The frog comes out of its well

The age old story of the frog staying back in its well and considering it to be the entire world is known to most of us. And I almost enacted the frog in its behaviour for the past 30 days or so.

But today was a deviation from the story - a welcome one at that. Thanks to the ever changing schedules at my MBA course some of the students had a "field" trip today, and I was among the fortunate few. Well, fortunate in terms of getting out of college and getting to see a new place, not so much in terms of what one had to endure to do that.

The trip was divided into two parts, first we had to go to SATS - Singapore Air Terminal Services; and the second was a visit to one of the NTUC contact centers. One was left to wonder the utility of such a trip to future MBAs (our group is specializing in IT) - and everyone had her/his own views about it at the end of the day. While the presentations were as dry and dull as they could possibly be, for me it was a welcome change from the same old routine on campus - though this meant I would miss out on my daily dose of chatting with my girl-friend (she is almost my fiancee, nay, my wife).

Learning or no learning, the day was damp in most parts, with a cool breeze of air giving us the respite. The SATS personnel ended up talking about their company in general and HR practices in particular. One was amused at their novel way of defining an "in-house" IT project - they meant no development or support (that was to be done by the vendors), but since they "owned" this particular product with business users providing all the know-how of the system, they had all the legitimate rights to call it an "in-house" project!!

The mid-trip break took us to Century Square Mall, or thereabouts. A swift search for easing up our taste buds meant we spread out in little groups to find what was suitable. The vegetarians had a rough time in getting a decent meal, and the rest of us tried out the chicken and sea food with utmost delight. We were joined by some other students from the college as we left for the NTUC contact center.

Again, although the personnel in the contact center did their best in explaining the nitty-gritty's of their operations, very few of us seemed interested in their prophesies!! A pizza bite before we left back for the campus meant that I had spent the most in a single day on food after I landed in Singapore. Relax folks, history and my burgeoning waist line tells me I can break such records easily :-).

The frog finally decided to pop back to its well, but hey - isn't it cool for a frog to croak out its thoughts in the middle of the night for everyone out there? You bet it is!!

Cricket is still a funny game

This statement was reiterated all over again the past weekend in the Indo-SA test series. Indians have had a terrible time in the ODI leg of the South African tour - they have returned back to their hopeless ways of playing cricket, meaningless and without application. With a 4-0 thrashing that they received from the South Aricans in the ODI series, one feels even the best of Indian supporters gave them no chance what-so-ever to give a real fight to the opponents, let alone winning a test match in foreign soil.

History was against them (they had not won a single test match in South African soil), and so was the formbook. With a certain Saurav Ganguly returning back to add some meat (if not matter) to the middle order, one realized that the Indian cupboard is bare - with no fresh talent to grab a position in the team. Those youngsters who had been given chances were disappointing. The bowlers were performing decently, but was it enough?

Come the D-day and India decided to grit it out in their performance on field. A determined batting approach ensured a respectable total on the scoreboard with Ganguly top scoring with a patient 51 not out. But the South Africans had not anticipated what was coming at them. Awesome bowling from the Indians, primarily from Sreesanth, meant the South Africans were shot out for 84, playing out a mere 25.1 overs in all.

From then on, the Indians had to play out to the set theme - and they emerged victorious with more than 5 sessions to spare in the game. On a different part of the globe, the Australians continued their English route, and duly captured back the Ashes. But the Indians had entered a new territory, they have test victories in all the test playing nations now. And they achieved this in a period which was full of turmoils and uncertainities.

The South Africans were given a rude awakening. The roles had reversed, the hunters became the hunted...and man of the match Sreesanth saw the funnier side of it as evident here.

A certain someone...

...is here to update you with the latest from Dubai. It is hot, it is humid and it is all sand around the place this individual lives in.

Phewww...it has been hectic right from day one - the program is structured such that you go back to your villas (that's what my hostel is) only to study or sleep. I must admit I have been a lame duck doing nothing more than that - except for a trip to a shopping mall (that was to buy a SIM card).

Call it my love for the motherland or my love for nature - I hate Dubai....

It is a city which is almost eternally into construction and infrastructure upgradation. The outcome - you have posh residential districts/ apartments/office buildings/malls...picture perfect roads and so many other construction wonders [one has to check Burj-Al-Arab, amazing place - ofcourse I can't afford even peeping in the place as of now ;-) ]. They have managed to create a buzzing city in the centre of a desert ....one realizes that when you go to the outskirts of the city. I stay in an area which is called - Al-Barsha - the only thing you see here is majestic villas - and sand. You have no people moving outside - even in the evenings when the sun is down....and one who comes from the second most populous nation certainy doesn't feel amused.

The misery continues in term of the food we get here - the prices charged in my college campus and residential area are so exorbitant that one has to resort to veggies most of the time :(......with all due respect to the vegetarians, imagine having to survive with ghaas-foos (that too in a desert!) when you are known to nod the head in disapproval for any all-veg meal.

