If youre still not subscribing - PLEASE do not waste another moment - go to
http://xkcd.com/ and subscribe.
I'l give an arm and a leg (mine) (- and if really pushed - chip in with a few third party limbs as well ) to be granted a flash of inspiration by divine intervention or something - to do just one gig as smart as one of Randall Monroe's cartoons
- he also writes an equally brilliant blog - with these superb illustrations - go go read.
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
*gawk*
Read this.
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/eight-is-enough/?8dpc
I cant imagine how the lady would have been living around carrying 8 babies for, what, 30 weeks, as the article says. I simply cant.
Good lord! Heres a bouncer! - The article goes on to say (one of the ladies - part of the editorial team - says) that Neonatal care for premature babies costs an average of USD 65,000 per baby in the US - during the Hospital stay during birth - i mean - Holy Shit! thats a lot of money.
So heres a bullish case for outfits like Apollo (to up their tabs to narrow the spread - because a round trip to the US costs what - like 2000 dollars !? ) - and a bearish case for American outfits to actually reduce their medical costs (so that all their business does not move to Apollo in India or to Thailand)
Possible bullish case for Healthinsurance (like the american model) in India too - i was reading somewhere like 1 or 2% of Indian people have it - (heck, iam not sure i have full foolproof insurance nor do i carry my insurance card in my wallet)
*gawk*
Enough obsession for one morning!
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Peeved
After this really horrendous day at work theres this shit i am watching on TV - girls getting smacked around at some Bangalore pub - gawd - its as nasty as it can get.
Now theres this bullshit debate involving the BJP, the congress and a neta or two from these self styled senas -
Heres some1 that must be slapped a few times - The presenter on Times Now, Arnab hes called i think. Male Barkha dutt - a journalist ought let a panel debate - not actively take part in it. Imbecile cretin.
The Ram sena chief says tha '' It is a 'chotti si ghatna' which is being blown out of proportion". The general secretary from this sena actually says - the act was wrong and should be condemned - hes not sure if the mob are his 'boys' - and the other thing that must be condemned is what the girls did at the pub - taking drugs!? & wearing skimpy clothes
Then theres this 10 minute long scuffle involving the BJP spokesman, the Congress spokesman and this Sena spokesman who speaks English like a character out of Omkara.
A publicized incident to discredit 'all saffron parties' - says one guy in a televised press conference. So 'saffron parties' is part of official party lingo.
Sometimes it does scare you- the thought that such things are still possible in the world.
Now theres this bullshit debate involving the BJP, the congress and a neta or two from these self styled senas -
Heres some1 that must be slapped a few times - The presenter on Times Now, Arnab hes called i think. Male Barkha dutt - a journalist ought let a panel debate - not actively take part in it. Imbecile cretin.
The Ram sena chief says tha '' It is a 'chotti si ghatna' which is being blown out of proportion". The general secretary from this sena actually says - the act was wrong and should be condemned - hes not sure if the mob are his 'boys' - and the other thing that must be condemned is what the girls did at the pub - taking drugs!? & wearing skimpy clothes
Then theres this 10 minute long scuffle involving the BJP spokesman, the Congress spokesman and this Sena spokesman who speaks English like a character out of Omkara.
A publicized incident to discredit 'all saffron parties' - says one guy in a televised press conference. So 'saffron parties' is part of official party lingo.
Sometimes it does scare you- the thought that such things are still possible in the world.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
La la la
I actually made rotis today - not just heat and eat - i actually bought a packet of pillsbury and like made the dough, rolled them out and all. Take 20 / 30 mins - but relatively simple technology and HUGELY cost effective
(35 bucks a kilo for the pillsbury - i estimate can be used to make ATLEAST 25 naan sized rotis - the only other raw material being water.
And Desi Rasoi's dhaba charges 7 bucks per roti - Dhaba express even more - The size of which is only like 75% of my roti's size - buys on credit and sells it on cash, possibly not recording 50% of his invoices on his tax returns :). Nice business, the food business as they always say )
The % of moisture in the final dough - rate of addition of water to the dry flour - are important parameters - actually roti making is more a physical phenomenon - depends on the non-stickiness of the surface your're rolling out, the amount of glidant (dry flour in this case, or oil maybe - i do not have oil at home - so i used the dry powder to adjust stickiness of the roti - its called 'tack' in the industry - in printing for example) used in the dough during the actual rolling process and IMPORTANT use ONLY a non stick tawa to actually bake the roti.
A thickly rolled roti with a slightly higher amount of moisture - actually swells on the tawa - the water probably becomes steam and contributes to swelling and aids in an overall nice baking of the entire roti.
Less moisture, thinner dough, dough rolled in layers does not swell on the tawa - probably needs a bit of oil or something to complete the baking process and will probably will end up stiff in the end.
So remember, % of moisture is probably the critical variable / control parameter and rotis are bloody labor intensive.
Now to wash clothes - while Jab We Met plays on TV.
(35 bucks a kilo for the pillsbury - i estimate can be used to make ATLEAST 25 naan sized rotis - the only other raw material being water.
And Desi Rasoi's dhaba charges 7 bucks per roti - Dhaba express even more - The size of which is only like 75% of my roti's size - buys on credit and sells it on cash, possibly not recording 50% of his invoices on his tax returns :). Nice business, the food business as they always say )
The % of moisture in the final dough - rate of addition of water to the dry flour - are important parameters - actually roti making is more a physical phenomenon - depends on the non-stickiness of the surface your're rolling out, the amount of glidant (dry flour in this case, or oil maybe - i do not have oil at home - so i used the dry powder to adjust stickiness of the roti - its called 'tack' in the industry - in printing for example) used in the dough during the actual rolling process and IMPORTANT use ONLY a non stick tawa to actually bake the roti.
A thickly rolled roti with a slightly higher amount of moisture - actually swells on the tawa - the water probably becomes steam and contributes to swelling and aids in an overall nice baking of the entire roti.
Less moisture, thinner dough, dough rolled in layers does not swell on the tawa - probably needs a bit of oil or something to complete the baking process and will probably will end up stiff in the end.
So remember, % of moisture is probably the critical variable / control parameter and rotis are bloody labor intensive.
Now to wash clothes - while Jab We Met plays on TV.
Funda
*Disclaimer:Most of this stuff is boring*
If you are a money obsessed wonk - please watch those weekend shows / late night shows on CNBC - a classic, often (like every 20 years or so) repeated phenomenon is playing out around the globe.
A bit of crisis in one place triggers a huge chain of events across the world - and because of excessive leverage and the the strain on liquidity it puts on all affected parties - all capital tends to take flight towards safety (Possibly AAA rated US Treasury bonds) - for eg. it runs like hell from places like India, Brazil, Thailand etc. - and back to the US - where they are put into Treasury bonds, which are, like, as safe as the US government - so to speak.
Read this article from Paul Krugman's blog - the spread between AAA rated Tbills - and the prime rate at which money is lent to less assuring, more risky companies is a staggering 4% - this is 2% and that is close to 6%. Warren buffett must be licking his chops - im sure when things settle down - he'll bet on this spread to narrow down back 1 - 1.5% - by probably buying up good quality B grade bonds which are yielding 6% odd and short T bills or something.
Lots of similar screaming long term things - betting on the crude to be at 50 or 60 dollars a barrel - from what, 35 dollars a barrel today - fixing up a level of like 51 or 52 for the Re/Dollar spread and short the dollar whenever it goes above 51 or something .
BUT - but - a lot of people are saying this one is special - its like this - say, the world as a whole is a company with a total worth of 100 units - its been growing like 2% in the last 20 years - and the total net worth wud have been like 149 (Compounded 2% annually) - as per what pundits are saying - the last 8 months or so has actually WIPED OUT - nearly like 10 or 12 units of nett worth- and we are back at where we were in 2000 or 1999. (Like at 135). Any of you get this ?
If you like all this - read this phenominal book by Roger Lowenstein - for someone who understands basic fin jargon - it reads like a dream - teaches you LOADs of stuff.
If you are a money obsessed wonk - please watch those weekend shows / late night shows on CNBC - a classic, often (like every 20 years or so) repeated phenomenon is playing out around the globe.
A bit of crisis in one place triggers a huge chain of events across the world - and because of excessive leverage and the the strain on liquidity it puts on all affected parties - all capital tends to take flight towards safety (Possibly AAA rated US Treasury bonds) - for eg. it runs like hell from places like India, Brazil, Thailand etc. - and back to the US - where they are put into Treasury bonds, which are, like, as safe as the US government - so to speak.
Read this article from Paul Krugman's blog - the spread between AAA rated Tbills - and the prime rate at which money is lent to less assuring, more risky companies is a staggering 4% - this is 2% and that is close to 6%. Warren buffett must be licking his chops - im sure when things settle down - he'll bet on this spread to narrow down back 1 - 1.5% - by probably buying up good quality B grade bonds which are yielding 6% odd and short T bills or something.
