What have you done? (or which of these things have occured with you?)

Don't you just love a tag when you don't have much to blog, but need to update..... . How much have you done?

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Cheated on your bf/gf?
4. Stolen money from your dad’s/mom’s wallet
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Been to all the temples in your city?
10. Smoked weed?
11. Bungee jumped
12. Used profanity in front of your parents?
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Got pierced?
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Ever impersonated someone?
20. Done eve teasing?
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Got slapped by a girl/boy.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Proposed to someone?
27. Run a Marathon
28. Backstabbed your friend
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Blackmailed anybody?
32. Been on a cruise
33. Won a lottery.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Talked to a harlot on phone?
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Ever disrespected your parents?
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Got beaten by somebody?
41. Sung karaoke
42. Did time in a jail?
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Walked alone on the road at 3 am.
45. Made a false promise
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Have fornicated?
50. Fulfilled your parents dreams

51. Caught doing something which caused u embarrassment
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Walked on a beach by moonlight
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Remained awake throughout the night?
60. Ever made a hoax call.
61. Ever got involved in brawl?
62. Verbally or physically abused anybody?
63. Passed out by drinking too much.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Slept on an overnight train
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Hitch hiked
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Ever slept in a public place?
74. Bunked classes
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Escaped death?
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read an entire religious book
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Broken someone’s trust?
96. Bribed a government official.
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy.

So what's ur score?.....tell me....write it in the comment box...

Merry Christmas

In many countries of the world, the celebration of Christmas on December 25th is a high point of the year. Since about 400 AD, Christians have celebrated the birth of Jesus.



Today in the West, not many people consider the religious meaning to Christmas. It has become a busy race to spend money on presents, and get ready for the Day. Christmas Day is a time for eating and drinking too much and watching television. Well I do this too….well except the drinking part….In fact I passed the day by seeing all the Christmas cheers serials on star world….they were awesome….especially “According to Jim”.

Many people do hope for more than presents at Christmas. We want to somehow return to a time in our childhood (or some other good time in the past), when life was simpler and made more sense, before the troubles of adult life arrived. We feel sure that behind all the fun and decorations, there must somehow be a message, something more, some key to life, hope and happiness.

Colored lights decorate many town centers and shops, along with shiny decorations, and artificial snow painted on shop windows.

In streets and shops, 'Christmas trees' (real or plastic evergreen 'conifer' trees) will also be decorated with lights and Christmas ornaments. Shopping centers become busier as December approaches and often stay open till late. Shopping centre speaker systems will play Christmas 'carols' - the traditional Christmas Christian songs. Most places of work will hold a short Christmas party about a week before Christmas.



'Father Christmas' (or 'Santa Claus') has become the human face of Christmas. Pictures will be seen everywhere of the old man with long white beard, red coat, and bag of toys. Children are taught that he brings them presents the night before Christmas, and many children up to the age of 7 or 8 really believe this is true. In most countries, it is said that he lives near the North Pole, and arrives through the sky on a sledge (snow-cart) pulled by reindeer. He comes into houses down the chimney at midnight and places presents for the children in socks or bags by their beds or in front of the family Christmas tree. In shops or at children's parties, someone will dress up as Father Christmas and give small presents to children, or ask them what gifts they want for Christmas. Christmas can be a time of magic and excitement for children.

As Christmas is here….so New year can’t be far behind…whew….I can’t believe 2008 is about to come to an end.

Tips for grad school success

Yeah I wanna share with you the secrets for success in any goddamn school you are in.

So here we go-

Be attentive in your lectures.

Stop fooling around with others.

Be mediocre and don’t try to go against the system…..this is real life man.

Be persuasive and consistent.

Become a stoic…a bit…not completely.

Don’t be a nerd too.

Have a passion to achieve something.

Try Cajoling…sometimes it helps to get things done too.

And most important of all—“STOP WASTING YOUR TIME READING ALL THE BULLSHIT I HAVE WRITTEN ABOVE”…..HAHA….got ya…. I am not your teacher aur guru bacha!!

Friends

Hey I am talking about friends serial here. I do believe that it’s one of the best serials that could ever come on air. Everything about it is so good…..the concept…the direction….the actors.

I have been watching it for many years now. In fact I don’t miss repeated shows of it too.

