Things that I didn't understand about '3 Idiots'.

By now everyone must have seen the Amir Khan starrer '3 Idiots'. I have always admired Amir Khan as an actor and liked Rajkumar Hirani's earlier movies that showcased his brilliant movie-making skills. His recent release left a lot to be desired. I know that a Hindi movie is all about the feel good factor but the relevance of reason, logic and twisted truth was very unnerving. The cinematic liberties were strectched too far. Here are some critical points:

1) The vacuum tube baby scene is incredulous and practically possible;
2) The peeing, short circuit : This is one law of physics that rarely works in practice. Although salty urine is a great conductor of electricity, the current Rancho sourced from a bulb was only a few amperes.

Also, the senior shown getting the shock of his life was wearing footwear (not metal ones, I guess) that would have broken the piddling circuit anways. Also, pee usually flows out as disconnected droplets, rather than a continous stream. Basically, an impossible circuit line, which wouldn’t allow current flow.

It has been scientifically proven and tested in the Mythbusters TV show that doing it even on such a high voltage source of power as the third line of a subway train proves ineffective.

3) Joy’s final year project: The helicopter that didn’t fly: Are you kidding me! You get remote controlled helicopters everywhere! I have seen them as a kid. You get Do-it-yourself kits to make planes like that now. It would’ve been a great engineering project had the characters been studying during 1920s.

4) NASA had developed space pens( P Fisher-inventor) in the 40s and are still prefered over pencils. Pencil tips break easily and the carbon tip could float in the air and get into astronauts’ eyes. Minor irritant, but not aboard a space shuttle.

5) Farhan at the start of the movie in his voiceover says that he was born in 1978. Assuming that all the 3 characters were good students and would have passed through all classes without failing any, they would be in their engineering college from the years 1997-2001 or 1996-2000.. but certainly not beyond 2004.

So, during the years where broadband as a concept wasn’t even available in India and all of us still are at the mercy of the cable operators, how did they manage to have Airtel Mobile broadband through USB which came only in 2008-09 and how did manage the use of Reliance Big TV ??

6) ‘Dad Office’ calling on mobile in 2000: Highly unlikely!!! considering mobiles had just been launched in India in 2001!!

Bad product placement by Mr.Rajkumar Hirani.

7) How did the character played by Kareena Kapoor (studying in 1st or 2nd year of medicine) understand critical procedures of delivering a baby. Such procedures of gynecology aren't even taught at that level!

8) Rancho “Invents” a inverter that draws power from car batteries. Great! Genius!

But, what is there to invent???? Did inverters always not used car batteries????? Till a few years ago, all inverters used car/vehicle batteries, only in recent years manufactures have started marketing “Inverter Batteries” separately.

9) Finally, 400 patents in a decade!! Can you beat that! Does Mr.Hirani know how labourious it is for anybody to apply for a single patent, sitting here in India?

..I feel the movie should have stuck to the original and simple message of studying for the sake of knowledge and knowledge alone should take precedence over cramming for an examination or a degree or a job.

Amir Khan as a known perfectionist was expected to do better homework on this project.

Where are the twitters?

Sparrows are really getting rarer these days. There are more people willing to tweet on twitter than see where the real twitters have gone. They have all but vanished. Some say that they are extinct and others say that our telecom towers have something to do with it. Sparrows would never be a concern for most people because there are many more critical issues like recession, world peace and terrorism on people's mind.

I remember how as a kid I could see them at a very close distance and discovered a lot about them. I saw them pecking at grains thrown outside a kirana store or enter an empty house just to see where they could build a little nest. The sparrow was important in the scheme of things because they would survive anything or so it seems. The recent opening of shopping malls with all the foodgrains inside the store has hampered the easy food availability of these birds.

Maybe they have migrated somewhere. But in the quiet surroundings of a house, it made those twitters wonderful. Maybe we forgot to keep some small space in our house for those unfortunate creatures. Maybe we don't care.

Democracy- the only alternative?

What if you lived in 15th Century Italy and championed the cause of heliocentrism(the theory that says that the sun is at the centre of the universe)??

If one would have polled people from across Europe during that period, they would have all vouched for the geocentric view(the theory that says that the earth is at the centre of the universe). And because we the bearers of the democratic institution would have basked in it's glory and fortefied that claim. But we now know for sure that Galileo was right.

