Saturday, September 27, 2008

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?

Friday, September 26, 2008

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.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

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…..

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

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.