Of all the characters-Rachel….Monica….Ross.....Joey....Chandler…..PheeBee. I think the one whom I like the most is of Chandler. His facial expressions are too good man. Though everybody has got some peculiar characteristic like-

Monica playing the role of a crazy gal who wants everything to be very clean. I still remember that episode in which she was cleaning a vacuum cleaner with a hair drier and was wishing that if there could be something to clean that hair drier too.

Ross…Monica’s brother….his expressions when he found out that his wife was a lesbian…and yeah when he caught Rachel and joey kissing each other. He is also possessive about dinosaurs as Monica is about cleaning.

Joey….a struggling actor….his acting would make you laugh for sure. Like others he has also some issues….like he keep on forgetting things…..he can’t share food….likes eating too much…..and understands things a bit later than others…I guess tube light is the word for it.

Chandler…well my favorite character…he’s smart looking guy….who desperately wants a girlfriend after dumping…well you know the person…lemme give u a hint…”OH MY GOD” followed by chuckling sound. I liked earlier episodes of him too much…when he had a habit of smoking…the way he smoked….panache…and the ways he used to find out to smoke so that he won’t get caught.

Pheebee…I think she is the weakest link in all of them….her role is like a sidekick. But she is also good in her own ways. I think the episode in which I liked her most was the one in which her brother came to meet her for the first time and she took her to her massage parlor…those of you who watched that episode know what happened next.

Rachel… the cutest gal in the show. Who could possibly resist her? She has also done more or less well in all the episodes.

I have grown up watching this serial and it’s been quite a long time now. I wish I could have a similar kinda life. Whew…I have written too much today…c ya.

Man about town

This is the name of a picture which I saw few months ago. It’s storyline is just superb. It’s about a self made man (character being played by Ben Affleck). Ben is a member of the board of directors of an advertising agency. Everything was going fine for him. He had a very important client but for the past few days he was not replying to him. So he got worried and went to see him in his office. There the client tried to give him a blind eye. Bedazzled by the situation he came back home. The same night his wife confessed to him that she was having an affair with his client. Listening to it, he got agitated and told his wife to get the hell out of his life. His wife was really guilty for her doings and asked Ben to forgive her, but he didn’t listen to her. He then decided that no matter whatever happens he won’t work with this client anymore no matter how important he was. But the other members of the board were not willing to put the business at stake for his personnel thing. So he had to continue doing work with him. Feeling helpless and lonely, he peeped into his past and remembered of his childhood days. At that point of time he used to love a girl of his class. They used to hang out together but one day when he called her to his home the girl fell for his brother. So Ben had an emotional breakdown and complained to his mother about the situation. The situation got worse and his family members started quarreling everyday. His father blamed Ben for the quarrels in the family. One day when the situation got completely out of the hand his mother decided to take Ben’s brother to the girl’s place to finally decide whom the girl wants to be with. But on their way to the girl’s place they met with an accident and his brother died in the accident. His father left his mother and hated Ben for situation turning out this way. So basically he never had anyone who really loved him. Coming back from the flashback…….in the present, as days passed, he got accustomed to the situation. Also Ben had a habit of going to a group therapy program where he used to discuss his problems. There was a press reporter too in the same group. Somehow he got hold off the Ben’s personnel diary and started blackmailing him that she would publish the story in the paper unless he offers her a job in his advertising agency. Ben tried many times to get his diary back from the reporter but all his efforts went into vain. In the end it was his wife who helped him in resolving his problems. Ben finally forgives her and his client believing that nobody in this world is perfect….whew…one hell of a story….don’t know about others but I really liked it….I would say that this movie is for sensible persons. So people do see it whenever u could find some time….happy watching!!!!

Wedding Fever

Looks like the town is gripped in the above said fever these days. Hell…Is the whole world getting married these days? I think in the past few weeks I attended 5 weddings or so. Earning time for pundits definitely!!! It was great fun attending them. I really enjoyed going to the venues in the bus with family members and friends….it was a very joyful ride indeed. My neighbours daughter also got married…she was like a sister to me.. I have known her from my childhood. I guess she was 7 years older than me but instead of the age gap we were very good friends. Time passed really quickly man….I still can’t believe she is married now. It was just yesterday that she took admission in a college. Now that she has gone….I wonder whether I am gonna see her again or not cause I think they are moving to Boston. Still as she is very happy then so am I. Nearly every dude’s n gals are married in my locality now..what’s the craze man…I donno…god bless u!!!!

