Into The Wild

You are having a hard time, but face and conquer it all. The gravity of your environment again sucks you into a black hole of depression. You again swim your way out of the darkness. You sit down to catch your breathe back and realize 40 years have gone by. Time's demeanour is defeating you in your life's marathon. Life's key events play vividly, and yet with a fade, in your mind. You recap it all in a way similar to the teasers played in movie theaters. You worry more when you realize - It's not a movie, but your life. You have kids, family, a five-figure salary, a beautiful/handsome wife/husband, and furnished apartment in a plush locale.

On the surface, this is all you ever dreamed of. This is your idea of a perfect life. But there is an incumbent desire deep within your heart to discover yourself, to know life's realities, travel and be close to the nature, visit solace to enlighten your soul about your purpose in life. However, there are hurdles. Your life is now as predictable as the ups and downs experienced in old-fashioned amusement park rides. You go up and come down in a periodic manner, just like a sinusoidal wave. There are bills to be paid, school fees to attend to, and a cubicle-bound corporate world to live in.

If this setup seems to be a highly-probable prophecy of your life, then you can be categorized as a common man.



The story, Into The Wild, is a real-life account of an uncommon boy, on the verge of manhood, who lived his dream. Who believed that the core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences. And experience, he gained through nature, living by the land, and dying in his pursuit of solace and enlightenment. He hitchhiked across countries, paddled across the Grand Canyon into Mexico, worked in grain fields despite earning a college diploma and grades good enough to get into Harvard. He achieved what many self-proclaimed saints can't - that is, detachment from the green paper - Money.

Chris was an intense personality since childhood. If there was something that he liked, he would go and grab it. His love for nature was fueled during his family's road trips, treks, and the enviable love for nature practiced by his grandfather. Ever since he got his car, he started venturing on road trips during his time off from school.

He and his father, Walt McCandless, were equally intense. Consequently, they had a fair share of differences. However, the distance between them widened after Chris discovered that he was born in a celibate relationship. Chris said, in a letter to his sister, that the discovery has made him see his life as fiction. He held a high moral ground for himself and the world. So, avoided his parents as much as he could, especially during his road trips. He hardly sent them any postcards or letters regarding his whereabouts.

Since childhood, he had dreamed to travel to Alaska and after growing a bit older, he dreamed to live off the Alaskan land, to feel the nature, and to walk into the wild. After graduating, he set off on his final adventure to fulfill his Alaskan Odyssey. He set off to fulfill his dream, but never to return.

The movie Into the Wild is an inspirational account of Chris's journey into the wild.  It inspired me to read the book with the same title - Into The Wild - to get an insight into Chris's character and to get clearer answers to why  a top student and athlete at the Emory University abandon all his belongings and relations as if they never existed. How can a child brought up in an affluent family develop a kind of detachment from the material world that only sages can achieve? Or posses the detachment that we hear about on umpteen number of religious channels?

A person with such an enviable morale and sense of reality could not be just another road bum? If a person, who never followed what was instructed to him, tells you, "You are wrong if you think that the joy of life comes principally from the joy of human relationships. God's place is all around us, it is in everything and in anything we can experience. People just need to change the way they look at things." Will you say that the person is a bum or a someone who thinks a lot about life and the general perception of the society towards the world. Well, my choice is the latter.

Many said that Chris was a psycho who died in the wilderness like many other bums and hippies who set into the Alaskan wilderness unprepared. However, Chris was different. He was unprepared, right, but it was mainly due to his unconscious over-confidence in his abilities. He was neither suicidal  like many other folks who ventured on similar odysseys. If you read the book, Into the Wild, you will better understand his love for the world, people, and life through accounts of people who met him during his journey.

He never returned from his odyssey and created vacuum in the lives of his beloved. That was his main and biggest mistake, but what we learn from his life and words are deep insights into our own lives. In one of the letters to a friend, he stated that we have problems and learn to live with them. We never try to do something different to find a solution.

