To....point 5

The worst thing with the relative grading system of evaluation is that it is really hard to fight back once you have left the trail somewhere. The system works like this- if you have scored relatively less in your first semester, you tend to work harder to cross the average and perform better (a few folks who don’t share this idea please forgive me; but believe me I am also amongst you). But the problem is that you are not the only one who is thinking this way. There is whole bunch of below average and about average people who are thinking on the same lines. So next semester these hardworking people will work harder and push the average high in the process and when looked at relative performance, they will find themselves almost on the same position (isn’t it seems like being inspired from five point someone; of course it is, you fool). But the point is today I have got the grading of 2.492(almost 2.5) out of 4 (just above average )so I have all the rights to write about it. Now onwards my whole target in MBA is to reach 2 point 5 instead of tending To... point 5. Quite moderate a task; seems like but when you look at my daily schedule (of novel, newspaper, TT, Gym, Chess and Chatting) you will find out there is hardly any scope to improve in examination related stuff. And I will be satisfied once I achieve my target of 2 point 5. Anyways if you score more than that, people will say- “ saala ye to MBA me padhne gya tha!!!”

To a serious note, i would say that though marks are important in MBA but MBA is lot more apart from marks only. It is more about overall development, networking, focus, confidence and loads of fun.

“Does petrol cost us what its price is?” – one more reason to be an entrepreneur..

What was the cost of petrol when you bought last time? 53.5? or 45 ? or 39? Okay whatever be the price; is it possible that the person buying next to you is buying cheaper than you? Or may be dearer than you? Is it possible? YES. It is. How? Read on...
There is difference between the price of petrol bought by an entrepreneur and petrol bought by a person working as an employee. It is the rate of tax and calculation method, that create the whole difference.
For the sake of building the model we assume that tax rate for everyone in the country is 30%. We also take market price of petrol as Rs 50/litre. If the income of an employee is Rs 100, after tax he is getting only 70 and hence for him the petrol is costing around Rs 71.42 (50/70*100) effectively because he is paying 50 Rs out of his income of Rs 70. On the other hand, for an entrepreneur the same kind of an expenditure gives a tax shield to the effect of 30% (how ethical, showing personal expenditure in business, is a different issue)which makes his income of 100 as 130 effectively. So for him, effective price of petrol is Rs 38.46 (50/130*100) only. The same logic goes on when we buy laptop or a software or electricity and so on and so far.
So what’s the lesson – there is one more reason to become an entrepreneur – effective use of tax slabs.

People leave their highly rewarding jobs to realize a distant dream of their own and become an entrepreneur. So if a good idea strikes me, will I go on to become an entrepreneur? The thought of starting something of my own is becoming more and more prominent in me for quite some time. But sometimes I think I am not ready yet. I don’t have any experience in the way things move in corporate world. May be I would like to have a firsthand experience with corporate and then 5 or 7 years down the line I may think of becoming one. Let’s see how things turn out.

MBA - Is the juice worth squeeze?

One of the most obvious and most asked questions in MBA is – Is it worth anything what we are reading? Does it have any practical application at all? Or most of the time we are mugging up theories only?
We, as human being, are what our teaching, life experiences, people around us have made us. Our environment and learning in life put a deep impact on our way of thinking and applying the thoughts into practical life. But is it possible to cut that learning into pieces and say that this part of my behavior or learning can be attributed to my learning at the age of 15, this can be attributed to my learning from std 8th and like that? The way you behave or solve a problem in particular situation depends on the learning and experiences applied cumulatively. In the same manner it will be difficult for us to say whether a particular part of our MBA will be useful for us in long run or not. It is never that you take your decision exactly as per some theory taught to you in class but these theories definitely have an impact in shaping processes of mind and molding it to think in an intended direction. MBA is all about building the right attitude – about work environment, about colleagues, about the problems that you face and about the LIFE.

And the most important of all; an MBA degree can take you to the boss' position...read further:
When the body was first made, all the parts wanted to be Boss. The brain said: "I should be Boss because I control the whole body's responses and functions." The feet said, "We should be Boss as we carry the brain about and get him to where he wants to go." The hands said, "We should be the Boss because we do all the work and earn all the money." And so it went on and on with the heart, the lungs and the eyes until finally the asshole spoke up. All the parts laughed at the idea of the asshole being the Boss. So the asshole went on strike, blocked itself up and refused to work. Within a short time the eyes became crossed, the hands clenched, the feet twitched, the heart and lungs began to panic and the brain fevered. Eventually they all decided that the asshole should be the boss, so the motion was passed. All the other parts did all the work while the boss just sat and passed out the shit!
Q: What can we learn from this?
A: You don't need brains to be a Boss - any asshole will do.