In a fix

These days clouds of uncertainty are raining heavily over my bed. My college is gonna be over in few months and now I am in a quandary….What’s Next!!!. Nothing is planned. I donno what I am going to do after graduation. A job or an MBA. I donno where am I am headed. Hell…there are a zillion things I don’t know. I just could not concentrate on anything. Nothing seems to amuse me these days. I think that song of Greenday would fit perfectly on my situation….” I walk a lonely road the only one I have ever known…. don’t know where it goes….still I walk alone…na na”.Well still there is a happy feeling that at least now I am going to have a graduation degree. It looked to me in the past that this college is never gonna end. I don’t think it was worth coming to this college. Finally naam ka engineer ab ban jaunga. Past three and a half years were like hell for me. I am eagerly waiting to get the hell outta my college. Staying in a college for 4 years is too much man. Now I am going to have a chance to do something new. I have always liked going to new places…making new friends. I just can’t stay at a particular place for long period of time. I don’t know how others manages to do so. I wonder how am I gonna to stick to a particular company. Pata nai kis company ko apna diwala nikalna hai mujhe rakh kar. Also I can’t do that bloody 9-5 naukri I don’t want to become a moron like others. I want a job which would take me to different parts of the world. I cherish going to new places and have a feel of different cultures. I wonder whether my desires would get fulfilled or not. Let’s see. I am trying to remain optimistic assuring myself by thinking that God has something in mind for each and every one of us ( If there’s a God ).See how optimistic I am J. Hell I am not the worst person alive on this earth…so waiting for my time to come to seize the opportunity as it comes my way. This world never gives you anything …you have to snatch it from others.

Human Nature

I have a habit of pondering over bizarre things. This is the latest one that I have to offer. Yesterday while I was sitting in my balcony I was trying to figure out why we do not value the things we posses and always crave for the things which are hard to get. Is it due to insatiable yearnings of ours? So, I introspected myself and found out that I was no different from others. I can give you plethora of examples from my life too…I think nearly 5 years ago while I was in 12th I desperately wanted to get into an engineering ( which I am in right now ) college. I think that at that point of time this was the only thing which I cared about. I worked day and night to achieve my aim and then the hard work paid off. But do you want to know what’s my perspective now…I don’t give a damn that I am a student of this college…and can you believe I was dying to get into it. I think this is the best example that I can put in front of you people to support my topic. Just to cite some more examples… I had yearnings to possess cell, lapi, ipod, x-box. Now when I have them I don’t even care about them. So I guess as soon as we are in possession of an item it’s just a matter of days that we stop valuing it. I talked to my friends about it too and I guess we were on the same page. What about you? Are you having any similar views? I bet you are…Well I guess it’s human nature….to chase unfulfilled dreams and to do things which are tabooed. Had there been no such pursuits I think we would have lost the desire to live….What say?

My hit-list ( jerks in my life )

There are many kinds of people I have come across till now. Some were very adorable. N I always get nostalgic when I remember them. On the other side…..some were really a pain in d a**. I curse the day I met them. But then what one can do….society is an amalgam of such kind of personnel.

Here’s a list of some of the persons....without dem my life would have been much better -

1.A professor of my last sem. I hate him more than anyone in this world. Just can’t stand his cocky smile.

2. Two three jerks of my class. They just can’t listen to anybody. Always goes against the wind.

3. A teacher of my school.I hate authoritative bimbo’s like her.

4. All the monkeys who had given me advice in the past….oh u should do this…no no you should not do that….suckers who was asking for your bloody opinions. I just hate advices and opinions. Hell I would do whatever I want to do. I just don’t like anybody interfering in my life..mind your own goddamn business…will u…

5. All the people who tried to discourage me in the past….n refrained me from doing what I am doing now.

6. This is for the people whom I am yet to meet. You certainly don’t wanna be in this list, do you?

Someone amongst you might be thinking that I am cursing everybody…whom I have left..Well it’s not like that….I love more people than I hate.

a day of my life....