Rightfully, in questions of science, we all know that theories are discussed before being awarded it's right to become a law. Voting, polling and democracy does not drive scientific temper. This is so because the whole population is not capable enough to figure out the analytical disposition towards science. This is not just the case with science but also with art, music, technology, law and other fields of human achievement.

Then why is this different when it comes to choosing our elected representatives. We all have something against the people standing for the elections. What about those that vote them to power! Do you think that a large section of the population that can't read or write, that can get influenced by caste and religion based politics rather than economic reforms vote the right candidate to power? How can they take informed decisions when the information itself is so thinly disguised in various coatings of populism? Would that be a just and right outcome?

How can a nation where 99% marriages are based on caste and religion, where Ram Mandir and Valentine's day become major issues, where statues burn along with the city and where a film or an artist needs multiple permissions to gain rightful access to freedom of his expression?

Leave it to the custodians of democracy to see it through. We will be a witness to another jamboree of election mayhem where we hope that people take rational decisions. Lastly...as Galileo said 'the opinion of thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual'. Reasonings fail in a democracy.

List of things to do....

We don't do a lot of things that we are supposed to do. Sounds weird!!

We are supposed to exercise regularly;
supposed to not eat fatty food;
supposed to give up someking;
give up drinking;
drive slowly;
eat slowly;
walk fast;
sleep early;
talk less;
spend less;
earn more;
stop complaining;
stop nagging;
rise early.....

Wish we could do all that! I don't know if then things would have been easier but this world would have been a lot tougher and weirder.

Makeover

How can we change the world and why should we change the world???

Because the world isn't perfect;
Because we have inherited it;
Because we shall not leave it the way it was given to us;
Because we get education so that we can make changes;
Because this world is a beautiful place that should remain so.

Maybe it isn't such a bad idea to change your world. Your world might be this planet, one's country or state or city or town or locality. Everything needs a healing, a makeover, a change. We need not change the whole 'world' as such. We can change as per our canvas. Maybe by doing little things right or taking that extra effort of make it right.

Afterall.....a change is a change and it can be soothing to oneself.

Artificial Intelligence

What great fun when search engine sites like Google assimilated data from everywhere and made life simpler for us! It enabled us to search for anything and everything. We could just dive into the toolbar and search for any topic on earth. For sure we knew that we would get an answer. Answer to the questions for our own little universe.

But search is not just limited finding data or information. All the indications point to a possibility of the assemblage of a system that would answer anything. Soemthing like the modern day Oracle. It would be traversing onto the human quest for artificial intelligence.

I lost my spectacles in the morning. I must have misplaced it somewhere. But how wonderful would it be if I could just type into google with 'specs whereabouts'.
Not as intelligent a machine as that but something that can think on its own. Something can can be creative and non-biased. Intelligence is all about being creative and innovative.

So the question isn't if there could be a machine that can do all that but how soon. Till then, I will search my specs on my own.

Democracy and Love.

Love is the most beautiful thing on earth. By love, I do not mean about love between parents or siblings but purely and simply between a man and a women. I am not knowledgeable about the love between a man and man or for that matter lesbian love but I understand that the emotions would remain the same.

Parental love is more or less undemocratic sort of love. We are born into a house and we are raised by our parents, grow among our siblings and relatives. I am grateful to all of them but then, we don't have a choice. We are born into a particular family and thats it. We have somehow becomes used to the habbit or idea of loving them. Period.

On the other had, when a man loves a woman or vice-versa, the love is of a different kind altogether. It is the most wonderful kind of love since we get to choose the person. Isn't it wonderful? Think of it hard and long. Someone choosing us for who we are and that we become an important part of their life, their dreams, their aspirations. A whole world of thoughts and ideas revolve around two people in the state of love. And the feeling is shared mutually. Choice. Democracy. Here we are at it again.

There are a whole host of reasons when one chooses most other things in life. We look for a certain perfection, a certain standard, a certain denomination of things. We would not want anything lesser. But love can shatter that feeling altogetherly. Most of our soul mates wouldn't be perfect beings of creation. Most of them haven't got drop dead good looks or model like features. But we still think and tell them that they are the most beautiful in the world. Not that we are lying. Just that we want to believe so. Blind love or what! But then really, there are atleast a hundred faces more beautiful than your beloved. Again....love is a democratic institution. We have the choice to love the person for whatever reasons but mostly for no reasons at all. Even under societal and other pressures!

We expect a lot a trash from everything and anything in life. Return on investments. If you love only in order to be loved back - this is narcissistic love. Loving someone is not dependent upon emotional reciprocity. We can change the person we love or accept them as they are to us. There we go again on freedom of expression. Part of democracy!!

