and large ‘almost everything than can be large’. For a guy who comes from a crammed B-School having a few tall buildings and no more than a few hundred square meters of campus in space starved Mumbai, this was an overwhelmingly overwhelming experience. In fact I wonder how IIML guys manage to study in such serene and scenic surroundings<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Talking of ‘Call for Arms’- Different shortlisted B-Schools across India, three days, eleven events... It was an action packed venture... I could see the commending and commanding IIMs, long established XLRIs, FMSs, SPJIMRs, MDIs and NMIMSs all fight in the same arena for the best B-School title. The contrasting cultures of different B-Schools were apparent at each step of the tournament and it was indeed a learning experience for me.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Throughout the tournament, I observed the differences between ‘a winner’ and ‘a loser’. A loser cribs, attempts rationalization and most important of all misjudges his abilities whereas a winner regrets, analyses and most important of all is well aware of his abilities as well as weaknesses. Being a winner is as much a part of one’s attitude as it is of one’s abilities.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Another important thing which was observable was the rivalry between B-Schools and their willingness to go to any length to achieve the supreme spot. So much so that add Madhur Bhandarkar to a B-School fest and the outcome would be a Bollywood flick on the B-School rivalry.<br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><table style="width: auto;"><tbody><tr><td><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.in/lh/photo/nfGD7QFDYuANv7gi1d-IUw?authkey=W4Uv7Ombitk&feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS8DnErb5J-NtYgM2w-IQfgYoSFCWBRk0n-8q5AXG195QtQ_alSDkTgRBWcXHOJXcO8y3t_zItsNojk2qQ_RbEi9AufxeWcJFo1NpFVK4_6ZKoHicnKPyxMwdaF2lle1zcfUo4/s400/100_2726.JPG" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><div><br />I also got a chance to see the Rock competition at IIML. It was the first time I attended one. With all due respect to those who love rocks of any kind, I really could not digest the whole thing. Being in Mumbai, I had numerous opportunities of visiting rock shows. But I managed not to visit any of them somehow. Here at IIML, on a chilled grey Saturday evening, I finally decided to attend one while I was passing by the brilliantly lit competition area with people screaming and loud guitar accompanying their chorus. My first impression when I entered the competition arena was that it was insane but Power-packed. The lead singer (Though I am calling him a singer for the lack of a better word, most of the time he was screaming in a language I could not comprehend), was moving his head as if he had the shaft of a generator attached to his head and the power supply of the whole campus will go down if he stops. The guitarists and the drummer were louder than the singer and the show could have gone on even without the lead singer. As I watched them perform and watched people near the stage go crazy here’s an excerpt of my conversation with Jigar (Jigar, by the way, is my roomie and is one of those guys who believe they understand and like Rock...)</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Nice show... Seems interesting but I can’t understand why...</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Jigar:</span> Hmmm... (Giving me a ‘I-am-Harsha-Bhogle-and-you-are-Navjyot-Singh-Siddhu’ kind of a look</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Those people near the stage have gone crazy... They are mimicking the guy on the stage... This guy must be like very famous... Who is he?</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Jigar:</span> He’s a participant... Not famous at all... In fact these guys must be watching him perform for the first time...</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Oh... It is the song then... The song he’s singing must be like very famous in the world of Rock.</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Jigar:</span> Not a famous song either... It is his composition...</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Me:</span> Then, how on earth are these guys near the stage able to understand what that hairy and swinging guy on the stage is screaming and enjoying it?</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Jigar:</span> No answer... Just a laugh</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Giving it a second thought, if I get drunk like crazy and have a lot of worries in life regarding my placement, exams, scores, etc even I can enjoy the thing called ‘Rock’. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="">I kept the conclusion to myself as the hairy and swinging guy promised the crowd for third time that it was going to be his last performance and the crowd raised their hands in the air as they did for his earlier performance...</span></div><div><br /></div><div>More on IIML, the event and my take away from the trip once I reach Mumbai... Right now, the battery promises to die in a few minutes and thus time for me to go play some ‘Teen Patti’ in the train...</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-24803233372593075322009-01-13T01:47:00.006+05:302009-01-13T03:57:13.960+05:30B-School, Bad news and a trip to LucknowThird trimester has begun... Before I realize it, first year of my MBA experience is almost over... I realize that I haven't really jotted down anything on my B-School experience as yet and now is the time to do so.<div><br /></div><div>After more than two years of work experience (Or whatever experience that was), I finally joined a B-School. I must admit that given the fierce competition, what people say about different B-Schools in <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">India</span> and different B-School rankings floating around, mine qualifies to be 'A B-School' and not 'The B-School'. The experience has been value adding and interesting nonetheless.</div><div><br /></div><div>After working in the field of stock market for real-time trading software development at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">TCS</span>, I, like any other mortal who likes money, got hooked onto the market. A few certifications and I started thinking that I know how the world of finance works. Finance seemed the most obvious choice for my MBA specialization. I knew I was made for Finance. I was born for Finance. As a matter of fact, I believed that I was born for Computers and everything there is about computing back in 2001 when I had to choose my specialization in engineering ;-). (Fortunately for me it turned out to be not so wrong and I still think I like technology and everything there is about technology and I hope it turns out to be true again this time too)</div><div><br /></div><div>So I became a student again and after a big gap of three years, attending lectures and submitting assignments was quite a task. The strangest part and a significant difference between <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">MBAs</span> and Engineers comes from the fact that unlike Engineers that are programmed to mass-replicate the assignments, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">MBAs</span> seem to be less into team work... This means that I have to do all my assignments on my own. Working hard throughout night, passing on work to group members, last minute changes, pretending to know everything during presentations is fun nevertheless.