If you look up at the zeal with which Chris set out to achieve his dream, you can learn a lot. We set our goals to achieve innumerable tasks in our material life, but never think about discovering ourselves, getting close to nature, or doing a bit to make the world a better place. Sustainable happiness will never live with you if it arises through booze and dinner parties after you complete a project, or if you win a quarterly performance award in your organization. These materialistic achievements, and the consequential happiness, are as temporary as your present breath. Before you enjoy it in the space of a day, it's over and you move onto the next biological inhale and exhale step. What lives with you are the good deeds you do, the kind of experiences you have, or the kind of people you meet. As long as you stay bottled up in a cubicle-bonded life, the probability of knowing people as they are is very less, the experiences will be repetitive, and your deeds will be great, only for your organization or team.

Chris had stated, "I think careers are a 20th century invention and I don't want one." I agree with this. Human had lives before the term career became our only motivation in life. Everything we do is career driven. Due to our responsibilities, it may be not possible to forgo of our career. However, we can all take time out to do something we love and know thyself, know the world we live in, know the nature that has gifted us with our life.

If someone does us a favor, we either try to payback with help or a gift. Now, when nature and the world has given us - US, can't we give something back to the world? That's not a one-way material benefit like the corporate world, but it may lead to an experience, which can redefine your perception of life and give you lasting memoirs. Nature only gives and never asks for anything in return. Develop a morale to return something good to it.

Two years he walks the earth. No phone, no pool, no pets, no cigarettes. Ultimate freedom. An extremist. An aesthetic voyager whose home is the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return, 'cause "the West is the best." And now after two rambling years comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual pilgrimage. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking bring him to the Great White North. No longer to be poisoned by civilization he flees, and walks alone upon the land to become lost in the wild. - (Alexander Supertramp May 1992) Chris McCandless


Chris's story, Into the Wild, will surely make you think, in what sense, depends on you.

He walked into the wild, his soul lives on in the heart of wilderness. -- Lokesh

Remembrance: Dedicated to 26/11

They came to be martyrs on the basis of creed

When the faith claims violence on innocence is not a good deed

They spread blood everywhere

 Hope was not kindled from anywhere

Life came to a standstill

Empty spaces of lost lives no one could fill

Then came a nation’s pride

The uniformed could never let it subside

There was a shine in their eyes

In their heart were a nation’s cries

We’ll not let you down

Was their promise to the mother’s crown

Our body may sleep forever

But we’ll not let terror take us ever

They went in and conquered

And the terror in our hearts jittered

A uniformed fought terror with his bare hands

But never let it free to hurt more clans

He gave his life in this deed

I salute them for the service to our creed

There was an end to bullets and violence

But a start to a people’s renaissance and political nonsense

Promises were made to never let the white collared rest

As streets became the place to show our unrest

The media and its hoopla captured the hype

Never letting an opportunity stay unripe

They raised stories and showed the ashes

Aiding terror in their news flashes

Now the time just keeps clicking over

More stories are there for the media to cover

Life has hastily assumed its old ways

As a clan, we are again enjoying on beaches and bays

The politicians have found their way out

Reselecting the responsible with all the clout

A man had claimed it was a small thing

Is again occupying the same office’s wing

We tend to forget it all

And our heroes always tend to fall

Remembrances last for few days

And we are back to our beaches and bays

Nothing that can be done though

We just keep saying it and divisions will grow

Make a vow to stay united

Never let our nation be divided

Tick Tick Tech Tech: Gadgetoholism

Sameer is a software engineer and works with a top IT Company. Like most of his friends, he is a gadget freak and believes that he cannot live without his gadgets. His latest collection of gadgets includes a 32-GB iPod Touch, a 3G Nokia phone, Xbox 360, and a Sony Vaio laptop. He surely owns a collection to envy of. Well, you name the gadget and he will know it about them for sure. He has an eye on the market for the latest gadgets and all his savings go into acquiring them.

[caption id="attachment_178" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gadgets and Sameer"][/caption]

And Internet, he just can’t live without it. He is very active socially, in a virtual sense, as he averages an impressive 6-8 Facebook status updates and tweets every hour. Phew!!! That’s what you call being connected, isn’t it?

On the surface, it may seem that Sameer has fun with gadgets and must be happy with his life and work. However, on second thoughts, his happiness is questionable. He may have brief highs (as in while smoking) when using his gadgets, but other aspects of his life have taken a thrashing due to his enduring love for gadgets. In simple terms, he is addicted to his gadgets. Such an addiction is termed as gadgetoholism (or I’ll prefer to name it as gadgetoholism).