Isn't there a strong resemblance between love and democracy. Love gives us the right to choose someone irrespective of their background, caste, creed, religion and even their quality. We are also free to choose the person we love and have the right to express our feelings to them. So much like democracy naa??

Isn't it then important to choose democracy over everything else? And do something to preserve it's existence. Then why do we sit in the solid confinement of our house while elections take place?? India is as good as country to be loved as any other nation. Doesn't it require our cohesive love? So what if our country has plentiful of problems? Shall we stop to love it? Or go out to vote so that we can atleast change something? Do we have to expect anything in return for it? Nope.

Democracy is like love. And love is like democracy. Love ke liye kuch bhi karega. Put your votes. India requires our love!!!

Old phone stories!!

Why are we so attached to some products that we can't simply let them go? Even when we can afford to buy a better product.

Like my Nokia phone. It has been over 3 years now that I am using it. But I can't seem to want to throw it away for a better product. Perhaps it satisfies the basic need of the product. Perhaps it is only attachment. Perhaps it is the fear of the unknown( understanding new product features).

The phone has died many a deaths and I have written eulogies for it for some time. But it is in a good working condition. It has been a born again kind of phone which somehow surprises me everyday.

Should marketers address this particular segment of thrifty junkets like me who would save till death does them apart? Maybe. Maybe leave them alone. But you have a loyal Nokia customer. They should have a data of all such customers and keep pouring them to offer a replacement( conditions applied). Maybe they are not bothered because mobiles are selling in such abundance. They shall start thinking when sales start going down. But then it would be too late. Never forget the customer even when you are going up.

Maybe someone will gift me a new phone. Till then...me, myself and me NOKIA...

Wasteful advertising!

Why do luxury car advertisers love to waste their money? It seems one of the many things:
1) That they have huge budget to spend;
2) They don't have enough brains to think on creative ad spends;
3) They would be recovering the money from it's buyers;
4) They want to create a so called media hype for the product or
5) It is an advertising ritual that has been followed and now gets worshipped as a benchmark.

Whatever! I don't understand the sense of advertising in newspapers with a full page or double spread glossy colour ad. It might just make a good wall poster for a kid. But will it sell the car? I doubt. Some idiot who has made it in life to earn a crore of rupees to spend on a car is not naive enough to know where to look for the luxury car. And it isn't like there are zillions of options in that space where he can choose from. Nor would he be unfamiliar with it's features, brand or design.

The best advertising is always free and where the consumer is himself attached to the product for what it offers and means to him. It doesn't matter what the company spends on advertising. The product must have some connect with the consumer and solve his innate desire, offer a unique solution, be easy of use, stand out from the rest, make him feel great and somehow transform his whole life or part of it! Wow! Isn't that difficult! Maybe thats why advertisers think that they can just bombard their money and make the consumer like their product. But it doesn't work that way.

Like in love, as also in advertising, loving is enirely on in our hands. So keep trying till you get attention.

Old junk and nostalgia!

If you have old things in your closet that you have stored just for the heck of it then you are a nostalgic person. Most people have a streak of materialism inside of them. We like to collect things as we travel, shop to places and then there are some gifts that we like to treasure.

As we grow, we throw most of these items after a point of time. Those things fill up space and sometimes we aren't attached to them like we used to. But some of us do save this as some kind of memorabilia. We often keep old clothes of our younger days, toys, greeting cards from former gfs/bfs, shoes that won us a race, scrap or sticker books, games, cards, petals stored inside a book, gadgets.....the list is long.

The real thrill comes from when we go to our old cupboards or some lost corner of our house to clean that space or clear junk. And wow! You have it. You get hold of your treasure trove, pick old cartons and get lost. Yup! We do like to remember old time that were associated with that junk. As we recall events and stories with these items, we realise something. It isn't worth debunking the junk. So it goes back to it's old place to be found again some day later...and so on

Send gifts to India this Valentine's Day!!