And the icing on the cake is the hostel blues that one has had to face over the past 4 weeks...the college admin hasn't been up to the mark and things ranging from non-availabilty of water to shifting villas to avoid being thrown out of the community (municipality served a notice to vacate the premises coz we were an overwhelming number of bachelors staying in a residential community).

All that has been negated in a certain way by the excellent faculty that have visited the campus since day one. One feels a bit safe if you judge the program based on the faculty/curriculum for your ROI, but mind you - am just talking about a bit, one is never satisfied enough ;-)

My attempt at reviewing a book

Book Review of Free Lunch, Easily Digestible Economics
Authored by David Smith

Book Introduction

Free Lunch, Easily Digestible Economics by David Smith is an attempt on the part of the author to help people, especially non-economists, come to terms with the rather despised subject of economics. It is despised not because of what it deals with – but because of the clarity, or the absence of it, that most of the texts on economics provide. Something that is an integral part in the life of the common man has to be understood properly by the hoi-polloi, but unfortunately that has not been the case with most of the books on the subject so far. Free Lunch has been a welcome change on that front – and as the author claims, it does not seek to replace the gargantuan manuals full of mathematical equations and diagrams; but it does intend to make the life of a person easier with real life examples and analogies associated with several economic instruments and terminologies.

Book Layout

The author has managed to draw a wider section of audience to the book by making it a light-read, interspersed with a generous dose of humor and wit. The title of the book builds up the interest of the reader – many of us have heard the phrase “There is no such thing as a free lunch”. The book tries to find out why such a phrase is apt for the society which we live in. The book layout – in tandem with the title – has been set out as a meal plan with appetizers, a set of main courses, desserts and coffee. Many well known economists such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes don the apparel of guest speakers and their contributions to economics have been examined in the book. Works and beliefs of some lesser known economists such as Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, Milton Friedman and John Stuart Mill have also been discussed by the author. The hand-book is complete with a glossary of key words/phrases mentioned at the end; and for the benefit of the interested reader, Smith goes on to mention economic websites worth visiting and a few recommended books on the subject.

Book Content

The book starts with the general definition for economics and a discussion on housing prices with an analogy with potatoes. The discussion moves on to illustrate how the economic behavior of people affects the functionality of the financial system. Adam Smith, the father of modern economics, is then introduced as the guest speaker and his ideologies in The Wealth of Nations are discussed briefly. The concept of “the invisible hand” is described at length and so are issues like division of labour and economic freedom.

The book then talks about the concept of macro-economics, economics as a whole rather than about individual parts of the economic system. Value added tax (VAT) and saving tendency of people is discussed after that. The content drifts to consumer spending, government spending, investment, exports and imports and how they end up as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Smith then discusses other economists namely as Robert Malthus, David Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill and their philosophies.

After that Smith tries to educate the reader about businesses, individual firms and how they operate. Costs and profit making, monopolies in business, real world competition, investments in business, business game theories and business ethics is discussed over a few pages at this stage of the book. The role of internet in business also makes waves in print at this stage. The discussion veered to another giant in the economic world, Karl Marx. Marxism is discussed briefly and Marx’s view on capitalism is showcased. Marx’s Das Kapital is mentioned as one of three greatest books on economics ever written. Another important aspect of the economics is then discussed – namely the role of governments. Government spending is spoken about in an elaborate manner – why is it necessary, what is the right level of spending, how to multiply government spending, all about taxes and the budget, various fiscal rules, response to the taxes imposed, etc. are mentioned briefly.

Smith then dedicates an entire chapter to John Maynard Keynes describing how influential he has been for the various economic theories over the years. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money gets a mention in the book, so does other Keynesian philosophies. No discussion on economics is complete without the reference to Money. The origin of money and monetary policies are discussed, the reader is made to understand how it is related to inflation and growth, and how monetarism is linked to economics.

So far Smith had been discussing economics with the British or European context. He then describes the American connection to the entire story – and how they have been the true leaders in the world of economics in the recent past. Key American economists like Irving Fischer, Paul Samuelson, Milton Freidman, Robert Lucas, etc. are mentioned after that. In the final stretch of the book, Smith addresses common economic debates that have been occurring over a long period of time. He tries to analyze key questions like why are some countries richer than others, is globalization a bad thing, is Euro a good idea, etc.

The Critique’s Approach

There is a slight glitch or two in this attempt by David Smith to educate the reader on the not-so-glamorous world of economics. Smith has based his entire discussion more-or-less with examples of the United Kingdom economy. While the general concepts and scenarios are applicable to one and all – still a variety in the settings could have helped the reader to co-relate the issue with her/his surroundings. There is a cardinal mistake on Smith’s side as he wrote the book with a certain bias towards capitalism and its merits. Ideally he would want the readers to have knowledge on different aspects of economics, not impose his beliefs on why a certain philosophy is right or wrong. While he mentions Karl Marx, his theories are showcased as wrong because they are not working in most part of the world as of today. Smith also mentions Japan, China and “tiger economies” of Asia – but hasn’t thrown light on how they operate – for there one could have been presented with a different point of view.