As it happens with all forms of addictions, you get momentary highs (while using a substance or displaying a behavior) and then a lull, which is accompanied by an anxiety to get back to the source of pleasure. So, in case of gadgets, you may feel happy while you are playing around with your new  iPhone, but feel anxious when you have to stay offline due to work at office. Consequently, your focus is not on your work, but on when can you get rid of the work and get back to your gadget.

Addiction is accompanied by the presence of deviant behaviors, which in case of gadget and technology addiction include:

• Displaying anxious behavior  when:
  
  
  
  • You forget a gadget while going somewhere
  
  
  • You have Internet outages
  
  
  • Your gadget stops functioning
  
  
  • Your gadget seems outdated when compared to the latest market offerings
  
  
  • You have to stay disconnected due to urgent deadlines at work
  
  
  
  


• Lacking non-virtual :-) social interactions


• Staying indoors


• No exercising or outdoor activity


• Displaying irate behavior when disturbed in the middle of a game or during an intense virtual activity


• Using new devices briefly and then tossing them aside


• Buying the latest gizmos to be the first person on the block, office, class, or neighborhood to own them

Well, the list goes on and on and on…

The real danger with gadgetoholism lies in the fact that it is not an obvious addiction and its ill effects are not as popular as ill effects of smoking or alcoholism.

What you miss the most due to gadgetoholism is your keenness to observe and enjoy the little things like the sunset, meeting friends personally, or thinking while you travel. For example, in the present day-and-age, you may be working 60 hours a week and travel 12 hours to and from work. Now, if you own a media player, you are more likely to turn it on to enjoy music or some movie on-the-move. Such behavior may steal your time that you could have utilized to think over some decisions in life or pursue some hobby.

In addition, most gadgets are not sold at the price of groceries. Although marketers and advertisers may want you to believe that gadgets are easy-to-own with their EMI schemes.

At the initial stage of gadgetoholism, you may start to spend time walking around the stores that sell electronic goods and carefully examine every gadget in the store. The gadgets may include cell phones, laptops, net tops, or LCD TVs. Free-to-roam stores let you experience the latest gadgets without any restrictions. This manner of selling is new to the Indian market. Traditionally, Indian electronic purchases were made at small electronic stores operating on a small scale and low inventory. However, the advent of, experential, electronic retail chains like Croma, Next, and Vijay Sales have led to an increase in the sale of gadgets and gizmos.

When you put in all efforts to get an expensive device, you are demonstrating a behavior that is comparable to gambling. Such an obsessive wish to buy technical novelties may lead to family conflicts or financial problems. For example, your wife or mother may not see the sense in buying a new 42-inch LED TV when your 29-inch CRT TV is functioning fine. They would prefer to use the money to buy new clothes or go on a family holiday. However, you may be blinded by the latest gizmo and get it. Such behavior may not be uncommon.

One additional point that you should consider before buying an expensive gizmo is its value depreciation. For example, I purchased my home PC (it has a 2.2 GHz Pentium IV processor) for approximately 24k, in 2005. Now, when I went back to my dealer to check its resale value, he could offer me only 5k. Phew!!! That is approximately 20% depreciation per year. Owning a PC was a need for my education so I have a rationale for investing in it. However, let us consider purchasing a luxury-driven decision to purchase the latest 42-inch LED TV for approximately 1,00,000 Rs. If you have enough money to spare, then this decision may make sense. However, if you go beyond your financial ability to make this purchase and could have met your entertainment needs with a 15k slim 29-inch traditional TV set, then you are sowing the seeds of levying a check on your monthly spending. In addition, you may have a great opportunity cost (Opportunity Cost is the value of a good or service in terms of what had to be sacrificed in order to obtain that item.).