Lots of similar screaming long term things - betting on the crude to be at 50 or 60 dollars a barrel - from what, 35 dollars a barrel today - fixing up a level of like 51 or 52 for the Re/Dollar spread and short the dollar whenever it goes above 51 or something .
BUT - but - a lot of people are saying this one is special - its like this - say, the world as a whole is a company with a total worth of 100 units - its been growing like 2% in the last 20 years - and the total net worth wud have been like 149 (Compounded 2% annually) - as per what pundits are saying - the last 8 months or so has actually WIPED OUT - nearly like 10 or 12 units of nett worth- and we are back at where we were in 2000 or 1999. (Like at 135). Any of you get this ?
If you like all this - read this phenominal book by Roger Lowenstein - for someone who understands basic fin jargon - it reads like a dream - teaches you LOADs of stuff.
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Wordle
Ha. heres some neat shit i dug out while nearly DYING of boredom doing design jobs.
(click on this crummy looking preview and you'll be taken to the actual site where the thing is hosted.)
Iam making this a goddamn tag - and i tag - Harisoo and Kallikoo - Go to http://www.wordle.net/ and do this up (enter your blog URL into the box and generate a wordle and post it on each of your crummy blogs)
i have to RUN back to the design and masakali, matakali ;-
(p.s SURPRISE - there arent that many bad / swear words i can find on my word cloud. i mustav been in a good mood, atleast the last few posts i guess. I wonder, what'll the cloud look like if i copy pasted all existing posts from all these years and generate a wordle. Will take like an hour - but im sure words like f*$K, goddamn, hell, shit, Scarlett Johanssen, lonely, bored, bull etc.will like jump out on you. No time today though. But highly recommended for the jobless )
(click on this crummy looking preview and you'll be taken to the actual site where the thing is hosted.)
Iam making this a goddamn tag - and i tag - Harisoo and Kallikoo - Go to http://www.wordle.net/ and do this up (enter your blog URL into the box and generate a wordle and post it on each of your crummy blogs)
i have to RUN back to the design and masakali, matakali ;-
(p.s SURPRISE - there arent that many bad / swear words i can find on my word cloud. i mustav been in a good mood, atleast the last few posts i guess. I wonder, what'll the cloud look like if i copy pasted all existing posts from all these years and generate a wordle. Will take like an hour - but im sure words like f*$K, goddamn, hell, shit, Scarlett Johanssen, lonely, bored, bull etc.will like jump out on you. No time today though. But highly recommended for the jobless )
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Worried
Just spoke to the old man on the phone and i am SO scared.
Off late, hes started sounding like Marlon brando in the Godfather, all wheezing & breathiness & mumbling.
me (excitedly): i spoke to $#% yesterday and im going end of this month. Did the civil engineer come yesterday with the layout ? did u see my email on that emulsion thing?
Old man: mumble mumble. huff puff. mumble mumble.
The useless slob of a sibling must be told in secret to take him down for another health checkup or something.
*Worried*
Off late, hes started sounding like Marlon brando in the Godfather, all wheezing & breathiness & mumbling.
me (excitedly): i spoke to $#% yesterday and im going end of this month. Did the civil engineer come yesterday with the layout ? did u see my email on that emulsion thing?
Old man: mumble mumble. huff puff. mumble mumble.
The useless slob of a sibling must be told in secret to take him down for another health checkup or something.
*Worried*
Bean Burrito
How to make a bean burrito at home
Pack 1 rumali roti off Desi Rasoi's Dhaba or Dhaba Express (or roti or whatever thats left out from last night's dinner)
Heat baked beans in tomato sauce in a dish (from tins. Local ones are cheap. Malaysian stuff is too expensive) -
Boil rice - take the boiled rice and add it to the burnt beans (um, baked..sorry) and mix well - Add a sprinkle or two of Moong Dal (haldirams) to give it a bit of zang and some Vadu Maangai Thanni, if you like - ta ta da - your filling is ready.
Open a rumali up, dish the rice/bean filling in - open a pack of Nestle Dahi - and voila - A bean burrito.
(p.s if the rumali is like too frozen or something -please heat it a little so that it like thaws out )
*sigh* i am eating the thing now and i have like a pile of visa forms, emails to do. So much for not going to office today!
p.s what the F&$* does Masakalli mean ? Mohit chauhan, my man, i fear now that youre being overexposed. You might get Atif Aslamed into obscurity with the routine bollywood crowd.
Pack 1 rumali roti off Desi Rasoi's Dhaba or Dhaba Express (or roti or whatever thats left out from last night's dinner)
Heat baked beans in tomato sauce in a dish (from tins. Local ones are cheap. Malaysian stuff is too expensive) -
Boil rice - take the boiled rice and add it to the burnt beans (um, baked..sorry) and mix well - Add a sprinkle or two of Moong Dal (haldirams) to give it a bit of zang and some Vadu Maangai Thanni, if you like - ta ta da - your filling is ready.
Open a rumali up, dish the rice/bean filling in - open a pack of Nestle Dahi - and voila - A bean burrito.
(p.s if the rumali is like too frozen or something -please heat it a little so that it like thaws out )
*sigh* i am eating the thing now and i have like a pile of visa forms, emails to do. So much for not going to office today!
p.s what the F&$* does Masakalli mean ? Mohit chauhan, my man, i fear now that youre being overexposed. You might get Atif Aslamed into obscurity with the routine bollywood crowd.
Tuesday, 20 January 2009
Yes, Obama - what else ?
Just watched obama deliver his speech - heck, hes still on the stage.
Am i impressed ? Well, i am not disappointed. But then inspite of the fact that he had so much masala to work on - the fact that hes black, the crisis the nation is facing, the war on terror etc. he still chose to deliver a rather practical, no nonsense, all muscle lecture. There was a still a touch or two of carefully, forcefully worded stuff on rascism, tolerance, responsible use of america's leadership.
He sort of appeared to jump from these 3 main subjects in a random fashion - with the usual 'america freedom, spirit, founding fathers' interspersed in strategic locations.
Common sense: 4/5
Drama: 3.5/5
Delivery: 3.5/5
Coverage of issues: 4.5 / 5
Masala: 2.5/5
But then, like Warren buffett said, Hes the best man for the job - but still we're in such a big fix that theres nothing much really that ANYONE can do. ;-
Aha, CNN is now showing John Kerry, then Geriatrix (with EEEK! cindy in tow) and then panning left-right, up-down, i am sure, looking for you-know-who (where is she?) - then Dick cheney in a wheel chair escorted into a limo and George.W is posing for photos before he'll be bundled off into a chopper as it looks like.
Joe biden kinda looks creepy though.
All said and done it is infinitely classier than swearing in ceremonies of Indian netas, presidents and the likes.. and i can only hope that some day in my adult lifetime, Indian politics will also feature individuals who are a little more suave, worldly and better than born-before-World-war-I- relics.
p.s 1: Heres a far more interesting description ;-, like, for those inclined
p.s 2 : Jeez, i didnt know Colin powell was african american! Did you ?
Am i impressed ? Well, i am not disappointed. But then inspite of the fact that he had so much masala to work on - the fact that hes black, the crisis the nation is facing, the war on terror etc. he still chose to deliver a rather practical, no nonsense, all muscle lecture. There was a still a touch or two of carefully, forcefully worded stuff on rascism, tolerance, responsible use of america's leadership.
He sort of appeared to jump from these 3 main subjects in a random fashion - with the usual 'america freedom, spirit, founding fathers' interspersed in strategic locations.
Common sense: 4/5
Drama: 3.5/5
Delivery: 3.5/5
Coverage of issues: 4.5 / 5
Masala: 2.5/5
But then, like Warren buffett said, Hes the best man for the job - but still we're in such a big fix that theres nothing much really that ANYONE can do. ;-
Aha, CNN is now showing John Kerry, then Geriatrix (with EEEK! cindy in tow) and then panning left-right, up-down, i am sure, looking for you-know-who (where is she?) - then Dick cheney in a wheel chair escorted into a limo and George.W is posing for photos before he'll be bundled off into a chopper as it looks like.
Joe biden kinda looks creepy though.
All said and done it is infinitely classier than swearing in ceremonies of Indian netas, presidents and the likes.. and i can only hope that some day in my adult lifetime, Indian politics will also feature individuals who are a little more suave, worldly and better than born-before-World-war-I- relics.
p.s 1: Heres a far more interesting description ;-, like, for those inclined
p.s 2 : Jeez, i didnt know Colin powell was african american! Did you ?
Sunday, 18 January 2009
A screen or two full of codswallop
Disclaimer: This one will be long winded, possibly even boring. i read through - is EXTREMELY vetti.
I slept for a good 4 hours in the afternoon today - on the floor in front of the TV (tuned to CNBC in silent mode ) - with the balcony door open and just about enough sun to make me feel nice and warm.