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other important difference is the improved quality of the pedagogy. With all due respect to the teachers in my engineering colleges (Last time I visited my engineering college, my professors still remembered me... I am dead sure that none of them reads this blog though...), I can safely say that teachers in the B-Schools know what is teaching. Here, there's more to teaching than reading out of a book when you know that no one around is listening. Here, most of the students listen to what the professors have to say and most of the professors know what they are teaching. (The word most is of utmost importance here ;-))</div><div><br /></div><div>The title of the post also says something about bad news. The bad news this time comes from a probable scam in the Munis Bond market in the US. Read this story in New York TImes</div><div><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/business/09insure.html?_r=2&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all">http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/business/09insure.html?_r=2&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all</a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>After Satyam, it is turn of Wipro to get punished from the World Bank. Read this Bloomberg story</div><div><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a9JU.qfdvJ08&refer=india">http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=a9JU.qfdvJ08&refer=india</a><br /></div><div>The disclosure came almost 18 months after the actual ban was imposed. After world bank made the information public, the company did whatever it could to assure market of its negligible share of revenues from World Bank project but the scrip was still hammerred down 10 percentage points. In the context of the overall grim sentiments, markets seem to be in the mood of punishing even the slightest mistakes of the corporates. This also brings out the fact that disclosure norms in India need to be improved.</div><div><br /></div><div>For the last part of the title, I am going to IIM Lucknow a couple of days hence to represent my college for an event there. Visitng an IIM campus was always a dream and I have a chance to put it into reality and that too as an all expenses paid trip by IIML :-). As I am packing my stuff and deciding things to do and movies to wathc during the 24 hours long train journey, I find this post that lists great business related movies of all time</div><div><a href="http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/great-list-of-business-related-movies.html">http://financialrounds.blogspot.com/2009/01/great-list-of-business-related-movies.html</a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Now that I have covered the whole title, I can hit the bed...</div><div><br /></div><div>PS: Song Playing - Kahin to hogi woh - Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na....</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-76138244594954957522009-01-08T01:24:00.005+05:302009-01-08T01:39:56.244+05:30The tale of A Satyam Computers<div>In what promises to be India’s biggest corporate scandal till date, Mr. Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam Computers, one of India’s four premier IT companies, admitted of a fraud through a letter addressed to the board of the company. The controversial and seemingly absurd acquisition proposal of Mytas, an infrastructure company of Satyam promoters by Satyam computers a few weeks back suddenly started making sense once the letter by Mr. Raju to the board of the Satyam was out.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here’s how the story unfolded...</div><div><br /></div><div>Full Text of Mr. Raju’s letter to Satyam Board</div><div><a href="http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-full-text-of-rajus.html">http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-full-text-of-rajus.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Mr. Narayanmurthy reacts... It is important to remember that one Satyam does not make the entire Indian software industry. I believe it is an isolated case</div><div><a href="http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-case-is-warning-for.html">http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-case-is-warning-for.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div>ICAI, ICSI say they are working on the facts of the case... Will soon take action</div><div><a href="http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-indiaicai-moots-strong.html">http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-indiaicai-moots-strong.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Satyam to be thrown out of NIFTY, SENSEX?</div><div><a href="http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-may-be-removed-from.html">http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2009/01/business-satyam-may-be-removed-from.html</a></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The Fraud</span></div><div>There is Rs. 5040 Crores worth inflated cash and bank balance</div><div>Non-existent accrued interest of Rs. 376 Crores</div><div>Understated liability of Rs. 1230 Crores</div><div>Overstated debtor position of Rs. 490 Crores</div><div>For last quarter,</div><div>Overstated Revenues by Rs. 588 Crores and overstated operating profit by Rs. 588 Crores</div><div><br /></div><div>Added together, it is a discrepancy of Rs. 7724 Crores on the face of it for a company having annual revenues of Rs. 10000 odd Crores, a gigantic fraud by Indian standards. </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The After-effects</span></div><div><ul><li>Satyam Scrip on NSE, BSE crashed 77% to Rs. 40.25 on the news and the great story for a seemingly successful Indian IT company ended. Fingers were pointed, concerns were raised, complaints were filed and dreams were shattered. What happened at Satyam and why it happened will be contemplated by regulators and chewed by business media for days to come but I think it is time for some quick action on part of the regulators, corporate India and the government<br /></li><li>The event has left Satyam with virtually no board as most of the independent directors have resigned and promoters will be kicked out. The Acquirer or the government must appoint able directors quickly to ensure business sustainability<br /></li><li>There are about 53000 able employees of Satyam which need to be taken care of. They are at no fault for the current crisis at Satyam and still make