I have recently started a gifitng portal called http://www.buygiftstoindia.com/. The portal hopes to cater to the growing demands of people who wish to send gifts to their loved ones based in India. Although the current focus is on NRI’s wanting to send gifts to their friends, relatives and loved ones in India, the company is also looking at the resident Indians to use the service to send gifts within India. The site has relationships with many vendors and gifts can be delivered in over 500 cities in record time. The site targets primarily people who send gifts during Diwali, Dassera, Christmas, Raksha-Bandhan, New Year, Valentine's Day, anniversaries and also occassions like weddings and birthdays.
Ensuring the growing demand of the Indian community, the site has an array of products like toys, cakes, perfumes, sarees, sweets, flowers, gourmet baskets, electronic products, candles, handicrafts, cosmetics, mens and womens apparels, leather products, etc.
Internet forms an unique opportunity for Indians staying abroad to send gifts to India. The early apprehensions in internet security transactions have been deftly taken care of by the site with it's robust security system. We have also selected the best products from various proficient vendors. Prompt delivery of products and the best quality is ensured by us.

A thing or two about Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day has so many times been usually misunderstood. Especially in India. There have been controversies over it and the situation usually starts boiling when major political parties even hear about Saint Valentine. Yes, he was a saint. And like many saints in India, he did what he did for a just cause. And I reckon, we respect saints.

There have been many instances where we have found reasons to hate each other. To hate, the reasons are plenty; to love-not one in twenty. We hate over religion, over caste, over colour, over language, over territory, over class,etc. We might find zillion more reasons to show our affection for hate. But then, hate becomes symbolic of our character. It can consume us totally. It only allows us to see the world as a bad place.

Maybe the Valentine's Day teaches us and reminds us that there is a day for love after all. So obnoxiously bad that we need a day to celebrate love. It should be a festival of life-to love people, to be loved by people. What else is so important than be truly consumed by the richness, the diversity and the incredible journey of love? Every living organism craves for love. That is also how our species survives, prospers and thrives. Money, status, fame are drivers for a superficial state of happiness; it is only through love that we reach a higher state of living.

Whenever people or the society have lost their faith in love, the civilisation has been dealt a severe blow. But why is love such a good thing and why am I emphatically harbouring it's merits? See, if we all hate and kill each other-nobody would remain on this earth. We would destroy and be destroyed. On the other hand, if we love each other-we would only be making this world a better place. Things like passion, intensity, crativity, innovation, etc are 'byproducts' of love. Because love allows us the strength to make the best of our existing resources.

So this Valentine's Day-share your love with your neighbours, relatives, parents, office colleagues, proffessors, teachers, children, people on the street......and possibly that special someone. Send Gifts to them, love them, shower them with presents, spend time with them. You wouldn't regret....I bet!!

The irony of it all!!!

U.S.A. and Australia are very well known for their sports talent. They have athletes who have excelled in most sporting activities on earth. They have also been consistent performers in the Olympics and all International sports arena. Their sportmen have broken many records. Even inside their country, these players have a huge fan following. They regularly attend the games, events and even travel outside where their teams are participating. But have you watched closely? Closely enough!

These very countries have some of the highest number of obsesity rates, problems like diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. Even the sports fans share this sad figure. How do nations with such huge fan base and sports craziness not translate into equally efficient people; exercising people, fit people? Therein lies the irony! Why can't the sport fans be so inspired that they give up on fast food, beer and start exercising, so as to emulate their heroes?

Similar is the case with the Indian film industry. Most of the stars in the main arena like Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan,etc have thir girl friends, former girl friends or wives from a different caste or religion altogether. These stars have a huge fan following; the kind of fans who are crazy over their every move. The cross-community-cross-religion barricades is a big thing in India and the who's who of Bollywood have religiously broken those barriers by coupling outside their very religion or community. But that isn't the case with their fan base or the country. Which is the reason why even now inter-caste or inter-religion marriages are such a no-no scenario. Why is it that although every aspect of their life is emulated in their country; when it comes to marrying, the diversity ceases to exist. The fans don't really follow their heroes after all.

Herein lies an underlying message. The onscreen heroes or the sport stars live a very different life. People want to be so like their hereos and hence like to see their own image in their stars. They would emulate to the point where it becomes comfortable. Thats why there are stars and there are the common Tom, Dick, Sita and Sachin.....the commoners..

Carpenter dreams!

What makes a good carpenter?? Although there is a certain skill involved in carpentry, one expects some benchmarking standards from a practitioner of this art. But then comes a case where all the carpenters of all the world do similar work. Then who is a better carpenter? Someone who maintains standards? Naah! The one who exceeds it. How does one exceed standards? By design. By innovation. By creation. By ideation. A mundane carpenter would make a table with four legs. A skilfull one would perhaps have three legs on his creation. It is not only about creating something for the sake of creation but also it's usefulness. An application of an idea to it's complete useful state of execution makes a carpenter a genuis. Therein lies the human engine of change and possibilities. Nothing would come if all carpenters took the same tools to make the same final product that performs the same functions. It is at this point that change is required, demanded from the artist of his kind. The skills of a carpenter applies to everybody. The only way to know is to keep trying and fulfilling your dreams. Your sketchboard could be different. Your tools could be handpicked ones or made by your own self but the dreams are all your. The world is all yours. Because you are the artist and you are one.