I was up until 2:30 am on friday doing up work , writing follow up emails for all the blokes who returned to work on saturday and typing out supply contracts for half-witted brazilians.
There was a 7 o clock flight to Delhi to catch on Saturday with Mr.S (who looked like he'd been in a fight) because of his unfortunate loss of self control the previous night, at Ratna cafe.
(Sidetrack#1 Mr.S is this ammanji type guy who mostly pretty tame & predictable - and works for us in the factory and was going with me to Delhi too. Surprisingly he seemed to take a liking to the stuff that Ratna cafe's waiters pour - out of mugs - rather generously - over idlis. In spite of my repeated warnings he kept taking in the stuff - really the WORST sambhar ive come across - idlis and all - and was in and out of the guest room loo all night )
I slept nearly through the 2.5 hour flight - waking up periodically to watch amusing episodes of this amit123 type guy getting repeatedly dissed by this, rather amused, babe - both whom were sitting across the aisle.
(Sidetrack#2
babe(to hostess): water bottle please (hostess walks away apparently not hearing the babe)
me(waking up like an hour of sleep) : whatha ? (look around. finding all to be ok. Take a swig on my own water bottle, sort of blowing bubbles in the bottle)
amit (gives me a venomous glare and then turns to babe offering her his unopened bottle): Take me mine naaa yaar.
babe (looking horrified): No. Thanks. (sort of like turns to the other side and looks out the window)
me: *smirk*
I wake up after another 30 mins - to find amit123 playing NFS2 on his rather bulky looking laptop - the babe wearing cute glasses & reading a serious looking book. Amit glances periodically in the babe's general direction hoping she notices his heroic antics.
The next time i wake up - towards when we are going to land - amit tries another line of approach - this time - a trifle more sophisticated.
amit(to babe): um, hello. are you from delhi ?
me(woken up): huh?
amit repeats the question - with head tilted now towards the babe.
babe(looking up from book): um, why?
amit (clearly not expecting this answer): nahin yaar. iam not from delhi and i want to know how far vasant vihar is from the airport. do you know?
babe(turning back to book): No.
Poor amit. I mean, i dont think the guy was like a total fool - heck - he even had this super looking Nokia mobile and all - but i guess, these things happen. Amit & me, i guess - emerge all the more enriched with the experience )
We drove from the airport (State: Delhi) - past gurgaon (State: haryana) - to Bhiwadi (State: Rajasthan) - 3 states - 2 hours - dunno if its possible anywhere else in the world.
[Interestingly, 2 hours the other way from Airport will take one to Noida / Faridabad (State: UP) - thats an incredible 4 states in as many hours. And along the same direction as Gurgaon - a couple more hours of driving - will take one into Punjab - that makes it 5 states - what within 5 or 6 hours of each other. Coo!]
I always love Delhi. People drive on all day long HUGE tollways, talk on the celphones endlessly , go to malls & eat aaloo-ka-prraaatae (one word) for breakfast, speak hindi with a super punjabi twang, wear super cool sweaters, blazers, pullovers over their shirts and yes, the females.
[ People familiar with T will remember how he used to pound his fist on his chest with a pained expression when walking past groups of madras babes (He used to be reminded what he sorely missed - from his 3/4 years as a (Nancy friday reading) teenager in Delhi and scenery that came with it) - When we all used to diss it as snobbery and as peter - T, almost always seriously, used to insist that his distress was genuine. Over the years. Ive come to agree. Not that il ever admit this to him ;- ]
Along the Gurgaon highway one finds loads of under-construction malls, apartments and all - DLF, Unitech and the likes - some of which as S told me - have dropped to nearly HALF their last year selling prices and may not be even completed in the near future - for lack of funds.
After couple of intense, boring meetings we flew back the same night - tired as hell - and it was well past 1 am when i crashed. only to be woken up by Mr. S at 6:30 today - to be dropped at his brother's after breakfast - as he insisted NOT at Ratna Cafe ;-
*yawn*
p.s #1 : As i type this out, i was eating this 'apple pie' thing that i bought for 25 bucks at Spencers. As it turns out - unknowingly - ive been also eating the release paper which normally gets stuck in the bottom - and strangely i havent noticed - because the Pie itself tastes more cardboardlike than the actual bit of cardboard. tsk tsk. il take whats left down tomorrow and ask the lady at the bakery to taste it herself or something.
p.s#2 - Did any1 listen to Jai Ho ? part of the globe winning soundtrack of Slumdog - while im sure it will turn out to be great - the first emotion i felt listening to it for the first time today was, well, i was rather alarmed. Must av sounded quite exotic to the Jury, im sure. Sukhwinder singh is to blame, im sure. Not sure why i never took a liking to him.
I slept for a good 4 hours in the afternoon today - on the floor in front of the TV (tuned to CNBC in silent mode ) - with the balcony door open and just about enough sun to make me feel nice and warm.
I was up until 2:30 am on friday doing up work , writing follow up emails for all the blokes who returned to work on saturday and typing out supply contracts for half-witted brazilians.
There was a 7 o clock flight to Delhi to catch on Saturday with Mr.S (who looked like he'd been in a fight) because of his unfortunate loss of self control the previous night, at Ratna cafe.
(Sidetrack#1 Mr.S is this ammanji type guy who mostly pretty tame & predictable - and works for us in the factory and was going with me to Delhi too. Surprisingly he seemed to take a liking to the stuff that Ratna cafe's waiters pour - out of mugs - rather generously - over idlis. In spite of my repeated warnings he kept taking in the stuff - really the WORST sambhar ive come across - idlis and all - and was in and out of the guest room loo all night )
I slept nearly through the 2.5 hour flight - waking up periodically to watch amusing episodes of this amit123 type guy getting repeatedly dissed by this, rather amused, babe - both whom were sitting across the aisle.
(Sidetrack#2
babe(to hostess): water bottle please (hostess walks away apparently not hearing the babe)
me(waking up like an hour of sleep) : whatha ? (look around. finding all to be ok. Take a swig on my own water bottle, sort of blowing bubbles in the bottle)
amit (gives me a venomous glare and then turns to babe offering her his unopened bottle): Take me mine naaa yaar.
babe (looking horrified): No. Thanks. (sort of like turns to the other side and looks out the window)
me: *smirk*
I wake up after another 30 mins - to find amit123 playing NFS2 on his rather bulky looking laptop - the babe wearing cute glasses & reading a serious looking book. Amit glances periodically in the babe's general direction hoping she notices his heroic antics.
The next time i wake up - towards when we are going to land - amit tries another line of approach - this time - a trifle more sophisticated.
amit(to babe): um, hello. are you from delhi ?
me(woken up): huh?
amit repeats the question - with head tilted now towards the babe.
babe(looking up from book): um, why?
amit (clearly not expecting this answer): nahin yaar. iam not from delhi and i want to know how far vasant vihar is from the airport. do you know?
babe(turning back to book): No.
Poor amit. I mean, i dont think the guy was like a total fool - heck - he even had this super looking Nokia mobile and all - but i guess, these things happen. Amit & me, i guess - emerge all the more enriched with the experience )
We drove from the airport (State: Delhi) - past gurgaon (State: haryana) - to Bhiwadi (State: Rajasthan) - 3 states - 2 hours - dunno if its possible anywhere else in the world.
[Interestingly, 2 hours the other way from Airport will take one to Noida / Faridabad (State: UP) - thats an incredible 4 states in as many hours. And along the same direction as Gurgaon - a couple more hours of driving - will take one into Punjab - that makes it 5 states - what within 5 or 6 hours of each other. Coo!]
I always love Delhi. People drive on all day long HUGE tollways, talk on the celphones endlessly , go to malls & eat aaloo-ka-prraaatae (one word) for breakfast, speak hindi with a super punjabi twang, wear super cool sweaters, blazers, pullovers over their shirts and yes, the females.
[ People familiar with T will remember how he used to pound his fist on his chest with a pained expression when walking past groups of madras babes (He used to be reminded what he sorely missed - from his 3/4 years as a (Nancy friday reading) teenager in Delhi and scenery that came with it) - When we all used to diss it as snobbery and as peter - T, almost always seriously, used to insist that his distress was genuine. Over the years. Ive come to agree. Not that il ever admit this to him ;- ]
Along the Gurgaon highway one finds loads of under-construction malls, apartments and all - DLF, Unitech and the likes - some of which as S told me - have dropped to nearly HALF their last year selling prices and may not be even completed in the near future - for lack of funds.