Satyam a valuable enterprise<br /></li><li>Many customers of Satyam still expect to be serviced and in case of an unfortunate event of bankruptcy, the contracts should be sold to other Indian companies (By the government of course) so as to make sure that Indian IT story is not dented<br /></li><li>The auditors and their inability to verify even the cash balances of Satyam is a fact that concerns me. There should be higher accountability or responsibility on part of the auditors and those found guilty should be severely punished<br /></li><li>Other Indian IT companies should do all that they can to prevent their image from denting. This includes assuring customers and investors about sound corporate governance (If it exists that is) and introducing transparency and stringency in the disclosures<br /></li></ul></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally, my first recession gives me my first big scam in India. The crisis times like these separate good companies from ordinary ones and expose ill-managed organizations. The crisis could dampen India’s image as a good investment destination. It could affect badly, the businesses of Indian IT, BPO, KPO firms. We should remember that the position India is in, as an emerging and promising market, we cannot afford such mistakes and this event should and hopefully will have enough impact to trigger India’s Sarbanes-Oxley so that such mismanagement can be prevented in the future</div><div><br /></div><div>PS: The word 'Satyam' means 'The truth' in Sanskrit whereas 'Asatyam' means a lie.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-30995133980331988172009-01-03T03:08:00.004+05:302009-01-03T03:20:26.984+05:30My First RecessionThere is a special place for all the firsts in our lives... First day at school, first day at college, first drink, first job, first salary and many other firsts... These firsts in a way are milestones that define the journey of our life. As I was going through the newspaper in the morning today (which was full off grim business outlook, layoffs, etc) it struck me that this happens to be my first recession... Not something to be celebrated but interesting nonetheless... As far as the facts and figures go there has been a recession in India during 1996 but this one is the first one ever since I have become literate in economical sense and thus deserves its share of attention...<br /><br />The times are exciting. Yes, I dare to say so and I say so during a recession at that... Living in this part of the world, I should call it a slowdown rather than a recession as India will still continue to grow with estimated GDP growth rate of anywhere between 5-7% in the next couple of years. I think as a student of the subject of finance the opportunity to learn is immense during these times. Not that there are no opportunities to learn when there is a general feeling of well being all around or when financial system around the globe is operating smoothly as it should unlike in the past few months but because there are a lot of things happening around which I may not seen again in my lifetime. Take for example the historic 700+ billion dollar bailout package in US, historical fall of the stock markets around the globe, the Iceland crisis, the historic rise and fall of crude oil prices and so on...<br /><br />The good thing about slowdowns, recessions and bad times in general is that they help in weeding out the weak and unwanted excesses and result in many reforms or at least that is what we’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ve</span> seen in the past... I intend to look at this recession from an emerging markets’ perspective and focus on following aspects as India rides on this trough of the business cycle:<br /><br /><ul><li>The action in the Indian stock markets</li><li>Actions of RBI in relation with the FED</li><li>The policy reforms in India</li><li>Indian businesses <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">pre</span> and post recession</li></ul>Every week I will be taking up one important event pertaining to these aspects and discuss it at length. Your views, comments and inputs are welcome as always...<div menubottom="0" menuright="0" menutop="0" menuleft="0" activeid="-1" expanded="0" style="display: none;" id="divCleekiAttrib"></div><div menubottom="0" menuright="0" menutop="0" menuleft="0" activeid="-1" expanded="0" style="display: none;" id="divCleekiAttrib"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-8856138981100131132008-12-29T20:53:00.001+05:302008-12-29T20:55:03.114+05:30Fate of US of A?A Collapse of the US of A...<br /><br />Read the following hypothesis by a Russian professor on America’s eventual fate in the ongoing financial crisis. He thinks that rising debt, weakened financial position and growing influence of other countries on US will finally lead to disintegration of US into 6 states. A bold statement, but WSJ seems to be taking note... In fact the world seems to be taking a note...<br /><br />Wall Street Journal Says:<br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html?mod=googlenews_wsj">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123051100709638419.html?mod=googlenews_wsj</a><br /><br />Watch the prognosis from the man himself - Professor Igor Panarin:<br /><a href="http://www.russiatoday.com/guests/video/1839">http://www.russiatoday.com/guests/video/1839</a><div menubottom="0" menuright="0" menutop="0" menuleft="0" activeid="-1" expanded="0" style="display: none;" id="divCleekiAttrib"></div><div menubottom="0" menuright="0" menutop="0" menuleft="0" activeid="-1" expanded="0" style="display: none;" id="divCleekiAttrib"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-46427951426020572942008-11-29T00:34:00.002+05:302008-11-29T00:41:16.710+05:30Terror in Mumbai - What the world thinksEven as the Mumbai continues its battle with the terrorists, the questions which should have been asked a long time back are being asked... India dreams of making Mumbai a financial hub of Asia but the present crisis only emphasizes that a lot is yet to be done... The brand Mumbai and brand India is being damaged...<br /><br />Here's what Wall Street Journal thinks about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: lucida grande;">India's perpetually squabbling leaders have failed to put national security above partisan politics. The country's antiterrorism effort is reactive and episodic rather than proactive and sustained. Its public discourse on Islam oscillates between crude, anti-Muslim bigotry and mindless sympathy for largely unjustified Muslim grievance-mongering. Its failure to either charm or cow its Islamist-friendly neighbors -- Pakistan and Bangladesh -- reveals a limited grasp of statecraft.</span><br /><br />The full article can be read <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122783260486063039.html">here...</a><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122783260486063039.