For example, if you purchase a 15k TV set, you save 85k that you would have spent on buying the new LED TV. You can invest this money in other low-risk financial instruments and be better off financially. However, if you buy the LED TV, its value in the next five years (assuming 20% depreciation per year) ends up being ZERO Rs. Now consider the 85k that you will save if you buy the traditional TV Set. Rupees 85k invested in a five-year term deposit, offering 8.5% p.a. return rate, will give you a surplus of approximately 36k. That is, you will have approximately 1,11,000 Rs at the end of the five-year investment term. Compare this value appreciation with the value depreciation of your fixed asset: LED TV. What makes you economically better off? Well, I leave the decision to you. :-)

Closing Points

The latest thing on Internet is virtual life, virtual farming, virtual gaming, or virtual dating. You name a thing, and you can have it virtually. However, all of them may be substitutes and aren’t substitutes the second best thing? So, why plant hundreds of trees in Farmville and not even a single tree in real life? Or, why not play a real game of Cricket (to also aid your fitness) as against playing a virtual one?

A virtual life can never replace real life. You are not Neo from Matrix to live two lives. To avoid the addiction, make it a point to keep away from your gadgets at times, intentionally.

As I end this blog, I recall some instances from a couple of movies. First is from the movie: The Demolition Man, starring: Sylvester Stallone and Sandra Bullock. Anyone who has seen the movie will recall the scene in which the following dialogues were said:

Lenina Huxley: I was wondering if you would like to have sex?
John Spartan: [surprised] Here? With you? Now?
Lenina Huxley: [nervously, nodding] Mm-hmm.
John Spartan: Oh yeah. [They put on the head phones and start hearing &^%$*$^& sounds. Stallone, John Spartan, gets frustrated])

---

[after futuristic, contact-free "sex"]
John Spartan: Look, Huxley, why don't we just do it the old-fashioned way?
Lenina Huxley: [stands up, shocked] Eeewww, disgusting! You mean... *fluid transfer*?

The next instance is from Die Hard 4, starring Bruce Willis. In one of the scenes, Thomas, the hacker whom Bruce Willis (John McClane in the movie) saves, says the following quote:

Thomas Gabriel: [about McClane] You're a Timex watch in a digital age.

It’s your preference whether you want to be a Timex watch in a digital age or a combo-watch that has analog and digital dials. I prefer the latter to enjoy a bit of both. In addition, it will be a height of stupidity or insanity if the situation from the Demolition Man is replicated in the real world.

Rita

Marathi theater and cinema has been making waves for its creativity and innovation interminently. Rita is a movie that surely lives up to the benchmark, in regards of well-presented story, that we come to expect from the Marathi movie industry. It is a women-oriented movie. However, we all can learn a few things from this movie, like: There is no need to change a broken mirror, but it is always necessary to change the way you look at it :-).

Right from the first frame, Rita holds on to your attention with an excellent background score and gripping direction. Rita is based on a Marathi novel Rita Welinkar, written by Renuka Sahane's mother Shanta Gokhale. It is a story of Rita Welinkar, a middle class woman (played by Pallavi Joshi) who had to bear the responsibility of her family at a very young age as her father lost her job on charges of financial irregularities. Rita has god-foresaken parents who are never thankful to her for putting aside her own dreams and ambitions for the family. However, they just keep stressing her to deliver more and more for themselves and their daughters.

Living thanklessly stresses out Rita to the core and she finds compassion in the company of her married boss, Salvi, a role played by Jackie Shroff. They get fond of each other and  predictably have an extra-maritial affair. As the story unfolds, it puts forth several questions regarding the morality of such affairs and whether the protaginists in the movie are portraying the right moral conduct. The story is more or less predictable, but its treatment and the questions it raises deserve accolades.

Performance by all characters are good except for Rita's parents. They seem to ham their roles at several instances. Certain parts of the movie seem sterotypical, but overall it's a well-packaged movie with its fair dose of sensible humour (thanks to Makrand Deshpande's cameo). Pallavi Joshi might snatch an award or two for her performance. She is a wonderful actor who we don't see much, unfortunately, in Hindi cinema. Rita is the first Marathi movie that I've seen on the big screen and it was a nice experience. Rita is not a great movie, but it will surely make you think after it's over.

Do Choices Make us Happier?

Happiness has been an ever-elusive term. As a result, there have been several theories around hapiness. All cultures across the world over ages have  given several theories in an attempt to determine what happiness is and how we can be happy? However, no one has ever been able to define what is happiness? A new idea emerging in the modern world is: choices make us happier. More choices we have, the greater freedom they will lead to; and, greater freedom will lead to happiness.