Got up at 7 o clock.Read d paper.Studied...did net......published a blog.....listened to music.....watched "The Departed".I donno y I didn't see it till now.....where was I....on some other planet......I advice everybody to see it...I would say that it's the best picture that I have ever seen till now....den went to market in the evening.....read articles....n now again writing a blog to kill time...:)....

My obsession for music…..

I donno what has happened to me. I keep on listening to music now and then and it is really driving me crazy. No matter what I am doing music is always turned on in my house. Oh no lemme rephrase it, music is really turned on when nobody’s at home. I can’t even study now without music. The type of songs which I listen to also keeps on changing from time to time. Well there's a famous saying “Change is the only constant in life “. Earlier I used to listen to soft numbers but now my interest for soft songs has outgrew and rock and heavy metal songs are really dominating my chart list these days.

Artists whom I listen to are innumerable. Nirvana, Nickleback, Pink Floyd, Emilio Estefan, Aerosmith, Avril Lavigne( my Favorite), Pink, Coldplay, Maroon 5,Eminem,Linkin Park, Blondie, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Baby Bash, T.Pain-just to name a few. Believe me the list is very long.

My family members are really pissed off for this habit of mine. They always keep on yelling at me as I listen to them very loudly.

Now I have found a new band named-Children of Bodom-Check them out guys/gals if u haven’t listened to them till now-man what guitar they play. The play some really amazing stuff. Outta this world. Believe me you can’t listen to them at full volume. Their songs are rocking my house these days and oh yeah the intake of Anacin pills by my family members have also increased drastically. Looks like I am creating a lot of trouble for them…….lol……Wish I could play guitar too……If I were not doing engineering, u bet I would be in music line today…Me n my dreams….

Hey so I end up here........U people wanna know what my favourite song is.....Well here it is "Come as you are" by Nirvana....enjoy.........

"ComeAs you are

As you were

As I want you to be

As a friend

As a friend

As a known memory

Take your time

Hurry up

The choice is your

Dont be late

Take a rest

As a friend

As a known memory

Memory ah

Memory ah

Memory ah

ComeDoused in mud

Cept in bleach

As I want you to be

As a trend

As a friend

As a known memory ah

Memory ah

Memory ah

Memory ah

And I swear

That I dont have a gun

No I dont have a gun

No I dont have a gun

Memory ah

Memory ah

Memory ah

Memory ah {dont have a gun}

And I swear

That I dont have a gun

No I dont have a gun

No I dont have a gun

No I dont have a gun

No I dont have a gun{memory ah}{memory ah}"

Tata's Nano

Fellows if u r reading papers then all of u must be aware of the fact that Ratan Tata strode in Ahmedabad yesterday with a sense of new purpose. Finally the old man got some relief.!!!! For the past several months the Tata’s were like orphans looking for a home to give shape to the most fascinating invention of the century-Nano-The wonder Car. Gujarat became the place to roll out nano cause it has done it in an unbelievably fast manner and gave all the approvals and permissions with a great speed. Ratan Tata promised that inspite of all that has happened they will bring out the nano within the same window. Functioning of the plant at Singur would have brought investments to a part of the country which has always been neglected. So, I guess it’s sheer bad luck for Singur.WB is mourning over the loss of the god of the small cars……With the Ratan Tata’s pull out decision Durga Puja has also lost much of it’s sheen. There are contrasting moods in different parts of the country……..while there is subdued Durga Puja in Singur, Ahmedabad is celebrating early Diwali.

Slang is the poetry of everyday life….

Use of profanity in day to day conversations has become very common. You can easily find people around u swearing each other. Its usage is rather considered as a symbol of confidence. Words like Shit n F*** are commonly used by Gen-X to show their coolness and attitude. Nearly all of my classmates( including girls too) are bad mouthed. Listen to any song of eminem. He just can’t sing any song without using the words like f*** u and mo**********. Why wouldn’t his fans use the same language when their idol is using it? Let’s forget about rock stars, what abt u. How many times have u blurted out a taboo word as an expression of instantaneous disgust? There is a huge difference between swearing in English and Hindi language. I personally feel that people don’t get offended too much even if u swear but in global language i.e. English. Swearing in Hindi really provokes the other person and also it is considered cheap. Society looks down upon u and considers u as an immoral person if u swears in Hindi. What do u think? Anybody having the same thoughts as I have? Slang, curses and obscenities have immense therapeutic value for venting out pent up rage and disillusionment. Scholarly studies on the abominations of language are aplenty.