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122783260486063039.html</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-14039611886907468262008-11-27T17:14:00.001+05:302008-11-27T17:19:27.255+05:30Terror in Mumbai<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZZH7rdeQKmRYmWfahJddQg9vy9nxO-PUQKh2ttjJcB1cA-A7Pb-x2HcgAR-IQMOd2kGnUAK5L7pZa37kJHQOqN43hc7wJ6og3Jab3f-7scwyeO_UG9YTnFK75fRBClnAGJIa/s1600-h/Terror_1.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZZH7rdeQKmRYmWfahJddQg9vy9nxO-PUQKh2ttjJcB1cA-A7Pb-x2HcgAR-IQMOd2kGnUAK5L7pZa37kJHQOqN43hc7wJ6og3Jab3f-7scwyeO_UG9YTnFK75fRBClnAGJIa/s400/Terror_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5273301951951859842" border="0" /></a><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Yesterday night was a terrifying night for any Mumbaikar. A few unidentified terrorists attacked the city by resorting to indiscriminate firing and grenade attacks at different places. Even though the standoff between the security forces and terrorists still continues for more than 18 hours now, hundreds are feared dead and many more injured. This number is feared to be far more than what it is right now by the time the operation gets over.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">At around 10:00 PM in the evening yesterday, the terrorists attacked The Leopold Cafe. Terrorists simultaneously opened fire with AK 47s at the iconic “Taj Mahal Intercontinental hotel” and “The Oberoi hotel”. Few more attacks were reported at “The Cama hospital” and “The CST railway station”. A bomb went off in a taxi in Vile Parle. This was followed by terrorists moving from places to places and firing indiscriminately at civilians and security forces. The terrorists held hostage a few guests at the hotels. Mumbai police and ATS retaliated to the attack but lost its important personnel in the process. The news reporters were relentlessly reporting the incidents of firing and portraying the general sentiment of fear which had gripped an otherwise energetic and fearless Mumbai. Telephone networks were jammed as people called their near and dear ones to ensure their safety. Blood, pain, fear and terror could be seen on the streets of Mumbai. As the things moved from bad to worse, the NSG and the paramilitary forces were called in to handle the situation. Kilos and kilos of RDX were recovered from different places. Live bombs diffused at a few places. It looked like a very well planned and coordinated attack on the financial capital of India. The world extended its support to India and vowed again to fight global terrorism with countless futile promises as Mumbai was still fighting the terrorist attacks. It was dawn and the standoff still continued. The people who escaped from the attacked hotels told that the terrorists were asking for people with US and British passports. The Taj Mahal hotel caught fire adding to the commotion. Several explosions were reported within the two hotels. Politicians condemned the attack and gave hour long interviews to the news channels. English cricket team cancelled its India tour midway citing security concerns. Businessmen demanded more security and a more conducive environment for businesses. Deccan Mujahidin owned up the responsibility for the act. Citizens grabbed their share of limelight on news media to report what happened. Mumbai was fighting terror all night as the world’s largest democracy watched. Mumbai was awake all night as the whole world watched.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Reasons for the attack?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lot of theories will be cooked up and contemplated as to why Mumbai was attacked? I think it is not only Mumbai which is being targeted. It is the common man in the normal world being targeted. There have been several such attacks in different cities in India in the past few months. Mumbai, being a symbol of India’s strength is most obvious target. Mumbai has people from all over the India and in fact people from all over the world. An attack on Mumbai would be a symbolic attack on the peace and order in the whole world. Who were the attackers? The rift between the two worlds is pretty much obvious from what has been happening in the world since 9/11 in US. Every now and then we hear a new Mujahidin group popping up and carrying out different terrorist activities. Is there any solution to this? Resolution of long pending problems with neighbours and making efforts to close down the growing rift between the different countries in the Indian continent could be one possible solution.</p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Impact of these attacks?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Having stayed in Mumbai for 25 years of my life, I always thought that Mumbai is a very safe place. But this lifelong held belief is now being shattered. There have been sustained attacks in Mumbai from both internal as well as external factors. For the first time, Mumbai did not live up to its much celebrated spirit. The Mumbai was virtually brought to a halt by these attacks. These attacks will certainly damage brand Mumbai. Businesses will be moved. Venues of events will be shifted. Tourists will think twice before visiting Mumbai. I fear we are losing the ever accommodating, resilient Mumbai for past few years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-weight: bold;" class="MsoNormal">Will Mumbai bounce back?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Will such incidents affect the spirit of Mumbai? Time and again Mumbai has recovered from such terror attacks within days if not hours of the attack to get back to its original pace. Will Mumbai bounce back again? It sure will but I think this time, the attack has had an impact on people of Mumbai. At least I think that the so called land of opportunities is losing its sheen. May it be by being a target of external terror attacks or by being a target of internal friction. I strongly believe in Mumbai and would like to think that Mumbai will think its way out of the present crisis. </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-85966892068802109832008-11-20T22:17:00.007+05:302008-11-29T00:49:13.920+05:30The Mechanic in me...Want to know about the style of writer inside you... <a href="http://www.typealyzer.com/">Here</a>'s a website that analyses your blog and lets you know your writer personality type:<br /><a href="http://www.typealyzer.com/">http://www.typealyzer.com</a><br /><br />Here's what the website has to say about this blog...<br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5OtVmqNhIJZOBii8qQXf3U-1LXQv9b3if9fALGRI_ADF4Gk48TDQpbTebaqHjSgmQ0WHM5o401hUYCHH31qToheIc2GR36NxQA9zp6y7b2jQJaHK7kKmt5GZ984SOU0Q8aHu/s1600-h/Blog_Analysis.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 558px; height: 649px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn5OtVmqNhIJZOBii8qQXf3U-1LXQv9b3if9fALGRI_ADF4Gk48TDQpbTebaqHjSgmQ0WHM5o401hUYCHH31qToheIc2GR36NxQA9zp6y7b2jQJaHK7kKmt5GZ984SOU0Q8aHu/s400/Blog_Analysis.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270783276481348978" border="0" /></a><br />I do not completely disagree I must say...