Building Infrastructure is NOT a solution to current recession

Governments all over the world are mulling various options to overcome recession. Building infrastructure is candy of eye of all the governments as the solution. . J.M. Keynes, in his book ‘General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money’ argued about the relationship between production, wages and employment. According to Keynes, purchasing power in the hands of people was the most crucial factor for the economy to revive. He suggested that government should pump in money because no private investor would be interested to take risk in turbulent times.
Although the benefits to economy from building the infrastructure cannot be neglected but I have reservations about whether it is a solution to recession. In earlier time (when Keynes has given his theory), building infrastructure was labour intensive. But today it is highly mechanised, using little labour. Dams, power plant, airport, roads etc are capital intensive these days, not labour intensive. With today’s technology, building infrastructure is not a big job creator unless we insist on inefficient, obsolete techniques, a mistake that government of India had committed when it stipulated that 60% of cost of building road under NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) should go to wages. As a result, we got low quality roads which disappear almost after every monsoon. This approach of forcing the mechanism of building infrastructure can never create good infrastructure.
Also, normally infrastructure projects have a long incubation period. So they have their own time in disbursing money and hence cannot provide Keynesian boost.

a few past entries from my diary

a few entries of past dates from my diary:

August 4, 2007
Our bathing spree on the way from tuition to home last evening was superb, really awesome. Events when done against established norms give you a different kind of thrill and pleasure. Her idea of having an ice cream, while both of us were shivering in the rain, blended with cool wind was quite a different experience to have. That half an hour in the rain with a good friend has been and will remain as a memory forever.

September 8, 2007
The novel ‘Fountainhead’ is one of those novel that has given me a new way of thinking altogether and has answered a lot of my questions which i used to ask myself. Really a thought provoking novel written by Ayn Rand. The biggest thing about the novel is that every character of the novel is so strong that it’s hard to decide who is going to prevail in their fight; in fact a queer type of fighting where publicly they are with each other but inside they are playing a different kind of game. And if that is not enough, they love to a person whom they want to destroy. What kind of a novel is it? you have to read it to find this out. But one thing i can assure you is that you will enjoy reading this novel. This has become one of my favourites.


September 18, 2007

Today I had a long, infact two long discussions with two different mams in my college. Both the mams are quite opposite in nature and so were the discussions. One is maths mam to whom we played the prank of ’rechecking’ today. Actually what happened was that we had a maths test today and not a single boy had attempted anything. All sheets were blank. Kuch aata hi nahi tha humko to attempt kya ramayan-mahabharat kren? Mam was distributing back the answer sheets after the correction (of course there were a few stupid girls who had attempted questions and needed correction but majority was with us). We all boys received blank sheets back with zero marks put on it while some girls were going to mam to increase their marks which they think were not accounted for( a common practice with girls as if with two more marks they will win the world). So inspired from these hard working girls, I wrote a small letter saying that my paper needs rechecking because I have got very less marks. Pasting that slip on paper, someone gave it to mam and she got damn angry. Followed which I had a 20 minutes long intense discussion with mam which in literature world is known as monologue. First time I realized she speaks so fluently. But I think she needs to improve a little on her pronunciation. Rest is fine.
And the other mam, I was talking about having a long discussion with, was Neha S, a friend of mine according to some students. Okay I don’t mind it. She is so damn beautiful and young, with an age of 23 only; why should I mind? Frankly speaking she is the one who is doing proxy for me in English lecture. She is really sweet, not only because she makes for my attendance but also because she encourages students to participate in the class activities and working hard for their English improvement. She has respect for others and for talent. Nice personality residing inside a beautiful appearance. Today we had a long discussion on my hobbies, interests and my choosing career in MBA (she was forcing that I should go for civil services). While people were learning via Distance Learning Programme on LCD Projector about how to write a letter; I had an interesting and fruitful discussion with Neha..i mean Neha mam.