The vulgarization and banalisation of language is no longer a question of purity but rather how it relates to our attitude to society at large. It is painful site to see ritual abomination of the language we use particularly the liberal use of slang and obscene words in our day to day existence. No road rage is complete without the dazzling fireworks lit up by bristling expletives. Americans use the f-word; Britons favorably use words like bloody, arse****. For us Indians, the m-word and b-word have almost become national expressions of angst. I needn’t tell u what these words are…u people must have guessed them by now. Can something be done to prevent people from using slang’s? Can we have a language police? Would stopping a citizen from badmouthing at his sulphurous best be tantamount to infringing upon his fundamental rights?

Is the new vision of UN a pragmatic idea?

Friends you must have read about the new vision of UN proposed by secretary general of UN, Ban- Ki -Moon. It’s a good idea according to me. The whole idea is about democratization of UN and making it a world oriented organization. These are utopian dreams as US and UK are ruling corridors of UNO currently. UNO is maid of Uncle Sam. It gets all its vital organs function by providing funds to them. US has gripped UN in its clutches. Even Russia and China can’t liberate UN from its fierce grip. It would definitely not allow UN to get off its hold so easily.

U can have an idea about the influence of US over UN from the fact that the demarcation line of who can be its member and who can’t is drawn by US. US don’t even allow India to be a part of UNSC. It has allowed Japan to be one of its members as it provides large amount of funds to UN. So, a poor nation like India has grim chances of becoming its member. For UN to conduct its function independently it has to shift its headquarters to a place outside US. The new vision provided by the secretary general can be a stepping stone in the democratization of UN. Everything changes with time. All that’s required is a little push. Small vision can lead to a revolution. Who knows UN might become free one day. We never knew India would become free one day. Heard of the saying “Change is the only constant in life”. If UNO is democratized USA would oppose. This would open Pandora’s Box. Entire world would face the chaos. Existing status-quo can’t be changed easily. But in the long run it’s not an impossible task to accomplish.

My summer training …..

Hiii…. folks. For those of you who don’t know me, I am doing my engineering from a very reputed college of Delhi. As per the curriculum of my college I was required to do training in an industry during my summer break. I was really looking forward to it as earlier I used to think that it’s a great opportunity for a student like me to get familiar with the working conditions in a professional firm as well as to apply theoretical knowledge acquired in the college into practice. But now there is a drastic change in my perspective.

The first thing I had to decide was-“where to do training from?” Well automobile sector was on top in my priority list. I tried knocking the door of every goddamn company situated in and around NCR but to no avail. And also the thing which was really bothering me was that all of my friends were successful in arranging for their training programs at one place or another. I guess I was on the lookout for companies for 3 months or so. When I had lost all my hopes of getting into a good company then out of the blue my uncle informed me that he has arranged for my training program in an electronics company. And I got this news just 2 days before the date of joining. ohh finally some good news …

On my 1st day of training I was supposed to report there at 8:30 in the morning. When I reached there around 30-40 students were already waiting in the reception area for further instructions. I sank into a seat in the reception area. To kill time I began searching for a person whom I could talk to. Believe me guys the first guy I talked to was a complete jerk. I didn’t talk to him during my whole 2 months of training there.

After sometime we were told to proceed to a hall where we will be given further instructions. After waiting for an hour or so an old man came to the hall and greeted us. He kept on telling us about the organization. The guy was a complete bore and I think those 2 hrs during which he spoke were like 2 yrs or so. Then the guy told us that we were required to come there 2 days a week only. That was the only good thing which he spoke during his speech. So all that crap ate our 1st day of training there.

As far as I remember nobody entertained us during the 2nd day and all of us were sitting like dumbsters in the hall. That day I interacted with many people there and made some really good friends. But i think throughout my training period i loitered around with 1 person only...whom i consider a very good friend of mine now...thanx buddy widout u i would not have been able to come there a single day.