<br />Want to know how it works? Check out <a href="http://www.typealyzer.com/en/about?lang=en">here</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update: 21st Nov 2008</span><br />As pointed out by <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Chetan</span>, the algorithm now classifies me as a 'Duty <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Fulfiller</span>'... A couple of posts here and there and the algorithm has changed my personality in a day... Developers need to look a bit more into the consistency... The brain map hasn't changed though.... Now, analysis of my blog goes something like this<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoq-NHx5Z08mh6zpkPKGwsMsgQBmd37AjI3eikpljFU9lBfoSW_fBFI_kKFfrz8qzmTs_Vv9K6LPyg8VW8EnkoEiQ0hIlDFB9zHuQu6_PTpEV47wj0HJXJsgeYwIoU2C6lMmb/s1600-h/Blog_Analysis_New.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 559px; height: 696px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoq-NHx5Z08mh6zpkPKGwsMsgQBmd37AjI3eikpljFU9lBfoSW_fBFI_kKFfrz8qzmTs_Vv9K6LPyg8VW8EnkoEiQ0hIlDFB9zHuQu6_PTpEV47wj0HJXJsgeYwIoU2C6lMmb/s400/Blog_Analysis_New.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5271026530942953618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update: 28<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">th</span> Nov 2008</span><br />It is 'The Mechanic' again... I think I for some unknown reason like 'The Mechanic' more than 'The Duty <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Fulfiller</span>'. The brain activity map has changed a bit this time indicating that I have started using my brain a bit more since last week. Weird, immature but acceptable nonetheless.<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-27558278434104286122008-11-18T22:55:00.004+05:302008-11-18T23:09:41.940+05:30Is it Marketing? Cajoling?? Or Begging???<span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_57iwvI6n7vzdVBEklUcjLMRlzI2TciyTh9N-66e5BSkLaeNEzb57zUaBVVmeaHwD-wJuY2YKf8_DPO_QJKH7VCpVR1MHJyuVS0q6wx-8eQ6hFlLXCCX4G7uJAl_LgfAPYrU/s1600-h/ICICI.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 327px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT_57iwvI6n7vzdVBEklUcjLMRlzI2TciyTh9N-66e5BSkLaeNEzb57zUaBVVmeaHwD-wJuY2YKf8_DPO_QJKH7VCpVR1MHJyuVS0q6wx-8eQ6hFlLXCCX4G7uJAl_LgfAPYrU/s400/ICICI.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5270050658659962706" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I got this mail from ICICI Credit cards a couple of days back... I do not know who advises ICICI on marketing and promotion but I don't think this kind of promotion will help...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">They say: "</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">"We miss you and would love to see you using our card".<br />Does this mail connect to me or strike a chord? Hell No...<br />Will it serve its purpose with other consumers? I don't think so...<br />Would they still love me so much if I miss them (monthly dues)? No points for guessing<br />Am I overreacting? May be Yes but I hardly expected this from India's largest private sector bank<br /><br />One last question: Did subprime happen because of such cajoling mails?<br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-75364705725319013562008-11-14T21:19:00.002+05:302008-11-14T21:21:30.594+05:30The Ironic Insanity of Modern Man<span style="font-weight: bold;">Second Life affair leads to real life divorce...</span> Check out this Article in The Guardian:<br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/13/second-life-divorce">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/nov/13/second-life-divorce</a><br /><br />A real woman divorces her real husband for misdeeds in virtual world...<br /><br />It is ironic that the more advacned we become technologically, the more insane we become. Foolish as it may sound to me, an average citizen in an emerging country like India, it is a fact and it is very much happening in reality... Gosh, God Help Western World...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-89617371606437183902008-11-08T17:16:00.002+05:302008-11-08T17:19:22.231+05:30Read Read... Till you are Dead...Today, I received a couple of books from the college. While I was carrying the giants home, I realized that the 5 odd Kilograms of paper had around 1800 pages together. I have seven subjects in a trimester on an average. Now, simple mathematics tells me that I am expected to read around 6300 pages of textbooks this trimester. Please, note that this is only the textbook material and reference material suggested would be an equal amount of another 6300 odd pages. Add to these the daily ET and FT articles that the professors expect us students to read. Assuming the fact that I don’t read any of the reference material and I read about 3000 pages of blogs, newspaper articles, etc in a trimester, I am expected to manage about 9300 pages of reading.<br /><br />As a normal B-school student, I can divide my work-day into following activities<br />Sleep – 6 hrs<br />Lectures and other classroom activities – 5 hrs<br />Other activities like competitions, projects, etc – 1 hr<br />News (Or should I say Bad News, etc) – 1hr<br />Eating, Travelling and other unavoidable daily activities – 2 hrs<br /><br />This leaves me with about 9 hours in a day which I can solely dedicate to reading. Now with a speed of about 3 minutes a page, this will take me about 52 days to read the whole thing. Add to this the time that I should dedicate to internalise and contemplate on the matter and the figure crosses 2 months. I want the readers to appreciate the fallibility of the plan terms of tightness of the schedule here...<br /><br />My term ends on 15th of December. This means that I have only 38 days left in this term. And unless I have a Time-turner like Hermione Granger has one in HP, I will not be able to complete the expected reading this trimester.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Conclusion:</span><br />Chetan (Class CR), please arrange for the books as early as possible in the next trimester so that I will be able to read the stuff... ;-)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Food for thought</span>:<br />I wonder how Nidhi (Class Topper) manages to read it all in time ;-), faster reading speed may be...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-83447032659961374092008-11-03T21:56:00.003+05:302008-11-03T22:02:06.518+05:30Check your gender online...Check out this simple script that tries to guess your gender based on the recent sites that you have visited. It works like this... If your surfing habits are skewed towards websites having more male/female visitor ratio, then your Male score increases and if otherwise, your Female score increases. Final verdict for me is that I am a male and so are my surfing habits...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXgBHcBWl-l1M7uPZFmCsoVDdKNdo6CPAD-F7u3veHB2fJUDBds_-eiYx3x6WbtURxd-fCgqawAG61DW-6YoLPrbf_ZwM4C3UcwNt3_jJWTvjFdvGBFGio6u818OQOZiVqzZu/s1600-h/Gender.