However, recent researches have revealed that this theory is not necessarily 100% true. A study worth mentioning in this regard is the study conducted by an eminent psycologist: Daniel Gilbert.

Daniel Gilbert conducted an experiment at Havard University to gauge whether more choices make us happy or we are better off with lesser choices. His experiment included two samples of students:

1. Fist sample included participants who were asked to take two photographs as a part of a photography project and then submit one photo to the university. They were allowed to keep the photo that they liked more. In addition, they were allowed to swap the photographs for two two days if they felt they liked the initially submitted photos.


2. The second sample included participants who were not allowed to swap pictures once they submitted the picture. That is, once they submit a picture, they were not allowed to change their mind.

After the submissons were made, Daniel Gilbert and his team made observations of the feelings of the two samples. Most members of the first sample had changed their photos after submission and leveraged the benefit available to them.

As per the general perception that choices make us happier, the first sample should have been a happier group as they were given the choice to change their mind and have more liberty in keeping the photo that they liked. The second group should’ve been less happy between the two groups as they didn’t have the option to change the pictures.

However, the study of behavior of both the groups revealed that the first group was more disappointed than the second sample. One week after the submission, the first groups' members were still in a dilemna about whether they should have changed the photos. Whereas, the second group displayed a happier behaviour as they didn’t have a choice and made a decision to submit a picture spontaneously.

For example, consider Micheal, a student from the first sample. Micheal has two pictures. First picture shows sun rising from behind hills in a picturesque country. The second picture shows the Newyork skyline. Initially, Micheal thought that he liked the picture of the Newyork skyline more than the Sunrise picture. Hence, he submitted the Sunrise picture and kept the Newyork picture for himself. However, after the submission, Micheal started feeling that the Sunrise picture was better as it reminded him of the peaceful morning when he had clicked the picture. As Micheal is from the first sample, he has the option to change the submitted picture. Hence, he goes and changes his picture so that he now has the Sunrise picture and has submitted the Newyork skyline picture. Now, after the two-day deadline for changing picutures passes, Micheal starts thinking whether he should have changed the pictures? This dilemna reduces his happiness of possessing and capturing a beautiful country picture.

Now, consider the example of Michelle. A student from the sample two. She takes two pictures. First picture shows kids playing in a garden and the second picture shows an old castle. Initially she likes and the picture of the castle more than the picture of kids playing in a garden. So, she submits the picture picture showing kids playing in the garden and keeps the picture of the castle. As she is from the first sample, she cannot change the pictures and doesn't have the dilemna, which Micheal has after his submission.



If we apply the result of this experiment to our daily lives, it leads to a simple, yet fantastic revelation. For example, let’s apply this study to our shopping experience. In the present day, if you go to shop for a pair of jeans, you have to make decisions about whether you want to buy a boot-cut jeans, a monkey-wash jeans, a straight-fit jeans, a cargo jeans, and god knows what not. You struggle to make a choice about which jeans to buy and your attention is diverted from buying the most comfortable jeans to the most stylish jeans. As a result, you purchase a jeans based on its appearance and style rather than its comfort. So, when you wear that jeans, you might appear stylish, but might have some concern about whether you could’ve got a more comfortable jeans instead of this stylish jeans. So, despite looking good in your new jeans, you might have some concern about the jeans’ comfort level. However, the jeans that you bought could be the most comfortable jeans available, but still the innumerable choices succeed in adding confusion to your mind.

Now consider the good old days when, while shopping, we had to make a choice majorly about the color and size of jeans. You used to buy jeans based on its size and color and were most likely to be happy after your purchase. So, is it bad that we have choices now? Or should we burn all the new styles of various products and go back to stone age?

No my friends, the idea is not destroying the new choices, but to draw your own boundaries. That is, draw your own limits before you are about to make a choice. For example, you can say this to yourself before you go shopping - “ I will shop for a cargo jeans and not look at any other variety.” This way, your dilemna regarding the choice can be minimized.

Another noticable research in this regard is conducted by Barry Schwartz, the author of the book: Paradox of Choices. He says that if we consider ourselves to be a fish in a bowl, then let the limits of the bowl define the boundaries of our circle of vision and choices. If we move out of the bowl, then we will struggle for our lives. Hence, define limits for your bowl (life and choices) through careful consideration, and live within those limits to stay happy and peaceful. As you are the designer of your own bowl, ensure that you select the size optimal for your happiness and a size that you can easily maintain through your resources (finance, family, time at hand, friends, etc).