After couple of intense, boring meetings we flew back the same night - tired as hell - and it was well past 1 am when i crashed. only to be woken up by Mr. S at 6:30 today - to be dropped at his brother's after breakfast - as he insisted NOT at Ratna Cafe ;-
*yawn*
p.s #1 : As i type this out, i was eating this 'apple pie' thing that i bought for 25 bucks at Spencers. As it turns out - unknowingly - ive been also eating the release paper which normally gets stuck in the bottom - and strangely i havent noticed - because the Pie itself tastes more cardboardlike than the actual bit of cardboard. tsk tsk. il take whats left down tomorrow and ask the lady at the bakery to taste it herself or something.
p.s#2 - Did any1 listen to Jai Ho ? part of the globe winning soundtrack of Slumdog - while im sure it will turn out to be great - the first emotion i felt listening to it for the first time today was, well, i was rather alarmed. Must av sounded quite exotic to the Jury, im sure. Sukhwinder singh is to blame, im sure. Not sure why i never took a liking to him.
Friday, 16 January 2009
Maye we be your bag supplier from china
Email of the day :)
QUOTE
Dear Sir/Ms Abhilash
Hello and good day!
We get your name and email address from our friend Apple Li of Jiangsu Guotai and know that maybe you are in the market for bags&luggage from China.We avail ourselves of this opportunity to approach you for the establishment of trade relations with you.
Our company specializing in manufactring and exporting bags&luggage products with high quality and competitive price for many years,such as sports bags,backpacks,school bags,travel bags,cooler bags,non-woven bags,mummy bags and solar bags etc.We can not only satisfy each customer orders for varied styles,but also have a strong capability for research and development.We can exploit the latest models of samples for the customers.You are welcome to visit our website http://www.kayida-bags.com which includes our company profiles and something latest designs.
We have our own e-catalogue of many kinds of bags that may suit your requirements.If any of these items be of interest to you,we will happy to give you details,Pls email us by return.As a very active manufactures, we develop new designs nearly every month, If you have interest in it, it`s my pleasure to offer news to you regularly.Quotations will be sent to you upon the receipt of your specificatins and pictures.
Wish you a nice day!
Thank you & Best Regards,
Ben Yang
Xiamen Kayida Co.,Ltd
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Information:
Contact Person:Ben Yang
Tel:0086-592-2653713
Fax:0086-592-2653717
Mobile Phone:+86 15859250047
Skype:yyb7962111
Email:ben@kayida.com
MSN:kayidaben@live.cn
Website:www.kayida-bags.com
Add:11FL.,No.226 Dongdu Road,Xiamen,China P.C.:361012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNQUOTE
I did not know that my friend 'You Li' actually has an English name like 'Apple' - il ask her next time. Hilarious shit!
Jokes apart, i sense SEVERE insecurity, fear and worry in almost every chinese i talk to these days. Remember they are hit pretty bad by the recession - bags, boots and stuff - 80% (get this - EIGHTY) percent of china's GDP is from exports - compared to India's approx 20 %. Its like my old man says - the sight of one shoe factory making millions of pairs of shoes per day - more than what the whole of South India is making - employing like 5000 people - does not awe him - it SCARES him.
There are already reports of thousands of workers laid off in china, rioting etc. - the chinese face huge challenges ahead.
p.s i wonder what the hell are 'Mummy bags' ? hmm, 'solar bags' too... hmm
QUOTE
Dear Sir/Ms Abhilash
Hello and good day!
We get your name and email address from our friend Apple Li of Jiangsu Guotai and know that maybe you are in the market for bags&luggage from China.We avail ourselves of this opportunity to approach you for the establishment of trade relations with you.
Our company specializing in manufactring and exporting bags&luggage products with high quality and competitive price for many years,such as sports bags,backpacks,school bags,travel bags,cooler bags,non-woven bags,mummy bags and solar bags etc.We can not only satisfy each customer orders for varied styles,but also have a strong capability for research and development.We can exploit the latest models of samples for the customers.You are welcome to visit our website http://www.kayida-bags.com which includes our company profiles and something latest designs.
We have our own e-catalogue of many kinds of bags that may suit your requirements.If any of these items be of interest to you,we will happy to give you details,Pls email us by return.As a very active manufactures, we develop new designs nearly every month, If you have interest in it, it`s my pleasure to offer news to you regularly.Quotations will be sent to you upon the receipt of your specificatins and pictures.
Wish you a nice day!
Thank you & Best Regards,
Ben Yang
Xiamen Kayida Co.,Ltd
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact Information:
Contact Person:Ben Yang
Tel:0086-592-2653713
Fax:0086-592-2653717
Mobile Phone:+86 15859250047
Skype:yyb7962111
Email:ben@kayida.com
MSN:kayidaben@live.cn
Website:www.kayida-bags.com
Add:11FL.,No.226 Dongdu Road,Xiamen,China P.C.:361012
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UNQUOTE
I did not know that my friend 'You Li' actually has an English name like 'Apple' - il ask her next time. Hilarious shit!
Jokes apart, i sense SEVERE insecurity, fear and worry in almost every chinese i talk to these days. Remember they are hit pretty bad by the recession - bags, boots and stuff - 80% (get this - EIGHTY) percent of china's GDP is from exports - compared to India's approx 20 %. Its like my old man says - the sight of one shoe factory making millions of pairs of shoes per day - more than what the whole of South India is making - employing like 5000 people - does not awe him - it SCARES him.
There are already reports of thousands of workers laid off in china, rioting etc. - the chinese face huge challenges ahead.
p.s i wonder what the hell are 'Mummy bags' ? hmm, 'solar bags' too... hmm
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Slumdog - another perspective
Enough ink & typing time has been wasted on Danny Boyle & The Slumdog and its impressive show at the Golden globes.
Heres a different take.
There was another one i cant remember where which said that the Mumbai terrorist attacks which captured the world's imagination probably had a say in how the jury viewed the film - in which case - as Steven Levitt would say on the Freakonomics blog - the attack indirectly was a positive trigger for Bollywood, Danny boyle, AR Rahman, Anil Kapoor - possibly even a watershed event - that is - if Bollywood goes on to bigger things from here. Must watch the damn movie when it opens here.
He he, Il probably be stoned, if any1 catches me, for being a heartless SOB.
But i have heard equally incredible / but logical arguments about how the A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki stirred a whole generation of Japanese which led to their meteroic rise as an economic superpower in the next 20 years..and so on...
I really hope bollywood goes international - and maybe there'll be remakes of Beach movies like Into the blue or something, starring,um, healthier looking - shall we say ? - Indian babes like her in string bikinis and all.
Heres a different take.
There was another one i cant remember where which said that the Mumbai terrorist attacks which captured the world's imagination probably had a say in how the jury viewed the film - in which case - as Steven Levitt would say on the Freakonomics blog - the attack indirectly was a positive trigger for Bollywood, Danny boyle, AR Rahman, Anil Kapoor - possibly even a watershed event - that is - if Bollywood goes on to bigger things from here. Must watch the damn movie when it opens here.
He he, Il probably be stoned, if any1 catches me, for being a heartless SOB.
But i have heard equally incredible / but logical arguments about how the A-bombs dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki stirred a whole generation of Japanese which led to their meteroic rise as an economic superpower in the next 20 years..and so on...
I really hope bollywood goes international - and maybe there'll be remakes of Beach movies like Into the blue or something, starring,um, healthier looking - shall we say ? - Indian babes like her in string bikinis and all.
Sooper idea for making a ton of money
Take Steve jobs into confidence (probably on a 60:40 partnership. 60 to me of course) - put him on a diet, make him lose 10 or 12 kilos - short the Apple stock - release photos of him visiting some secret treatment center for terminal illness - wearing an apple t shirt - a ski mask or something - make him look at 'frail' and 'gaunt' (goouuunt, as the chick on BBC says) in public - release a statement or two laced with 'pancreatic cancer', 'unconfirmed illness' - watch the stock go down 6 or 10% - make a bundle on the shorts.
Seriously, key man run companies ALWAYS run this risk. Another stock screen parameter i guess.
Update # 1 : More news stories indicate that Steve Jobs appears to be having serious trouble, and here i am joking about it. Poor guy! Did u know that in the past - he had a version of normally terminal pancreatic cancer and almost miraculously it turned out to be a version which was surgically curable ?
Update # 2 : More dope on steve jobs & his cancer and all here and here
Seriously, key man run companies ALWAYS run this risk. Another stock screen parameter i guess.
Update # 1 : More news stories indicate that Steve Jobs appears to be having serious trouble, and here i am joking about it. Poor guy! Did u know that in the past - he had a version of normally terminal pancreatic cancer and almost miraculously it turned out to be a version which was surgically curable ?
Update # 2 : More dope on steve jobs & his cancer and all here and here
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Good lord
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Anil-Ambani-Sunil-Mittal-endorse-Modi-as-PM/410621/
I read the above story and cant help but worry.
However progressive or savvy Modi might be - half a dozen years of a self declared rascist as PM is NOT a good thing for the country.
I'l take 3 or 4% GDP growth and 15% inflation anyday or even P.Chidambaram as PM :)
I read the above story and cant help but worry.
However progressive or savvy Modi might be - half a dozen years of a self declared rascist as PM is NOT a good thing for the country.