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 334px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKXgBHcBWl-l1M7uPZFmCsoVDdKNdo6CPAD-F7u3veHB2fJUDBds_-eiYx3x6WbtURxd-fCgqawAG61DW-6YoLPrbf_ZwM4C3UcwNt3_jJWTvjFdvGBFGio6u818OQOZiVqzZu/s400/Gender.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5264469308389685346" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You can check out your own gender at the following link ;-)<br /><a href="http://www.mikeonads.com/2008/07/13/using-your-browser-url-history-estimate-gender/">http://www.mikeonads.com/2008/07/13/using-your-browser-url-history-estimate-gender/</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-6410929718859678372008-10-06T20:54:00.002+05:302008-10-06T21:01:41.392+05:30And there's more...Wall Street Journal also supports the view that the days of fat pay packages in the financial sector are over.<br /><br />http://s.wsj.net/article/SB120933096635747945.html<br /><br />The sector as a whole will surely take time to bounce back but I think the role of raising and managing capital is too important to be 'any-less important'. May be it is my heart and not my brain speaking this time but it has happened in the recessions of the last few decades and though this promises to be larger one and a more painful one, I think it will happen again this time...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-33889729155097654252008-10-06T20:36:00.003+05:302008-10-06T20:43:55.354+05:30Impeccable Timing...I could not have chosen a more (in)appropriate time to do MBA in Finance... Amol Agarwal discusses excesses in the global financial sector and paints a realistic picture of the future here...<br /><br />http://mostlyeconomics.wordpress.com/2008/10/06/quantifying-financial-sector-excesses/<br /><br />On a more brighter side, this will really clean-up the system and prepare the financial sector for next leg of innovation...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-15950092871097724052008-09-03T22:36:00.010+05:302008-09-04T00:52:38.959+05:30Google Chrome: First Take<div style="font-family:georgia;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Google</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"> </span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">has launched a brand new web browser called 'Google Chrome'. It is a bit difficult to understand the need for Google to launch another browser of its own when it was already supporting and funding Firefox </span><a href="http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/0,1000000121,39189475,00.htm"><span style="color:blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span">(Check out here...)</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span">. Naive as I am in business strategy, let me do what I think I am good at... Evaluation of Google Chrome...</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">Let’s look at the features of Google Chrome as stated on Google Blog<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">One box for everything</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">The address bar serves all your browsing needs Web Search, Web history, suggestions and address bar...</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">I think:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Nice, Sleek and well implemented...</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">New Tab Page</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Every time you open a new tab, you will see a visual sampling of your most visited sites; most used search engines, recently bookmarked pages and recently closed tabs.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">I think:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Other than the recently closed tabs feature (because I tend to close some tabs accidently at times... Still getting used to the touchpad...), I think all the other features are either copied or unnecessary or both.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Application Shortcuts</span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Use web apps without opening your browser. Application shortcuts can directly load your favourite online apps.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;">I think:<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">This is a wonderful feature and I have already created a couple of application shortcuts.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Dynamic Tabs</span></span></b></span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">You can drag tabs out of the browser to create new windows, gather multiple tabs into one window or arrange your tabs however you wish -- quickly and easily.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">So what... I mean... Does Google think that I like to play screen design game on my computer?</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Crash Control</span></span></b></span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Every tab you're using is run independently in the browser, so if one app crashes it won't take anything else down.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Much required feature... My only concern is that if each tab creates a new process, then it is surely going to be a problem for a 20-30 tab user... Need to check this one with actual tests... So I hold on to my verdict here...</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Incognito Mode</span></span></b></span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Don't want pages you visit to show up in your web history? Choose incognito mode for private browsing.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">This feature is really cool... For obvious reasons... I know that this feature is gonna be a hit with everyone.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Safe Browsing</span></span></b></span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Google Chrome warns you if you're about to visit a suspected phishing, malware or otherwise unsafe website.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Big deal... IE has this feature... FF has this feature...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> </span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Instant Bookmarks</span></span></b></span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Want to bookmark a web page? Just click the star icon at the left edge of the address bar and you're done.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Remember, the star at the right end of the address bar? Guys, you have copied this from FF...</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Importing settings</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">When you switch to Google Chrome, you can pick up where you left off with all the bookmarks and passwords from your existing browser.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">No one would have used Chrome if this feature was not incorporated. Again, every browser I know of has this feature...