The democratic republic called India.

Handling crime is an important indicator of a socialist democratic republic. India is a democratic country. There are various ways of testing our democracy but it manages to remain very strong. Democracy is more generally defined as something which is 'for the people, by the people and of the people'. This specifically pertains to our own version of things. India has many democratic versions. Similar to all the software versions that our companies seem to churn our so regularly.
Here in India, every individual has his or her right to commit his or her quota of crime. People from all strata of society have the democratic right of expressing themselves when it comes to performing crminal activities. In countries like the USA, only people in the high end of society with deep pockets and taste can commit crime of any respectable stature. But, very proudly shall I say that, my country is liberated. Every beggar, struggler, student, teacher, middle-class man, lady, minister, police, doctor, bureaucrat, employee, business tycoon, movie celebrity, etc can remain involved in criminal performances with equal glee.
India does not remain biased against any individual. This is the hallmark of our society! People can spit on the road, throw waste, jump ques, cheat, create ruckus, go on hartals, travel ticketless, jump traffic signals, hit and run, rape, molest, avoid paying taxes, smoke in public places, murder, loot, rob, do scams, steal, pollute, destroy, bribe, commit forgery and fraud, beat, vandalise, arsonise, hooliganise, scandalise,etc. We even regularly allow our neighbours to conrtibute to the above tally by free -invitation- open- access-open source attempts on us. These and many more hoaxes might be illegal everywhere else but here; we have legalised it. Deregulation of crime is thus the best way of dealing with it. We have shown this to the world.
When every individual gets the freedom to express themself through such mass action, inaction becomes ruled out. Fools are those that think otherwise. Democracy is all about when every human being gets himself to act in a way that contributes to the society. Hence there is absolute individual liberty, fraternity and equality amongst us all. No other country would allow so much freedom to perform tasks such as those mentioned above. Thats why businesses thrive here. Whoever said that starting something was bureacratic. Our affinity for 'jugaad' is legendary. After zero, discovery of jugaad is the biggest contribution of India to the world. Here, everything is possible, for everybody, anybody; as per your own abilities.
We call this the festival of life in doing as we please. There is no other place like India.
Protecting crime and criminals of all characters is in the nature of a liberal democracy.

The Satyam Fiasco.

Why would you start a company from scratch, take it to billion dollar dreams and then throw it all away? India wasn't a place for starting a new business, that too in software services; way back in 1987. Mr. Ramlinga Raju did just that. When he spoke to the media yesterday, his company, Satyam Computer Services Ltd., had grown to 53k people with 185 fortune 500 clients and operations in 66 countries.

Those were the times, in 1987, when getting a phone connection took months, foreign travel was a luxury, foreign goods looked with jealousy from neighbours and a four wheeler was big status symbol. Staring a software company took guts, intense passion, hard-work, firm commitment and a dying resolve to attain something. This risk taking adventure was a rarity during times when a secured government job was considered to be a life-long responsibility. Our own license raj was shattered when the new-age companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Satyam and several others made a paradigm shift in the way businesses were managed. India started to make it's mark and the economy shifted gears. Change took place. The world took notice and the country filled with a young generation willing to believe in their abilities and take their chances.

But then, when you start something from nothing, make global footprints, you are a visionary, aren't you? Yesterday we lost a role model, a change leader and a thinker. Is it just greed that allows us to fudge accounts and take the stakeholders for a ride? Let us not argue about who all are invloved.

Corporate frauds have happened at Enron, Tyco, Worldcom, Xerox and several other multinationals in many countries across the world. Let us hope that the concerned authorities manage to do their jobs and take suitable actions. But in all the companies stated above, the frauds were performed by individuals who had come as outsiders in their company. Satyam Computers might be the few instances when the creator itself has destroyed it's creation.

Slumdog Millionaire-My assessment.