I'l take 3 or 4% GDP growth and 15% inflation anyday or even P.Chidambaram as PM :)
More Chennai sangamam
Its like half past twelve - i had been wiping, sweeping, washing and mopping the entire place - and it took me like a full 3 hours. But with 3 days still to kill, most of it iam sure indoors - the place badly needed some housekeeping.
Around 11:15, still hearing incessant 'dubchik duchik' music (as you-know-who wud av put it ;-) - i took a stroll - first to the petrol dump department store for a coke, then a walk down to Natesan park - frankly i was surprised - there were THRONGS of people - not just rowdy louts - but like normal people - maami/maama-ish folks, school kids, college kids, a dog or two in tow .. there were all kinds of stilt walkers, karagattam troupes and stuff out on the street - which had been cardoned off - from like the Tirupati devastanam to the Crossword signal - and you could like stand next to the performers, blokes dressed as hanuman etc. and snap pictures - a lot of NRI types, firangs and groups of regular college kids were all in attendance - all having great fun, taking photos and all.
Reverting to my normal misanthropic self - I guess the proliferation & success of such events, watching simbu movies , visiting places like spencer plaza without an agenda, the booming viewership of blue movies,um, even spending 20 mins or so on -no one ever reads- blogs etc. are clear indications that there are high levels of free energy amongst the elements of the system - which ought to be ideally directed towards more productive ventures....im sorry..im sleepy..dont know what i was trying to say in the first place.
Dubchik! Dubchik!
(...and no im not drunk. One does not get drunk on diet coke.)
Around 11:15, still hearing incessant 'dubchik duchik' music (as you-know-who wud av put it ;-) - i took a stroll - first to the petrol dump department store for a coke, then a walk down to Natesan park - frankly i was surprised - there were THRONGS of people - not just rowdy louts - but like normal people - maami/maama-ish folks, school kids, college kids, a dog or two in tow .. there were all kinds of stilt walkers, karagattam troupes and stuff out on the street - which had been cardoned off - from like the Tirupati devastanam to the Crossword signal - and you could like stand next to the performers, blokes dressed as hanuman etc. and snap pictures - a lot of NRI types, firangs and groups of regular college kids were all in attendance - all having great fun, taking photos and all.
Reverting to my normal misanthropic self - I guess the proliferation & success of such events, watching simbu movies , visiting places like spencer plaza without an agenda, the booming viewership of blue movies,um, even spending 20 mins or so on -no one ever reads- blogs etc. are clear indications that there are high levels of free energy amongst the elements of the system - which ought to be ideally directed towards more productive ventures....im sorry..im sleepy..dont know what i was trying to say in the first place.
Dubchik! Dubchik!
(...and no im not drunk. One does not get drunk on diet coke.)
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Rant
Its pongal - its been quite a boring 2009 so far in any case - but its like 3/4 days of near zero human contact, washing clothes and reading printouts - all alone here in Madras starting tonight.
*Surprise surprise* the old man and zeenat - with the idiot sibling (a.k.a IS) in tow, (dunno why!) - have actually driven to Kumarakom and plan to stay there for boating, massages (old man) (and IS went along, im sure to shamelessly eyeball malloo schoolgirls, or teenagers at best - as i told him today. 'Poda. waste fellow' he says)
Zeenat calls me, all pyaar & crocodile tears - to come join them ;- but strangely i am sick and tired of vacations which may you more tired after u get through them - and as i told Zeenat, i dont do local vacations (Z: Aamanda aaman! Thimiru!) and i of course have to go to Delhi on Saturday.
All said and done, im kinda sad. i dont remember having met / having made any new friends in the last 4-5 years or so - i probably have just 4 or 5 people left in the world - who i can call anytime i want to shoot bull or just curse and rant - I SORELY miss having a friend or two around here in Madras - to catch a movie or two or shoot bull at the beach or something
- i guess when you have been a voluntarily obnoxious, dubakur busy, boring person for so long now like this - this is bound to happen. no?
*sigh*
*Surprise surprise* the old man and zeenat - with the idiot sibling (a.k.a IS) in tow, (dunno why!) - have actually driven to Kumarakom and plan to stay there for boating, massages (old man) (and IS went along, im sure to shamelessly eyeball malloo schoolgirls, or teenagers at best - as i told him today. 'Poda. waste fellow' he says)
Zeenat calls me, all pyaar & crocodile tears - to come join them ;- but strangely i am sick and tired of vacations which may you more tired after u get through them - and as i told Zeenat, i dont do local vacations (Z: Aamanda aaman! Thimiru!) and i of course have to go to Delhi on Saturday.
All said and done, im kinda sad. i dont remember having met / having made any new friends in the last 4-5 years or so - i probably have just 4 or 5 people left in the world - who i can call anytime i want to shoot bull or just curse and rant - I SORELY miss having a friend or two around here in Madras - to catch a movie or two or shoot bull at the beach or something
- i guess when you have been a voluntarily obnoxious, dubakur busy, boring person for so long now like this - this is bound to happen. no?
*sigh*
Monday, 12 January 2009
Interesting
I ve been watching Bush's last press conference at the White House- as president - still on at,what, like - 8:30pm IST - on BBC.
I find him EXTREMELY spontaneous, witty and reasonably candid - although the conference is mostly a series of question/answer sessions - most of them personal. Whatever may be, i guess apologies are due for dissing him as a buffoon whenever the chance presented itself.
He did make a point or two - Now that people have been hitting him with crap about Iraq, Afghanistan, WMDs etc. - he said that he really did not care about being popular - that he was a guy, who as president was forced to take quick, tough decisions based on what body of information was available to him at that time - he asked if any of the reporters present today were present during press conferences immediately after 9/11 - and whatd people tell about him if there had been another attack on American soil - why he had not taken action before etc.
More importantly, watching it for the whole hour or so reminds one of how developed america is - in terms of accountability, a sort of - professionalism, capability, skillsets needed to hold high government offices - and how much places like India must change to catch up.
p.s - The babe won 2 Golden globes. A few for slumdog i hear, also one for AR Rahman - and if my eyes did not deceive me - there was Anil Kapoor and an Indian looking chick jumping up and down - i guess it wont be long before we see Amitabh, Ash and their gang - and yes, Barkha Dutt - at the Globes and the Oscars i guess.
*Sleepy*
I find him EXTREMELY spontaneous, witty and reasonably candid - although the conference is mostly a series of question/answer sessions - most of them personal. Whatever may be, i guess apologies are due for dissing him as a buffoon whenever the chance presented itself.
He did make a point or two - Now that people have been hitting him with crap about Iraq, Afghanistan, WMDs etc. - he said that he really did not care about being popular - that he was a guy, who as president was forced to take quick, tough decisions based on what body of information was available to him at that time - he asked if any of the reporters present today were present during press conferences immediately after 9/11 - and whatd people tell about him if there had been another attack on American soil - why he had not taken action before etc.
More importantly, watching it for the whole hour or so reminds one of how developed america is - in terms of accountability, a sort of - professionalism, capability, skillsets needed to hold high government offices - and how much places like India must change to catch up.
p.s - The babe won 2 Golden globes. A few for slumdog i hear, also one for AR Rahman - and if my eyes did not deceive me - there was Anil Kapoor and an Indian looking chick jumping up and down - i guess it wont be long before we see Amitabh, Ash and their gang - and yes, Barkha Dutt - at the Globes and the Oscars i guess.
*Sleepy*
Sunday, 11 January 2009
Natesan park, Carnatic music, food on plastic plates
There were all the signs - gensets, lighting, traffic, excitement and din - i suspected a rally or another bridge opening in the neighborhood - i took a stroll to investigate - Turns out to be this:
At Natesan park (Right behind where i stay) theres part of this Chennai Sangamam - going on - starting today, running until pongal is over - like 15th or something.
surprise surprise! near zero political presence -
I spent a nice 45 mins standing amongst nodding maama/maamis, mosquitoes, boys distributing Jowli kadai gift discount coupons, GRT chefs whipping out plastic trayfuls of Tamil food enmasse for patient maama/maamis waiting in queues ( i guess it was free or something)
The violin recital that ran was pretty good to stand and listen to (- the lead violin played, quite skilfully, by a middle aged lady, a couple of guys on mridhangams, another guy with a backup violin and another lady, who was like chumma sitting on stage, nodding and keeping 'aadhi' thaalam count - )
I see that theres all kinds of carnatic vocals, mayilattam, oyilattam etc tomorrow - might go down and have a look.
But seriously, i like the concept a lot - like 5 or 6 places where all kinds of shows run simultaneously - free of charge, not too crowdy and fairly professional performers - i guess keep doing it year on year and upgrade the venues a bit and all - we can have a nice franchise going - like the Rio Carnival or the Spanish (!?) tomato thing - and yes, holidays ;-
Maybe il take pictures tomorrow...
