New Start

Iam totally looking at revamping my blog.From the layout ,to my style of writing,topics etc.Am also planning to delete a few posts.Somehow over the years I felt maybe I have come across as being very phoney.Iam going to strive to write about topics that are close to my heart in simple and lucid terms.I need feedback from people ..any suggestions?

Tarey Zameen Par

Iam not going to dole out a review of this movie.Neverthless ,I am going to explain as to how this movie relates to me personally.

From time immemorial I had the fear of numbers.If alphabets danced in front of Darsheels eyes,numbers whizzed past my eyes.In some math exams I would end up writing four digit numbers with two digits reversed.This aberration was rectified as I grew older,but my fear still remains.My fear had translated to absolute tortoise level speed when it came to solving problems.My greatest ordeal till date was preparing for an exam called CAT.I mean when an exam requires for speed and accuracy,and you realise you absolutely are a dodo what do you do?Well thats a long story in itslef.Finally I persevered and got into where Iam at present.Recently as I was watching TZP I realised maybe I was dyslexic with respect to numbers.

Another particularly weak area of mine is remembering directions.I freaked out totally and realised maybe Iam going overboard and getting harried over silly things.I tried to consciously remember directions and it kind of works.I am getting better in this aspect.

My fear of numbers still remain.My dad used to say it was kind of a mental make up.I forced myself to believe him.Maybe there were less neurons or whatever that connect different parts of my brain which pulls down its processing speed.

I do not want to believe him though.I am going to make small but significant steps towards surpassing this fear.Maybe solving puzzles will help.Maybe mental calculations will.Any ideas guys??

"Ich Bin sehr Glucklich"

The title roughly translates to convey the fact that "Iam very Happy".People who know me well will be astounded that Iam happy.They are used to me cribbing and fretting all the time,so this sudden happiness might seem unlike me.

I was motivated to title this post in German because Iam working for a German bank at present.My happiness is attributed to the fact that I have luckily got a great porject to work on.Work is interesting and I seem to be performing well as of now.My manager motivates our team to perform well relentlessly.I really admire his committment and unswerving desire to make this period of one month fruitfull for us .Apart from my manager my teammates totally rock.We all seem to sync well and there is great exchange of ideas.

The vicinity surrounding work is totally cool.All the major hangouts are stationed barely five mins from office.The building where I work is surrounding by swanky shopping outlets .For a shopaholic like me this is total HEAVEN .I am still looking to take out some time and buy myself some hot couture for Diwali.

All in all Iam having a great time.

Bad Luck??

Thomas Jefferson once said

"I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work,the more I have of it."

This quote is in line with yet another that says "A person is lucky when his preparation meets oppurtunity".

These quotes have reiterated the fact that "luck " persay does not exist.A person acheives something only due to meticulous hardwork and carefull planning.

Why am I talking about luck?Well recently I felt I was unlucky,things had gone against me .
Reflecting about it, I saw a pattern as to why I was in this kind of a fix.It was not bad luck or any other jargon of self pity.It was sheer procastination.There was a serious issue at hand to be attended to.I was doing bits and pieces of it.I did not use my discretion in trying to take a clear decision in what I was looking for.This continued for about a week and finally I land up in a kind of fix.Life is all about the choices you make..goes the adage..and here I was deserving every bit of what had happened.

For a month now,I will be sitting in the shopfloor of a top manufacturing company,while I had oppurtunities to enter a multinational bank or a fmcg.

Indolence...

Iam what you would call in Tamil parlance a"Vadi katiya somberi"( which means filtered ,concentrated lazyness).I hate being lazy.I continously strive to stope being lazy, but alas habits die hard.

Talking about personality,I took a MBTI test recently.The test is used to determine your personality type and give you a four lettered assessment .My type was ESTP.Extroverted,Sensing,Thinking and Perceiving .The perceving part is what irritates me.A "Perceiving "person is one who plans rarely ,who goes with the situation and who is not comfortable with schedules.The downsides of a perceiving person is that they get scatterbrained and tend to dvelve into enjoying or lazying around all the time.

There is continous conflict in my mind to shift from being a 50 %Perceiving person to a 100%Judging person(person who is better planned ,blah blah),but impediments are many.Firstly its the fact that Iam lazy .Secondly I seem to have lost all my will power in doing serious things.My will power in doing trivial things is absolutely brilliant.I can for example ,clean my room at 2.00 in the night.I can read a days news paper at 12.00 in the night ,when probably the next days paper is being printed.

Another scary aspect of being lazy is the fact that it is punishable according to Indian Philosophy.A tamasik person is compared to a buffalo which does nothing and lazes around.Basically a tamasik person doesnt perform his duties to the best of his abilities.The punishment however is maniflod.He is tortured or sent to hell or whatever.Reminds me of the punishment meted out to a lazy person in the movie "Anniyan".