So overall, live a life of content. For ages saints and religious teachers have been preaching the benefits of a life of content and that such life is the key to happiness. It's great to see that eminent scientists are now agreeing to such claims. As scientists don't speak without data, making people agree with scientists' viewpoint is easier than through mere words of preachers who speak based on ancient and religious wisdom.

So, I'll conclude this post with two Indian sayings:

• Think high and live simple

AND

• Don’t spread your legs beyond your blanket

Dev D ark

Very few hindi movies would give an etchy feeling. A feeling of darkness and gloom around the main character. Or, portray a leading character who is a loser in every sense and yet you cannot determine whether you should sympathize or hate the character. Dev D is one such dark experience.

The Plot: The basic plot of the movie is an overkilled Dev Das story. However, this movie is not an entire copy of the existing Dev Das story. Although the plot involves Dev Das rejecting Paro's proposal to marry her and then suffering at a later stage after realizing that he was wrong, there are major variations from the original Dev Das saga of love and betrayal.  Anurag Basu has used his imagination and directorial independence to the fullest.

Difference from Previous Movies: One major difference in Dev D from its predecessors is the amount of lust and seduction that is portrayed in the movie. The independence with which the characters in the movie are shown to express their desires in the movie gives you a quesy feeling. This is one of the factors that give the movie a very dark aura. Chunni babu is a pimp persofied and Chandramukhi is a tart to the core.

Loop holes: The moment when Dev Das rejects Paro's proposal seems very sudden and you don't expect it to come at that given moment. One reason for this is that enough time was not dedicated to portray the relationship betwen Paro and Dev D. As a result, you tend to get the  feeling that major USP of the movie was to make the audience feel for Dev Das by showing him suffer for major part of the movie.

Performances: Full marks should go to Abhay Deol for his performance in Dev D. In contrast to previous Dev Das movies where Dev Das is shown to deliver very heavy and at times funny (over-emotional) dialogues, Abhay Deol hardly has any dialogues. Yet, his screen presence and performance do the trick. New comer Kalki Koechlin does total justice to her character and deserves accolades for her performance. Mahi Gill as Paro also does well, but does not have enough screen presence to leave an impact.

To Sum Up: To summarize, Dev D is an experiment with the age-old Dev Das saga. However, it is very different from its predecessors. Hence, it is worth watching atleast once. But, please don't expect to come out smiling after the movie. It is a dark movie and a very different from typical Bollywood love stories.

A Slumdog's Fairytale

Modern-day fantasy feel-good tales are hard to find. And, more so, in Indian context. Most movies with a perrenial feel-good factor associated with them turn out to be based on an American loser guy (an underdog) who wins a beautiful gal's heart and they kiss to end the movie. Well, Slumdog Millionaire is different. Not because it involves an Indian slumdog kissing to end the movie, but because it makes you believe in a over-hypothetical tale of Jamal.

The movie is based on how a Mumbai's Slum boy, Jamal becomes a millionaire overnight by winning the T.V. Game Show: "Who wants to be a millionaire?" The entire movie shows how Jamal's life revolves around the 15 questions asked in the game show. It is a matter of high coincidence and mostly beyond the realms of logic that despite not studying, Jamal is able to answer these questions only on the basis of his experience in life. But, when watching the movie, you don't realize this loop hole and cheer from your heart for Jamal to win the money and his love. The movie is fast-paced and gives you enough room to feel close to the characters and their lives.

The story presents the dark side of Mumbai and some parts of India in a light-hearted way. This has also been a point of criticism of the movie. It presents only the negative side of the Maximum City and India. Although most of it is truth, but that is not real Mumbai or India.

Best Scene: Young Jamal giving a $100 bill to a friend whose one eye has been removed by the begging crooks running the begging nexus.

Background score: AR Rahman rocks in Slumdog Millionaire. Three scores might take your heart away: The melody when Salim and Jamal go to a red-light section of Mumbai to find Latika (Ringa Ringa), The Latika's Theme, and can't miss out - Jai Ho.