</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Simpler Downloads</span></span></b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">No intrusive download manager; you see your download's status at the bottom of your current window.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Frankly speaking, I don’t mind if my download manager opens another window or sits quietly in the bottom of the browser... As long as it is downloading stuff... that is... Nice feature to have though... Just another unwanted feature you see...</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Developer Tools</span></span></b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Included in the menus, are the developer options of "View Source", "Debug JavaScript", "JavaScript console", and "Task Manager".</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvgPY6MOfjImOADJOjwY7n8pvfzbTueF2UgBo9r-UsP7vWQ5h3Cc1rbpDu2EHv3Ld6I968jNcD9VDJnFxtysZG9oJaBVkJHbhqBb6aZ0PTh1TgqTDWG6kXEV4blCV5mrEf4R4/s1600-h/TaskManager.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAvgPY6MOfjImOADJOjwY7n8pvfzbTueF2UgBo9r-UsP7vWQ5h3Cc1rbpDu2EHv3Ld6I968jNcD9VDJnFxtysZG9oJaBVkJHbhqBb6aZ0PTh1TgqTDWG6kXEV4blCV5mrEf4R4/s400/TaskManager.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241863257871396834" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" border="0" /></a><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Good one for people like me who have habit of copying code whenever they come across a cool JavaScript website... Task Manager feature is a big hit for me... The 'stats for nerds' is another wonderful thing... Google also says that API for third party developers is coming soon... Expect loads of Plug-ins in the days to come...</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Configuration</span></span></b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The browser was built with simplicity in mind and there are only a very small set of configuration options to worry about.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I think:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Mission accomplished when you see the minimal configuration settings. No one can beat Google at simplicity. No One...</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></span></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Memory Test</span></span></p></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Now for the most important part... They are fast they say... Let’s check it...</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Scenario:</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">5 Gmail Windows + 3 Google Reader Windows + 5 Google Search + 4 NMIMS Home page Windows + 1 ICICI bank page + 5 Wikipedia Pages + 2 Orkut Pages </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">I checked memory footprint and number of processes when I open all of this in different tabs in FF and Chrome. The results...</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Firefox Memory Footprint</span></span></p></div></span></span></div></div></span></span></div></div><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:100%;" ><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWJk99E4OS0C3XKrvusdY7JUvIR5_ezZ8DnsD5KXfN9DNxn7pLFufgM-hL3JUPJIsj0g-Y53hDNxiS785KtLD6xtXLe1ZIz2vOT-ZBTOPuskTDxkLoo6UQfTtTj-GWjDvscTJ/s1600-h/Firefox.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWJk99E4OS0C3XKrvusdY7JUvIR5_ezZ8DnsD5KXfN9DNxn7pLFufgM-hL3JUPJIsj0g-Y53hDNxiS785KtLD6xtXLe1ZIz2vOT-ZBTOPuskTDxkLoo6UQfTtTj-GWjDvscTJ/s400/Firefox.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241873145564196834" border="0" /></a></span><div style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-family:georgia;"><div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Chrome Memory Footprint</span></span></p><span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxUX0piFOI5RWrAy3Wrzo-REKNpd7dHFEpJDjKpFWe_m-yTd_mJhkFbadwsdZAJpJbgaJXmUF1kAFMQB72OcekLX6uXkCMhjnD54Ao8_IZtawaj2HFYSsDExRsh496ZHcRqEu/s1600-h/Chrome.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSxUX0piFOI5RWrAy3Wrzo-REKNpd7dHFEpJDjKpFWe_m-yTd_mJhkFbadwsdZAJpJbgaJXmUF1kAFMQB72OcekLX6uXkCMhjnD54Ao8_IZtawaj2HFYSsDExRsh496ZHcRqEu/s400/Chrome.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241873874651696450" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" border="0" /></a></span><div><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></div> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The difference is pretty clear... New process with each tab means loads of processes and loads of memory usage... The bugs related to memory leaks, improper garbage collection, etc will only be evident after I use it for some more time...</span><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><b><span style="color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span">Final Verdict</span></span></b></span><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style=";font-size:100%;color:black;" ><span class="Apple-style-span">Some features, it scores well... Some features are copied... But all in all, I will give it a score of 3 on 5. (See how a mediocre job hurts when you set a very high benchmark for yourself...)</span><o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-88618150958792177852008-08-20T02:57:00.000+05:302008-08-20T10:07:37.133+05:30Ma... Main Ghar Aa Raha Hoon Ma...Yesterday, I went to my home after almost a couple of months. Yes, it had been two months since I had visited my home and last few days my mom called me every day and asked me “Beta, tune ghar chod to nahi diya?” I had hard time concincing my mom that I was busy with all the presentations, case studies and other unimportant things that I was doing in life and that was the only reason for me not showing up every week which and it meant that I was still the same old loving son that left the home a couple of months back.<br /><br />On a serious note, life has been a little hectic since I have joined NMIMS for my two year MBA course. I am living the hostel like life that I always wanted to experience. Even though it means doing a lot of daily chores like waking up myself (And my roomies) every morning, ironing my clothes, making my own breakfast, washing my clothes, etc. Life is enjoyable. At the moment I am staying in a rented apartment about an hour and a half from my home. (Why? Because, I don’t want to spend one eighth of my time travelling in a bus or a train...)<br /><br /><strong>My typical day goes something like this:<br /></strong><br />It starts with me, cursing at my alarm clock and getting up at around 07:30 AM in the morning after snoozing it for an hour or so. That follows a newspaper reading session of about half an hour when I read the morning newspaper and imagine myself drinking mom-made tea like good old days. After getting ready to go to college and managing a quick breakfast (And missing it most often because I am late), I start off for the college.