Dad is convinced Iam lazy due to all the pampering I receive at home.But then something has to be done about it.Iam a student now, then an employee later, and probably a wife etc etc.I cant be the princess of my Dad forever.

"Sri Gurubyo Namaha"

This is how we were taught to address our teachers in School.Teachers took pride in their students calling them with respect and said “Sukhi Bhava”. I often used to wonder if teachers have ever made such a mark in my life that I need to place them just after my Mom and Dad(“Matha , Pitha, Guru, Deivam”).

Other than my KG teachers who practically reared me for 6 months ,in the absence of my mother , I cannot think of any teacher who I would be obliged to for life. Through high School and college , I showed my due respect towards them , but held no soft corner for any of them.

Things seem to be changing now. I have been taught by some amazing professors in the past four months Apart from their subject mastery, they provided some valuable insights that will remain etched in my memory. The insights provided are not listed by them in any order or given as a ready made list of things to follow. They are to be observed and learned form these maestros / practitioners who walk their talk.

Firstly I have to start with my beloved dean (Professor Of Accounting at Kellogs). Seventy decades of existence in our Mother Earth has only made him more energetic. He is the embodiment of a person who is passionate about whatever he does. He strives to achieve excellence and stresses on the need for students to amass knowledge in order to measure up to the immense competition in the corporate world. His genuine affection towards students is characterized by the fact that we fondly call him “Uncle”.

Mr Paul Prabhakar (Associate Dean at the Illinois Institue Of Technology) , apart from being a wonderful Marketing Professor,stressed on the need for us to be risk taking and develop a professional coterie in our area of work as we go along.


I would be committing an act of blasphemy by not mentioning a Professor by name Mr Nirmal Gupta. This professor is just beyond description. Awarded the Best Faculty of ISB for three years, this professor is deemed to be the Best Marketing professor in the country. His pedagogy style just leaves one dumb founded. Apart from his absolute mastery over the subject his humility and affection stands out like jewels in a crown.
His dedication towards his profession is absolutely unshakeable.


These three examples are only the tip of an iceberg. My learnings form these professors are much more. Will write a detailed post some other day.

I am already sleeping over the computer, have to start writing an assignment and its one o clock in the night. God spare my lazyness.

Economics of Harry Potter

Two major events relating to Harry Potter has happened over the past two weeks .One the release of the movie” Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix”, and two the eagerly awaited book,” Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”. Since Iam a huge Potter fan, I have tried here to understand the economics relating to the teenage wizard.

Firstly Harry Potter, as a popular series of books is a huge industry for publishers. Scholastic holds the publishing rights for the book in the US while Bloomsbury has a absolute hegemony in allover the world rights (excepting US).The publishers do not however control the dynamics of the market. Retailers like Wal-Mart, Online stores like Amazon and Traditional Bookshops are all vying against each other for a share in the Potter Pie. This is where the issue of pricing comes in .Wal-Mart and Amazon has offered a flat discount of 50%, while the bookstores are not able to match their prices. Bookstores are skeptical about making any profits through the sale of the books this year, while Wal-Mart and Amazon.com are sure to rake in profits due to their competitive pricing strategies. Their pricing can be understood as follows. A quick look at the demand and supply curve will tell you that when demand and supply increase the price P would be depend upon the elasticity. Therefore different companies offer different rates depending upon their competitiveness.

The Market for Harry Potter books is according to theory”Perfectly Competitive”. It has many buyers and sellers and essentially the same product is being traded. But, we can safely conclude that the market is Monopolistic Competition due to the following reasons. The book being the same is being sold through different modes wherein huge differentiation exists. For example direct selling is different from, retailing which is again different from e-commerce. Since the supply chains here are essentially different, the product though the same is priced differently .Essentially the market is not a “Price Taker”. In order to stay competitive the companies try different advertising strategies/promotion campaigns. For example Amazon.com held this contest called “Harry –est.” town in America offering a reward of 5000$ for the town which accrues highest sales.

Huge popularity for Harry Potter has spun a mammoth allied market.This can be related to the concept of “Demand for a complement increasing when the demand for the core product increases”. The market estimated to be around 10 million USD consists of glasses ,watches books and games. Its a mini industry on its own. Recently Warner Bros has planned to set up a theme park totally dedicated to Potter ,costing around half million dollars by 2009.

The greatest Cash Cow due to the Potter Mania is Warner Bros which has already earned close to 330 million dollars in the opening week of the movie.Everytime a Potter movie releases Warner Bros Stock prices go up, while in the lean period they go down.

Though the last book has been released, it doesn’t spell the end of Potter mania, publishers hope to earn close to 10 million USD, a year through sales of the seven books in future.