Conclusion

The book has been successful in making one understand how different elements of economics combine to shape the financial system. Without complicating things, Smith has managed to create awareness of the various economic principles - there will always be a category of people whose appetite has been whetted further and they would like to delve more into the subject. At the end of it, the reader will be assured that she/he can deal with the finer nuances of economics and related topics.

Loan Drone

I am not doing any justice to my blog. I am not a frequent writer, not because I don’t have anything to tell – but because I am too lazy to jot down the feelings/incidents that take place. That classifies me as someone who cannot be a writer material – whatever – I will write when I feel like doing so – as I am doing now.

The past few days have been pretty significant – as have been the recent months. After having secured an all important admission to one of the B-schools, taking that education loan was a major decision that I took. It involves financial obligations – and I am totally against adding unnecessary hazards to my already hazardous life (we all have this affinity to hazards you know!). All said and done – in spite of my quarrels with my parents (read my father), I took the loan eventually. Sadly - I am 8 lakhs (plus interest) under – and nothing can change the figures now.

Getting the loan sanctioned and then sending it to the institute was a big headache. Unlike others, I had the advantage of "knowing" influential people to get things moving. Everything took place in a short span of 3 working days. That included my parents moving to Kolkata, me moving to Kolkata, the trip to Sambalpur – and a final formality back at Bhubaneswar. The 3 days of train travel left me black faced – that’s because of all the soot and dirt that I accumulated in my face, hairs and body. It took me an hour of dedicated bath time to feel a bit cleansed – so much so for better railway facilities!

V!

The following write up has no contribution from my side – I have just reproduced it from the forward I received by my friend. I found the content a touch Venerable in the sense it makes up for some Very Voluble Voluntary writing by some Vivacious (V)idiots…(*_*)

--Quote—
See how the intellect is flowing at onsite..Read from the bottom
Context : All of us went to watch a movie called ' V' for vendetta y'day and these are the crapivity of the screenplay writer.

Regards,
Ujjwal
------------------------------------
Vanda

Thanks,
Arindam Choudhury
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Does "V" stand for "victory," "virtue," or "vile" and "vapid"?

Regards,
Santosh

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Oye chaaasiiii......

Regards,
Anurag

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Ek Do Tin Chaar band karo yeh 'V' waali atyachar....

Regards,
Judhajit

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Remember, Remember the Fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot

Thanks,
Arindam Choudhury

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"Behind this mask is a man, and behind this man is an idea. And ideas are bulletproof."

Regards,
Sumit.

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Vumit u r just vivacious!

Regards,
Judhajit
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Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both
victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere
veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished,
as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands
vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin
vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious
violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as
a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day
vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of
verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my
very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Regards,
Sumit.
--UnQuote—
Ve Vend!
(The End)

Green Revolution!!

The Bird/Avian Flu scare in India has prompted this chicken (& chick ;-) ) lover for the past 24 odd years to turn green – not with envy – but with desperation to eat something reasonable. It has been around 10-12 days since I laid my hands on a chicken tangdi – the very thought of which makes me sad for a while. Fish, Mutton or shrimp/prawn don’t really make up for the absence of chicken in my life – the agony of waiting this long (I don’t even know HOW long) has forced me to look into other culinary delights.

Yesterday when I went shopping for vegetables with one of my friends – I felt good – real good to see various shades of green on the veg mart. For the people who dislike monochrome – let me assure you that the red, purple, yellow, orange hues in the tomatoes, brinjals (eggplant), lemon, melons, etc. made the canvas in my eyes as proud as the ones in front of Pablo Picasso in his heydays! Unfortunately it was my friend who needed to shop – and not me. I made up my mind to stock the refrigerator back in my apartment with mint fresh veggies in the forthcoming weekend – and grabbed a few fresh looking capsicums in the bargain.

This morning when I was about to leave for office, our cook (Aurobinda) asked me what to prepare for lunch and dinner. I instructed him to make any curry from the vegetables we have. To my dismay he uttered the same set of vegetables he prepares on a daily basis (or so I feel)….and I yelled at him for not bringing other vegetables. He claimed that there aren’t many vegetables on offer at this time of the year (wasn’t this his excuse some 4 months back as well?). I stormed off the house in disgust and placed a bet with him – next time we go to the veg mart; if we get any additional vegetable in the market which was not in his usual list – I shall deduct 100 bucks from his monthly salary – if not I won’t grumble again. Not so fair deal I guess – he ought to be rewarded if he won – but then, I know I will win – for I have seen them all in the mart already. This is Renaissance revisited – a chick(en) lover turns into an agitated activist – a Green revolutionary at that!