<br /><br />Auto-Rickshaw or a 20 minute walk from my place takes me to my college. Then there is the usual daily dose of enlightenment from some fascinating professors on some even more fascinating subjects which I pretend to understand ;-). That leaves me with only half of the day for doing something useful. At around 1 o’clock in the afternoon, I eat some Biryani, Pulao, etc along with a cup of tea in the canteen. That follows a lazy afternoon session of project/ case study discussion where people work diligently on some critical aspects of the project presentation like font of the presentation, colours to be used in the presentation, etc sidelining some of the more trivial aspects such as content of the presentation, etc. After fighting for a cause that no one in the group is sure about but everyone in the group wants to fight for, there’s again a chai-session at the tapri outside the college.<br /><br />By this time, I realize that I have only a fourth of the day left with me to do something useful (In the MBA lingo, something that adds value to my being). Then, after all the day’s hard work, at around 6 o’clock in the evening, there is a mail from Chetan (He is class CR and is the actuator, stimulator, guide of our otherwise lazy class) stating that the presentation we’ve been fighting out about has been postponed to the next week and now we have another presentation instead. People utter some good words of appreciation for Chetan and this sets stage for another similar fighting-cum-discussion session that runs well into the night. At around 9 o’clock in the night (Or night for normal people), my stomach starts making me aware of its presence and I head back to canteen for a quick bite. After finishing the presentation (rather finishing off the presentation), I head back home where my dinner is waiting for me in the dabba that that black, old, shabby man delivers. Now, the man and his appearance is very important here because I suspect that he’s the one making the dabba indicated by the little smirk that he shows me every time. I eat my dinner, watching Olympic game highlights and contemplating whether that shabby delivery boy is the one who actually makes my Tiffin.<br /><br />Then, there is a chatting-cum-music hearing-cum-reading-cum-mail checking-cum-googling-cum-contest registering-cum-previous contests’ result checking-cum-frowning at the result session that starts at around 11:30 PM. This is when I end my day at around 02:00 AM in the morning.<br /><br />On a lighter note, this schedule also has some interesting sports, competitions, paper presentations, festivals, excellent guest lectures, wonderful regular lectures which add a spice to the whole thing. I think this hectic but enjoyable schedule is something that makes B-School experience pleasing.<br /><br />Coming back to the topic, I wasn’t able to go home for some time because of such self-inflicted hectic (or is it?) schedule and finally, after getting ultimatum from my sister on Rakhi, I went to my home and in its cosy comfort again.<br /><br />You don’t realise the importance of your home and your family unless you are away from it for some time, especially if you’ve lived in your home all you life... like me. I used to take everything for granted when I was staying at my own home for 25 years but it is only now that I have come to understand the importance of my home and family. On that senti note and with “Koi Aaney Wala Hai...” from Strings playing in the background, I think I should head to bed now...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7372607.post-49601396150759830942008-07-10T11:44:00.003+05:302008-07-10T11:49:29.083+05:30Goal"What is your ultimate goal in life?" That was the question I was asked in the 'Values in Management' class the other day... I must admit that I felt the same what Rakhi Sawant would... when asked “What do you think about being sensible?”<br /><br />“I want to be happy”, I said - An all inclusive and simple answer. But, what is it that makes me happy? Money, Power, Friends, Family, What? It is very uncharacteristic of me to think about such things, but one needs a mission statement in order to accomplish something. Ideally, I would want to accomplish whatever there is to be accomplished in the world. But, given the fact that there are only 55*365*24 hours of life left (in the best of conditions) to achieve whatever I want to achieve, I must cut down my wants to a few.<br /><br />I know for sure that the money drives the world and can be traded for other mundane things in life... That makes money the most important thing to gain. What is money if you cannot put it to use for your loved ones... That means I want a very good family and friends with whom I can share my life (and money), go on a lot of vacations and spend a lot of time.<br /><br />There are several ways to achieve my first want. Let me start with the simple ones...<br /><br />I can just do nothing about my want and let my luck (which has been a not seen, not heard, not felt thing till now) play its own role. May be I will continue to do what I am doing at present and expect some amir baap ki beti to marry me or maybe I will win a billion dollar lottery some day. Again, given the reality of lack of luck in my life and my inability to attract girls like that guy in the axe advertisement (Read as my decency), I need to find out better ways to earn money.<br /><br />This leaves me with only one more option... Study a lot, earn a handful of degrees, work with the best of the companies at best of the positions earning best of the salaries and earn money. But, more salary means more work, more business trips and less time with family and friends. That means my two wants are conflicting and I need to maximize both when both are negatively correlated (Yes, I also have a stats professor who asks me questions and he teaches me things that help me analyse things like correlation coefficient between the number of words spoken by the professor in the class and the number of paper-planes created-launched and crashed by the students in the class)<br /><br />Jokes apart, I think when there is a conflict between my two wants, I would prefer my family and friends over money. I just hope that my family and friends make a lot of money so that I need not face such hard times ever ;-)<br /><br />Among the other breaking news, I have been starving for a few days now and extracting all the nutrients that I need for survival from the cutting chai served at a tapri near college. The phenomenon has obviously taken a toll on my health and I have not been able to pretend to concentrate in the classes these days. This may seem to be an overstatement considering the fact that I live in Mumbai but I have really come to understand the worth of ghar ka khana while I have been away from home. So, weekend or off-day food at home is like a grand party for me these days.<br /><br />Anyway, that is enough for now; a garma garam cutting followed by lot of knowledge-imparting classes are waiting for me...<div class="blogger-post-footer">This is a personal website. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent those of my employer's.</div>Prasadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01792227482753058617noreply@blogger.com8