At Natesan park (Right behind where i stay) theres part of this Chennai Sangamam - going on - starting today, running until pongal is over - like 15th or something.
surprise surprise! near zero political presence -
I spent a nice 45 mins standing amongst nodding maama/maamis, mosquitoes, boys distributing Jowli kadai gift discount coupons, GRT chefs whipping out plastic trayfuls of Tamil food enmasse for patient maama/maamis waiting in queues ( i guess it was free or something)
The violin recital that ran was pretty good to stand and listen to (- the lead violin played, quite skilfully, by a middle aged lady, a couple of guys on mridhangams, another guy with a backup violin and another lady, who was like chumma sitting on stage, nodding and keeping 'aadhi' thaalam count - )
I see that theres all kinds of carnatic vocals, mayilattam, oyilattam etc tomorrow - might go down and have a look.
But seriously, i like the concept a lot - like 5 or 6 places where all kinds of shows run simultaneously - free of charge, not too crowdy and fairly professional performers - i guess keep doing it year on year and upgrade the venues a bit and all - we can have a nice franchise going - like the Rio Carnival or the Spanish (!?) tomato thing - and yes, holidays ;-
Maybe il take pictures tomorrow...
Yes yes yes
Warren Buffett - last month on tape, in an interview (Charlie Rose)
"A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. In fact i havent seen so much economic fear in my adult lifetime. 100% percent of my personal portfolio will go into American shares soon. I guess its a once -in- a - longtime chance - to buy a nice piece of america's future profit makers at a remarkably marked down price"
Did you know that when buffett turned 15, he already had made money equivalent to USD 60,000 (adjusted to today's value) which he kept as bundles of cash in his dresser. He sold golf balls, pin ball machines, ran newspaper routes and stuff ?
I havent seen so much economic fear in my adult lifetime too :)
BUT unlike warren, il be lucky if my portfolio, over my, what, 7-8 years of investing is still in the black. Somehow i DONT feel bad. My analysis is nearly always right - FRAMEWORK wrong, as Buffett would declare.
Great experience, i reckon, but my boss is not impressed - amused, yes - but not impressed. Theres talk that he & his crony are going to cut my pocket money off and ask me to live on the salary im being paid - good for discipline, accountability, to put me off stocks and understand the logic of buying a car off my own money & writing it off against dues to P.Chidambaram instead of borrowing one wherever i go.
(Me: 'whats the need'
Zeenat: 'Kanja pisinari' )
"A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. In fact i havent seen so much economic fear in my adult lifetime. 100% percent of my personal portfolio will go into American shares soon. I guess its a once -in- a - longtime chance - to buy a nice piece of america's future profit makers at a remarkably marked down price"
Did you know that when buffett turned 15, he already had made money equivalent to USD 60,000 (adjusted to today's value) which he kept as bundles of cash in his dresser. He sold golf balls, pin ball machines, ran newspaper routes and stuff ?
I havent seen so much economic fear in my adult lifetime too :)
BUT unlike warren, il be lucky if my portfolio, over my, what, 7-8 years of investing is still in the black. Somehow i DONT feel bad. My analysis is nearly always right - FRAMEWORK wrong, as Buffett would declare.
Great experience, i reckon, but my boss is not impressed - amused, yes - but not impressed. Theres talk that he & his crony are going to cut my pocket money off and ask me to live on the salary im being paid - good for discipline, accountability, to put me off stocks and understand the logic of buying a car off my own money & writing it off against dues to P.Chidambaram instead of borrowing one wherever i go.
(Me: 'whats the need'
Zeenat: 'Kanja pisinari' )
Saturday, 10 January 2009
Super lunch break read
Did any of you go into a bookstore (big or kutti) in the last month or two ? then im sure u mustav spotted a copy of this book - The secret - with a bronzy coloured / Eragon the dragon type cover - i remember picking it up and hastily putting it back after realizing that its one of those self help books.
Here is a seriously funny thing posted - in amazon's user review section of 'the Secret'.
Im sure that next time i see the crummy cover of 'the secret' somewhere im sure to remember how "The Secret" - changed the life of this character in 'a very real and substantive way' - and allowed him to overcome 'a severe crisis in his personal life'
LOL
[The link original cited on Amit Varma's India Uncut.]
I hope that the boss does not call now - because he always opens his post lunch conferences with "ahh.abhilash..enna panra..busya ?" and i always say "umm, oru nimisham..
Here is a seriously funny thing posted - in amazon's user review section of 'the Secret'.
Im sure that next time i see the crummy cover of 'the secret' somewhere im sure to remember how "The Secret" - changed the life of this character in 'a very real and substantive way' - and allowed him to overcome 'a severe crisis in his personal life'
LOL
[The link original cited on Amit Varma's India Uncut.]
I hope that the boss does not call now - because he always opens his post lunch conferences with "ahh.abhilash..enna panra..busya ?" and i always say "umm, oru nimisham..
Thursday, 8 January 2009
More satyam
Probably the most easy-to-go-down version of how to explain all the shit thats been dug up, and now flying around Satyam . Here
This explanation is valid, of course - assuming, that Raju (in his sensational letter, that is) was more or less truthful, atleast in a macro sort of way.
But - I doubt if all the worms are out of the can yet - because (i guess) you cant fabricate holes - which are 5000 / 7000 crores in size - on a company doing annual revenues of only that scale. (eg. Fabricate 600 crores over just 2000 crores of actual revenues.Thats like making one fake invoice for every 3 real invoices uve made or something. WOW)
The whole thing STINKS of something more.
Pricewaterhousecooper auditors maybe negligent or even corrupt - but surely not total jokers who want to spend the rest of their lives in prison or something.
Remember Arthur Anderson ? who went down with Enron..when the big 5 became what is today, Big 4 [ PWHC are one of the big 4, incidentally]
But hey, this sort of thing goes on, in manageable levels across every company one'll come across anywhere in the world - again, i can only guess.
When Narayanamurty was asked by Shereen bhan if he will like to take satyam over, he wrinkled up his nose and said "I can categorically state that a firm of Infosys' stature wont TOUCH the assets or get involved in the affairs of a 'tainted' company like that".
This explanation is valid, of course - assuming, that Raju (in his sensational letter, that is) was more or less truthful, atleast in a macro sort of way.
But - I doubt if all the worms are out of the can yet - because (i guess) you cant fabricate holes - which are 5000 / 7000 crores in size - on a company doing annual revenues of only that scale. (eg. Fabricate 600 crores over just 2000 crores of actual revenues.Thats like making one fake invoice for every 3 real invoices uve made or something. WOW)
The whole thing STINKS of something more.
Pricewaterhousecooper auditors maybe negligent or even corrupt - but surely not total jokers who want to spend the rest of their lives in prison or something.
Remember Arthur Anderson ? who went down with Enron..when the big 5 became what is today, Big 4 [ PWHC are one of the big 4, incidentally]
But hey, this sort of thing goes on, in manageable levels across every company one'll come across anywhere in the world - again, i can only guess.
When Narayanamurty was asked by Shereen bhan if he will like to take satyam over, he wrinkled up his nose and said "I can categorically state that a firm of Infosys' stature wont TOUCH the assets or get involved in the affairs of a 'tainted' company like that".
I personally dont know a single person who wont/hasnt cut a corner or two to get ahead in life - maybe Mr. Murthy is one such person, eh ? You get painted when you get caught and all that, but thats something else, isnt it?
I refuse to believe that Infy does / has done all of its 5 billion dollar or so business a year without a little bit of this or that - Maybe, they scrupulously account for each penny they payout for this and that or maybe they pay baksheesh out officially as cheques.
Hmm, i scroll up and one or two green, highly opinionated readers might think that i am this total unethical SOB (in addition my borderline antisocial tendencies ;-) - but heck, this is what i think and the one thing i always will be is pragmatic. Naah! too cheap
** The End **
[Disclaimer: Do not go beyond this point if you plan to ever come back again to my blog because the below rant is long, boring and mostly useless bull]
Sidetrack:
Remember the part in the letter where Raju states that the whole thing started when he suddenly ran out of money to pump in to feed satyam's struggling growth engine -
How ?
Earlier he had pledged his shares and raised cash - (Like the old fashioned Kumbakonam Marwadi Pawn shop) typically the amount of cash borrowed would have been LESSER than the actual value of his collateral (in this case, ONCE valuable satyam shares) But with the Global crisis comes fall in share prices and Margin calls - meaning that the Gold in the Marwadi kadai suddenly starts losing value - so the marwadi will call for more money to give him reassurance or asks some of this money back or sell the gold while it still will raise money to cover Raju's debt.
Raju is slowly running out of shares..and more and more shares as collateral gives less and less money from the marwadi - not enough. Too few shares with Raju will trigger all sorts of market speculation, tamasha and a possible takeover.
So he trys to bring in the Maithyas thing - to M-seal the Hole in the balance sheet a little - then the excrement hit the proverbial fan - and the rest, as they say, is history.