The following day we were told that the training program is divided into 2 parts. First one was rotation and second one was a department which would be allocated to the student on the basis of his/her area of interest. During the 1st 2 weeks I went to different workshops there.Ohh guy’s u wanna know what I learnt there. The only thing which I learnt there was how one could waste his/her time. Believe me workers there had no intention of teaching us anything. I can now say it without any hesitation that they were all charlatans. And above all these things there were numerous restrictions which the company imposed upon us like one can’t take cell phone, cd’s, laptops etc inside. Getting in and out of the place also required a bloody pass to be signed by some security personnel. Some security….Who wants to come there anyways….The thing which I hated the most was that some people there were so arrogant. Man, who the hell they think they are. Bloody morons. If it were not for the training, I would have definitely shown them their right place.

Now people allow me to give u a picture of the working force of the company. The workers there had a sort of routine. They come to work at 8:30. Then they would have their morning tea. Around 10 they would finally occupy their seats. Any guesses what for...To take a nap yar…what were u thinking...I hope u were not thinking about working…Then at 11:30 their lunch starts and it continues till 12:30. And hell yeah who works after having lunch…so they resume back to work around 1 as far as I remember. They do work for sometime after that….well u get tired of remaining idle too. But during that period too they won’t teach u anything. Infact they would make every possible effort to get rid of you. Around 3:30 its tea time again and after that all the workers start packing their stuff though closing time of the factory is 4:30. If u people don’t believe me then come and have a feel of the place. “Everyday is a holiday at this place”.


The company was good in some respects though like it provided free transport facility and free meals (though food really sucks there).Also a good thing about it is that it doesn’t look like a company at all infact it looks like a park. So it’s a good place to hangout u know. I spent my time by hanging in the gardens there. Some people ( especially the aunties whom i met there...always asked me whether i have eaten my lunch or not...n i used to laugh everytime at this question) there were of really good nature. I really liked them and i wish i would be able to meet them in the future too.

If this is what u call training then I guess it’s better not to have one. But u can’t fight with the system. U have to be a part of it. That’s what I did. Just get your certificate and get the hell outta there. I am definitely not gonna do training from there once again for sure. Good or Bad, I definitely had my moments there. I would never forget the place for sure…So that was my odyssey at …..Don’t wanna take company name!!! Waana know what’s the thing that is boggling my mind these days-“Where to do winter training from?” Let’s see where my fortune takes me this time…..

End of Investment Banking Era?

Mighty investment banks flourished for a long time, landing headline grabbing deals and advising companies and government around the world on mergers, stock offerings and restructurings. But now it seems that the doomsday for the investment banking sector has arrived.

What exactly is this crisis all about?
It is centered around US housing bubble. Starting in the late 1990’s,under the noble idea of expanding home ownership, US banks and financial institutions began lending money at low interest rates with little due diligence to just about anyone including new immigrants. Easy credit and low adjustable mortgages generated massive demand, accelerated home price increases and created a bubble. When it became unsustainable and housing prices started to drop, system collapsed bringing down with it financial institutions which held these bundled mortgages worth billions. Overnight, storied firms such as Bear Sterns, Lehmann brothers and AIG which was the 18th largest company in the world till recently, neck deep in housing mortgage, sank.

What has Bush done?

In the 1st grim week, bush administration is buying up all the bad mortgages, insured the money market funds with government money and curbed stock speculation by banning short selling. It is government intervention at highest and some people are calling it the death of the free market economy and end of capitalism. Consequences of taking no actions even now would be massive job losses, devastated retirement accounts, erosion of housing values and drying up of loans for new homes. So, government intervention is not only warranted, it is essential.

Effect on India……
India is relatively insulated from developments because of its modest exposure to US financial world. But in this era of global trade and finance, any slowdown or contraction of US economy is bound to hurt India.

What else is in store…..?
Just when it seemed like there was nothing left to boggle the mind, the titans of Global finance, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley concluded that there is no future in remaining investment banks now as model has broken down. By becoming bank holding companies, firms are agreeing to significantly tighter regulations and much closer supervisions by bank examiners from several government agencies. Firms requested the change themselves. Their model of finance and investing has become too risky and they need cushion of bank deposits that has kept Bank of America and JP Morgan relatively safe amid recent turmoil. So, firms will be more like commercial banks, with more disclosure, higher reserves and less risk taking. In exchange they will have access to full array of Federal Reserve Bank’s lending facilities.

It is a turning point for high rolling culture of Wall Street with its 7 figure bonuses and lavish perks. It returns Wall Street to way it was structured before congress passed a law during Great Depression separating Investment Banking from commercial banking.