Let me not figure out how many awards this movie manages to get. Also, let us not, for a while, look at the other aspects of the movie like acting, technical details,etc. The movie grabbed my attention for other reasons. It is one of those instances when a movie maker has entralled the audience with a gripping story, drama and all the masala that we so yearn for. Although, most of us mumbaikars have a fair idea about the city, we continue to get startled when a new dimension or angle has been fairly presented. There are plenty of places that are still left undiscovered. Even though we know that they exist, it is good for our blinker state not to visit them entirely.The city is romantic in its essence and this aspect has been beautifully captured by the director.
The movie is about five things:
1) It does not require you to be a genius to make a million;
2) Education does not imply only classroom study but that life has it's own lessons to offer;
3) Finding love goes much beyond money, fame, risk and success;
4) Follow your dreams-the path clears itself in front of you &
5) Even in the most depressing circumstances, there are enough reasons for you to be hopeful.
Mumbai has a strange way of rewarding people who believe in themself and the city. Your education, economic background, etc doesn't matter. Hopefully we all will make the best use of all the resources offerred to us. That is what a movie is all about. It is about life. It should inspire you, entertain you and also make you think. Most importantly, it should touch your heart. Like this one did.

Thriving on Boredom.

Why do we get bored? Is it because we have very little to do or plenty of things on our 'to do' list?
Boredom usually comes from choices. Our ancestors never got bored. There is no real evidence or anecdotal claim of boredom in their life. Boredom is a more metronomical, urban phenomenon that makes us wonder about itself in all its depth.
Kids never get bored. They have no idea what it means to be bored. Ignorance. They are so ignorant about their surroundings that boredom never creeps into their dictionary. Also, curiosity plays a very big part. As adults, we feel that we have lived, experienced everything that is out there. Nothing really astounds us, thrills us or overwhelms us to the point of exuberance. One day, even gamblers become so jaded with the rush of blood that comes with gambling that their addiction is just another mundane addition to their daily chore.
Perhaps as we all go, our world is filled with so many things to do. We have hundreds of things that attract us and hence our attention time span has diminished. We try to seek pleasure into things but over time something else attracts our attention. This mind churning makes us bored.
We intend to do a whole lot of things but end up doing nothing. Not because we don't have many things to do or don't want to do them, but we are too confused to know which ones are important. Maybe priorotizing would help. Maybe ignorance would help. Better still-sit in a closed room. Think about nothing and do nothing. Maybe that should help.....

The world of artworks.

How are art prices determined??

Frankly, I have no clue. My guess is as good as yours. But there must be a lot of probability involved in the process of discovering an artist and determining a price deemed right for his works. Since in the art world all works are different, what formula works and becomes a hit is very difficult to predict.

Some high profile collector gets his fancy over a piece of art, the artist gets discovered, the market allows him his price and a cycle starts. The art market does not have an index like the stock market where prices could be discovered. So the price is so much more on sentiment than rational thought.

Thats why art prices can remain irrational far longer than any other asset prices. The quality aspects are also well understood by only a very few discerning eyes. Hence, nobody has the gumption to challenge the verdict put on a Leonardo or a Picasso work. Even newer artists are determined by the same benchmarks.

Only when an individual challenges these predetermined benchmarks with some unique works and follows it up with regularity; does his work get immediate mention, media attention, fame. Money follows. Look for such exponents. you would be very rich if you could do it early on in the career of and artist. Otherwise, if you are one of the moneybags, make an artist well known by throwing money for his works and 'discovering' him. Either ways-your heart and your art should be on the same wavelength.

Recession blues.

Is recession good or bad? People lose jobs, companies shut down and consumers prefer to sit at home rather than spend their already dwindling savings. This should make a recession sound like any nightmare that one can imagine. But perhaps there is a sliver lining to it. Although the boom times bring a lot of cheer and joy, they only add to our woes. Today, boom symbolises the need to be an ever spending creature. We strive to spend and make ourself happy. This happiness lasts till we are through with the particular product or service. We never really savour the things that we buy. Because, we didn't know why we bought it in the first place. We have only conditioned ourself to spend with the assuption that a certain joy would cross our path by doing so. The boom years also bring along with it the extreme competition to compare our being with someone higher up the ladder. The bank balance becomes our source to attaining the peace of mind which never steps into our door. Recessions are much better. They are perhaps a way of settling scores. They teach us a lesson-to be thrifty. Also, they allow us to find happiness in other avenues of life. Seasons change, time changes and so does the economic cycles. We only have to adapt, adjust and behave accordingly. Maybe we should also learn to admire the adversities. They come with lessons and they help in our betterment. Happiness follows......