Sort of like a classic example of how a global liquidity crisis will trigger such collapses - and cons of using fluctuating securities (Shares, mortgages etc) as collateral to take out CASH on loan. If youve borrowed 0.7X against a share valued at X (seems safe, from the lender's perspective, no?) - then the share value falls to 0.7X - the lender asks you to provide additional collateral to keep the Ratio of Cash lent TO Collateral at 70 : 100 - (MARGIN call) -within 48 hours - or he sells the share for 0.7 in cash, which adds further SUPPLY (read: Fuel) to what is already a falling market for those shares.
This knocks off the price of a similar Share owned by a neighbour (say) to 0.6X - and if the same Financial company holds the neighbor's Share too - they ask the neighbour whos borrowed 0.5 X - for money - to bring ratio up to 70: 100 - or they sell .. and so on.. keep selling shares... triggering 10% drops in one session and so on.
I am sure this whole satyam episode can be sort of written up as a book to explain basic concepts in economics, finance, corporate governance etc. a la freakonomics. because it has bits and pieces of everything involved.
Easy, no ?
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
Satyam
I guess its a sort of a season for scandals, ponzi schemes and the likes.
Here is a faxcopy of the letter Satyam's Ramalinga Raju wrote. Read it.
I partly feel sorry for the bloke. But then, he ought to have been happier with lesser, but truthful numbers.
The whole thing reads like a nice basic tutorial on basic balance sheet reading though!
The satyam stock closed at near 40 bucks a piece today - down 77%! I darent check my portfolio today.
As Mr.B (Remember poor S !? who drowned on new year's eve) told me today, kaalam kettu, 'sukra desai' seriyillama kedaku, poi pallivaasala mandirikanum !
*yawn*
Here is a faxcopy of the letter Satyam's Ramalinga Raju wrote. Read it.
I partly feel sorry for the bloke. But then, he ought to have been happier with lesser, but truthful numbers.
The whole thing reads like a nice basic tutorial on basic balance sheet reading though!
The satyam stock closed at near 40 bucks a piece today - down 77%! I darent check my portfolio today.
As Mr.B (Remember poor S !? who drowned on new year's eve) told me today, kaalam kettu, 'sukra desai' seriyillama kedaku, poi pallivaasala mandirikanum !
*yawn*
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
News, disturbing mostly
I only wrote that post about Goldquest after i assumed that everything was settled, its just a couple of posts down i guess.
As they say, talk of the devil and here he is:
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/469800/National/1/20/1
I always used to tell them that this was going to turn out to be one helluva lesson in life - and they are lucky for what they have left - but this new twist has just made it a bit too much to take - some of the inside dope i get from close friends, family is pretty disturbing and in line with what i always feared to be the root cause of goldquest's downfall - too much, too fast, too much flash and too many potential folks, im sure, left disgruntled.
Theres no big sound reason for SO big a backlash - after all, as i always argued, it was only 'quasi' ponzi, as in 'semi legit'.
Will explain:
New members (a.k.a 'signups') who pay 30 grand (for - coins, watches and stuff - actually worth no more than 5 or 7 grand , if you, for example weigh the gold coin) - know the catch - for the premium they are entitled a chance to earn commissions on all their future sales - and the gap - 30 minus 5 = 25 is subsequently treated as an entry free into the club, so to speak.
Heck, i read somewhere that some bloke bought the divine Scarlett Johanssen's Hanky (laced with her snot, i guess..whatever the bugger was buying it for..Charity!?..) for a 1000 dollars or something for pete's sake. Its legal - as long as the buyer VOLUNTARILY pays the premium.
Then is it not FULLY legit ?
Well, maybe so. BUT i guess, there can be a LOT that can go wrong with what they present to the new signup as the sales pitch (e.g when i was out havng dinner with C, we bump into a guy i used to know who told me that he was told that his princess diana coin was a collector's item worth 'much more' than the 20 odd grand he paid. i wisely did not offer him counsel, for fear of getting assaulted by the seller, who was also an acquaintance and was lurking nearby) / So if the signup turns hostile and lodges a complaint that he was swindled / fed some codswallup / told some bullshit story etc. - they were on shaky ground. I know for a fact - this sort of issue triggered the whole thing off - and the fancy mobiles and the Audis.
Sad!
**Disclaimer: All amounts, figures and item descriptions are off my head, just to explain the point.
As they say, talk of the devil and here he is:
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/469800/National/1/20/1
I always used to tell them that this was going to turn out to be one helluva lesson in life - and they are lucky for what they have left - but this new twist has just made it a bit too much to take - some of the inside dope i get from close friends, family is pretty disturbing and in line with what i always feared to be the root cause of goldquest's downfall - too much, too fast, too much flash and too many potential folks, im sure, left disgruntled.
Theres no big sound reason for SO big a backlash - after all, as i always argued, it was only 'quasi' ponzi, as in 'semi legit'.
Will explain:
New members (a.k.a 'signups') who pay 30 grand (for - coins, watches and stuff - actually worth no more than 5 or 7 grand , if you, for example weigh the gold coin) - know the catch - for the premium they are entitled a chance to earn commissions on all their future sales - and the gap - 30 minus 5 = 25 is subsequently treated as an entry free into the club, so to speak.
Heck, i read somewhere that some bloke bought the divine Scarlett Johanssen's Hanky (laced with her snot, i guess..whatever the bugger was buying it for..Charity!?..) for a 1000 dollars or something for pete's sake. Its legal - as long as the buyer VOLUNTARILY pays the premium.
Then is it not FULLY legit ?
Well, maybe so. BUT i guess, there can be a LOT that can go wrong with what they present to the new signup as the sales pitch (e.g when i was out havng dinner with C, we bump into a guy i used to know who told me that he was told that his princess diana coin was a collector's item worth 'much more' than the 20 odd grand he paid. i wisely did not offer him counsel, for fear of getting assaulted by the seller, who was also an acquaintance and was lurking nearby) / So if the signup turns hostile and lodges a complaint that he was swindled / fed some codswallup / told some bullshit story etc. - they were on shaky ground. I know for a fact - this sort of issue triggered the whole thing off - and the fancy mobiles and the Audis.
Sad!
**Disclaimer: All amounts, figures and item descriptions are off my head, just to explain the point.
Monday, 5 January 2009
Brendan Benson Moment!
I havent slept the WHOLE of last night. I have been in the same seat, staring at the same screen answering phones, making datasheets since 8:30 am - its 7:02 pm and im still in office. Business is awfully slow, no ones paying, my head feels heavy, i feel like a pile of - 2 day old - dog shit.
Ive officially given such moments a name - "Brendan Benson Moments" - Brendan Benson, being, the musician behind this masterpiece.
"What im looking for" - which goes like:
Well I don't know what I'm looking for
But I know that I just wanna look some more
And I won't be satisfied 'Till there's nothing left that I haven't tried
For some people it's an easy choice But for me there's a devil and an angel's voice
Well I don't know what I am looking for
But I know that I just wanna look some more
Well I don't know what I'm living for
But I know that I just wanna live some more
And you hear it from strangers And you hear it from friends
That love never dies, love never ends
Now I don't wanna argue, no I don't wanna fight
'Cause you're always wrong and I'm always right
Well I don't know what I am living for
But I know that I just wanna live some more
I used to be involved, and I felt like a king
Now I've lost it all and I don't feel a thing
I may never grow old, I may never give in
And I'll blame this world that I live in
I visit hell on a daily basis I see the sadness in all your faces
I am still stumbling down a darkened street And I act like a child and I'm insecure And I'm filled with doubt and I'm immature
Sometimes it creeps up on me and before I know it I'm lost at sea
But no matter how far I row I always find my way back home
But I don't know what I've been waiting for
But I know that I don't wanna wait anymore
Looking for... What I'm looking for....
(The full version sent to me by Hari mama )
Now, this is as close as the lowest ive felt all month long. I dunno what'll cure me from turning more and more of me into this 'super-psychotic wonk'-ish (thanks S for the super description) state of existence.
I am leaving office . Thaiyir sadham, naarthangai & fits of sleep [during which like the day before yesterday il dream of Global Organic textile standard , REACH and her screaming (Triggered im sure by idiot sibling's repeated screening of a pathetic print of Ghajini upstairs)] - await.
*sigh. I need a shrink*
Ive officially given such moments a name - "Brendan Benson Moments" - Brendan Benson, being, the musician behind this masterpiece.
