Democracy??

The Government banned the screening of 'Da Vinci Code'. Can you see the wry smile on Mona Lisa's face??

There she goes....

Seems that Papa Bear has brought along with him all of his family members to visit us.. The Indian Stock markets are witnessing an amazing fall over the last 3 days of trading. Experts attribute a myriad of reasons for the plunge. Rising Interest rates across the globe, the US Consumer Price Index, the weakness in FTSE due to metal stocks leading to losses in India, Brazil and Mexico are some of the causes being stated. But for all the small retail investors whose love affair with the markets has gone rough of late, the only real matter of concern is 'Will all my f***ing money ever come back? Or Will she desert me like the vamp who comes in the movie I saw this weekend?'

Last Thursday when the stock markets crashed by over 800 points, the sharpest fall in history, Finance Minister termed it as a 'manufactured crisis'. Calling it uninformed reporting, which led to the market crash, he said: "There is a lesson for everybody. Uninformed reporting and reaction to uninformed reporting is not a desirable thing." If the stock market slumped because of the "uninformed reports", put out by a news agency, the logical thing would be for it to bounce back with a vengeance this week onwards. Instead, it haS slumped even more today. Smell something fishy here??

I found a few of the folks here heading to Antartica. They seemed to have taken the statement 'Markets heading south' too seriously. And they also seemed to know that polar 'bears' are not found in the Antartic :-)

Bridge over Troubled Water

One of my all-time favourites from Simon and Garfunkel. One of the best lyrics ever written for a song.

When you’re weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I’m on your side. when times get rough
And friends just can’t be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you’re down and out,
When you’re on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I’ll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

Of Mocking Birds and Reservations

To Kill a Mocking Bird' by Harper Lee is one of the all-time favourites for many. Its on my list too. The book makes a deep impact on the reader and is arguably, the best of the lot, when it comes to taking up cudgels against the torture and pain people were subjected just because they were not born with white skin. The title of the book is taken from the advice given to the main protagonist Jean Louise Finch and her elder brother Jem by their dad Atticus about firing their air rifles at birds: "Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird". The blue jay is a very common bird, and is often perceived as a bully and a pest, whereas mockingbirds do nothing but "sing their hearts out for us". Metaphorically, several of the book's characters can be seen as "mockingbirds", because they are constantly attacked despite doing nothing but good. The mockingbird represents innocence, and to kill one is to metaphorically kill innocence. Superstar of yesteryears Gregoty peck won the Oscar for best actor, playing the role of Atticus Finch in the movie adaptaion of the novel.

This was a 1960 novel, and to some, it might seem irrelevant in the present day. But come to think of it, one could easily draw a parallel with the arm twisting going against the 'so-called' forward class of the present day society. By introducing reservations against them in every sphere of development is very much similar to killing mocking birds just because they are easy prey. And the proposed reservations in IITs and IIMs is the limit. The reservation system is spreading its wings and it is sometimes scary to imagine what the future has in store. A few years down the line, do not be surprised to see the boundary rope shortened for a non OC player the next time India is playing Pakistan, a four hit by him is counted as six and he is allowed to get out twice in each innings.

Life is bugging, but....

Ever wondered how - if you work in software development - your life and thoughts are filled with bugs. They are there everywhere, hidden inside every piece of the Goddamn code, making life difficult for everyone. To bug is to pester or to annoy. So technically bugs get their name from that little insect or microorganism which infects human beings and animals causing that irritating disease. Software bugs are in no way less threatening than their biological counterparts. While the biological ones drive down ones' physical energy levels, the software bugs make life a living hell for the person who develops the software, the one who tests it and last but not the least the user himself... Imagine a world without bugs, so peaceful and serene... There would be no time wasted in solving those and it would spare many a broken heads and punctured noses. But hey, will we still be able to retain our jobs if there are zero bugs??? On second thought, the answer is a 'No'... So maybe bugs drive employment in the country and they help me earn a living.. They aint too bad after all.......

The Decision Maker - Part II

Do you enjoy solitude?? If you aint sure yet, its high time you took a decision on this.. Ok, I'll cut the crap and jump to my topic. This is Part II of my previous post. There are moments in life when we want to just stop, take a deep breath, run away from the maddening crowd and be alone all by ourselves. Just me and myself. Its definitely a wonderful experience and it helps out in straightening quite a few things out.

But in our routine, we hardly find time and a place where we can be all by ourself, without anyone interfereing and self evaluate, except maybe the toilet commode.. So next time you wanna make that difficult decision, where do I see you heading to???

Genesis of a Decision maker

Decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. Every decision-making process produces a final choice. This is how Wikipidea defines the process of decision making, considered by many management gurus as the most important criteria to judge a manager. The importance of decision making holds true even in our everyday life, ranging from deciding on what to eat to which career to choose and what to study. Its all about making the right decisions at the right time. Another important aspect that should be taken into account is the interdependence of this ability with other factors like confidence, courage and self belief. It is said that Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. So it becomes imperative for us to be courageous to be able to make decisions. And decision making is all about believing in yourself. As Henry Ford smartly puts it " Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.". Yes, so we just need to make a beginning somewhere. After all, it is not as difficult as it seems to be.....