"What im looking for" - which goes like:
Well I don't know what I'm looking for
But I know that I just wanna look some more
And I won't be satisfied 'Till there's nothing left that I haven't tried
For some people it's an easy choice But for me there's a devil and an angel's voice
Well I don't know what I am looking for
But I know that I just wanna look some more
Well I don't know what I'm living for
But I know that I just wanna live some more
And you hear it from strangers And you hear it from friends
That love never dies, love never ends
Now I don't wanna argue, no I don't wanna fight
'Cause you're always wrong and I'm always right
Well I don't know what I am living for
But I know that I just wanna live some more
I used to be involved, and I felt like a king
Now I've lost it all and I don't feel a thing
I may never grow old, I may never give in
And I'll blame this world that I live in
I visit hell on a daily basis I see the sadness in all your faces
I am still stumbling down a darkened street And I act like a child and I'm insecure And I'm filled with doubt and I'm immature
Sometimes it creeps up on me and before I know it I'm lost at sea
But no matter how far I row I always find my way back home
But I don't know what I've been waiting for
But I know that I don't wanna wait anymore
Looking for... What I'm looking for....
(The full version sent to me by Hari mama )
Now, this is as close as the lowest ive felt all month long. I dunno what'll cure me from turning more and more of me into this 'super-psychotic wonk'-ish (thanks S for the super description) state of existence.
I am leaving office . Thaiyir sadham, naarthangai & fits of sleep [during which like the day before yesterday il dream of Global Organic textile standard , REACH and her screaming (Triggered im sure by idiot sibling's repeated screening of a pathetic print of Ghajini upstairs)] - await.
*sigh. I need a shrink*
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Of ponzi schemes and Goldqwest
[Disclaimer: Apologies. This article is probably is not the kind of thing that one is bound to enjoy on a lazy sunday afternoon. But i havent the energy to complete it on working days.]
Heres something ive been planning to nail down for a long time now.
What outfits like Goldquest, now Bernard Madoff have been doing actually has a name - They are classic 'Ponzi schemes' - a fraudulent scheme that pays investors out of money that is put in by subsequent investors - because theres no profit that is made - because there is no legitimate business that the outfit is involved in.
They collapse when new inflow stops - Madoff's show collapsed with the liquidity crunch following the economic crisis - and Goldquest - from a combination of political issues (Neta mumbling: mmm. Edhu ennada idhu. Namma etthanai nalla thozhila irukom. Picks up phone ..Elai... ennada this goldukostu ? ...), liquidity issues and the fact, as i see it, that it had grown much too big.
Too many people made far too much money too soon to go unnoticed - far too many lavish parties, Audi A3s, BMWs and hand-me-down, 20k instalment a month Mercs - and you could overhear people pitching for new signees in places as common as Bessie beach cafes & heck, even dosai hotels in Madurai.
I always thought they did so much business in South India because the start of their operation coincided with times when every bloke with an engineering degree - who was or was not illiterate in everyother sense - had 2, often 3 job offers from IT outfits - and some of Goldquest's early birds were so green & with 20grand a month - and 10grand still in the pocket even after sooper amount of oorsuthifying - goldquest - to some - was something they work on 3-4 years, make a billion or two - and retire.
I have to say though, a few of my really close friends actually nearly made it to their retirement - BMWs, Audi A3s, A5s, Beachfront penthouses to flaunting dozens of open airtickets to places like coimbatore, bombay, pune and bangalore.
As one of the original cynics - I dare not say more, for fear of offending them or pissing them off. They are all still friends, and i still respect most of them - for their passion, energy and for how they've taken it after the scam ground to a halt - leaving most of their balance sheets in the red. (Simply read as: More money OWED than whats in the bank).
The mechanics of how they actually came to owe money in the first place when some of them were making money in 10s of lacs a month (True, i have seen cheques) and could afford Audis (I have seen these too) - is something ive closed studied also - and it needs a slightly more verbose, but highly interesting explanation detailing the demerits of credit card debt, buying stuff on instalments, postponing tax dues , reckless money lending to friends and most importantly - the cons of upping your lifestyle (read: monthly expenses) - dues, phone bills, credit card bills, travel bills and booze bills - on the back of shaky, uncertain monthly inflow (- a bit like - a million kutti private ponzi schemes inside the big, mega ponzi scheme) I'l save it for later - for more money minded audience, i guess.
[ partly also down to not having been brought up by true blood, hard headed, seen-it-all cynics ;- (I cant help bringing the old man into this discussion - lol)]
Anyway, here are a few more articles to get you in on more fundae:
Here, here, here
Here are the lessons we all ought to learn from the whole thing :
a) Basic money matters cant be wrong
b) Earn your living by doing something that you understand and make sure that you know to do it pretty damn well
c) Buy a cycle when you an afford a moped, buy an alto when you can buy a toyota, buy a helicopter when you can afford this
c) There isnt a free lunch in the world (Not even a free glass of water, for that matter)
d) When you see something that seems/sounds like too much of a good thing - do what my old man will do without batting an eyelid - turn cynical, gatherup your belongings and SCRAM.
Heres something ive been planning to nail down for a long time now.
What outfits like Goldquest, now Bernard Madoff have been doing actually has a name - They are classic 'Ponzi schemes' - a fraudulent scheme that pays investors out of money that is put in by subsequent investors - because theres no profit that is made - because there is no legitimate business that the outfit is involved in.
They collapse when new inflow stops - Madoff's show collapsed with the liquidity crunch following the economic crisis - and Goldquest - from a combination of political issues (Neta mumbling: mmm. Edhu ennada idhu. Namma etthanai nalla thozhila irukom. Picks up phone ..Elai... ennada this goldukostu ? ...), liquidity issues and the fact, as i see it, that it had grown much too big.
Too many people made far too much money too soon to go unnoticed - far too many lavish parties, Audi A3s, BMWs and hand-me-down, 20k instalment a month Mercs - and you could overhear people pitching for new signees in places as common as Bessie beach cafes & heck, even dosai hotels in Madurai.
I always thought they did so much business in South India because the start of their operation coincided with times when every bloke with an engineering degree - who was or was not illiterate in everyother sense - had 2, often 3 job offers from IT outfits - and some of Goldquest's early birds were so green & with 20grand a month - and 10grand still in the pocket even after sooper amount of oorsuthifying - goldquest - to some - was something they work on 3-4 years, make a billion or two - and retire.
I have to say though, a few of my really close friends actually nearly made it to their retirement - BMWs, Audi A3s, A5s, Beachfront penthouses to flaunting dozens of open airtickets to places like coimbatore, bombay, pune and bangalore.
As one of the original cynics - I dare not say more, for fear of offending them or pissing them off. They are all still friends, and i still respect most of them - for their passion, energy and for how they've taken it after the scam ground to a halt - leaving most of their balance sheets in the red. (Simply read as: More money OWED than whats in the bank).
The mechanics of how they actually came to owe money in the first place when some of them were making money in 10s of lacs a month (True, i have seen cheques) and could afford Audis (I have seen these too) - is something ive closed studied also - and it needs a slightly more verbose, but highly interesting explanation detailing the demerits of credit card debt, buying stuff on instalments, postponing tax dues , reckless money lending to friends and most importantly - the cons of upping your lifestyle (read: monthly expenses) - dues, phone bills, credit card bills, travel bills and booze bills - on the back of shaky, uncertain monthly inflow (- a bit like - a million kutti private ponzi schemes inside the big, mega ponzi scheme) I'l save it for later - for more money minded audience, i guess.
[ partly also down to not having been brought up by true blood, hard headed, seen-it-all cynics ;- (I cant help bringing the old man into this discussion - lol)]
Anyway, here are a few more articles to get you in on more fundae:
Here, here, here
Here are the lessons we all ought to learn from the whole thing :
a) Basic money matters cant be wrong
b) Earn your living by doing something that you understand and make sure that you know to do it pretty damn well
c) Buy a cycle when you an afford a moped, buy an alto when you can buy a toyota, buy a helicopter when you can afford this
c) There isnt a free lunch in the world (Not even a free glass of water, for that matter)
d) When you see something that seems/sounds like too much of a good thing - do what my old man will do without batting an eyelid - turn cynical, gatherup your belongings and SCRAM.
Friday, 2 January 2009
Link to a book review
First post of the new year and wah! ive managed to pick on something super.
Please use the link below for a very engrossing review of a revamped version of 'the English answer to Japanese pillow books and illustrated texts designed to show where to put what'
Here
I used to have an electronic version of the old classic back in the hostel. Mind you, the review linked above is right on one count (- although the guy in the illustrations looks like a 'werewolf with a hangover' lol ) the drawings were top rate, i mean, in the artistic sense.
Although the internet has changed a lot of things these days, back in the 70s - the publication of such a book mustav been quite an eyeopener. I wonder what Indian teenagers did back in the 70s and all, to, um, find out where to put what.
Please use the link below for a very engrossing review of a revamped version of 'the English answer to Japanese pillow books and illustrated texts designed to show where to put what'
Here
I used to have an electronic version of the old classic back in the hostel. Mind you, the review linked above is right on one count (- although the guy in the illustrations looks like a 'werewolf with a hangover' lol ) the drawings were top rate, i mean, in the artistic sense.
Although the internet has changed a lot of things these days, back in the 70s - the publication of such a book mustav been quite an eyeopener. I wonder what Indian teenagers did back in the 70s and all, to, um, find out where to put what.
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