People might say that Slumdog Millionaire is a sterotypical story like many old bollywood movies. However, what they are missing out on is the way the movie is presented and directed. The movie is so beautifully directed that you start vouging for characters in the movie. I would give Slumdog Millionaire 8 out of 10. It is not the best movie of the year, but one of those that you cannot missout.

XLRI Jamshedpur's PGCBM Course

I've completed my course in June 2009 and am awaiting results.

The Begining

I was looking for some management education that would add value to my overal profile while I continue to work. So, I began a mission to review each executive management course available in Mumbai, and also in IIMs. From the options available, XLRI's PGCBM seemed the best as:

• It had more coverage compared to similar courses offered by IIMs


• The duration was more than similar courses offered by IIMs


• It had lectures and contact programs (though they are based on Real-time Video Conferencing)


• XLRI's brand value in the industry


• I fitted into their admission criteria

The Course

The PGCBM Course is offered by two different vendors:

• Reliance Communications: The courses are offered at Reliance Communication's select Web Worlds across India. The training room consists of a table and a large LCD T.V. to display the instructor. The sound and video quality are acceptable. You are allowed to interact with the instructors at any given time just like normal clarssrooms. I used this platform to complete the training.


• Hughes Telecom: Hughes also offers a similar platform, but their training rooms comprise a dedicated computer for each student.

Overall the course is good and will add on to your decision-making knowledge. However, you cannot expect to get a new Management Job based on the course unless you are presently in a managerial role. You may not get an immediate professional edge, but in the long run it is a good choice.
 
During my batch, the course duration was 16 months, which has now been reduced to 12 months. As a result, the number of sessions allocated for each subject might have been also reduced. So, I can't comment much on the knowledge and discussions in the new curricullum, but during my batch, it was certainally a nice value add.
 
Overall, go for the course iff your present forte is long-term knowledge and value add and not immediate benefit.

Additional Information

For additional information, visit XLRI's Satellite Course home page.

Overcoming Cross-selling Made by Bank Staff

Privatization in the Indian Banking Industry has revolutionized the financial markets. In the previous decade, our Banking was limited to nationalized banks. Although the service levels were below par and paper work required long processing time, life and banking were simple. However, with the arrival of private banks, your banking might have become simpler, but banking has become riskier. One of the main factors for it is: Cross Selling made by banks' staff. The act of that of selling an additional product or service to an existing customer is called as cross selling.

Why not to blindly trust a bank's staff?

As it is said "Never judge a book by its cover," the same way you should never make decisions on any investments based on the presentation given by the banking staff. However, it requires significant self discipline and keenness to research on the offer in which you are investing your money. In addition, you need to overcome the human tendency to easily accept advice from confident individuals who might not be experts. That is, we humans, tend to accept advice of individuals who are not experts on the topic of discussion, but present their advice in confidently.

For example, consider that you want to invest in a pension scheme. To determine which bank offers the best pension scheme, you visit four banks in your vicinity. In the banks, you meet four different advisers, A, B, C, and D. If B is the most confident adviser, then you are more likely invest in adviser B's bank (provided the schemes in other banks are not significantly different).

This is also reflected in a research conducted at Emory University. During that research, participants were asked to make a series of financial choices between a certain investment and a lottery. Choices were made in two conditions.

1. During the first condition, participants were shown advices from experts


2. During the second condition, no advice was displayed

Behavioral results showed participant inclination towards choosing the option suggested by the experts. Further inclination was witnessed towards suggestions made by more confident advisers.

So, if you were to visit the banks (as given in the example ), you would not be aware of the level of expertise of the adviser. Hence, your brain maps the information such that a higher confidence level indicates a greater expertise. However, the confidence might not be the only indicator of a person's expertise. An individual might be parroting a script that they could have learned and thus fake confidence.

So how should you make your decision?

Every time you visit a bank (especially private banks), you are approached by various agents. They will present various schemes, credit cards, or other offers to you. Beware! Don't fall for their lucrative offers without taking some time to ponder over the schemes. In addition, even if you inquire about a Life Insurance, they would make attempts to sell their Mediclaim, Pension Schemes, and god knows if they would come up with something like a Funeral Scheme that would take care of all your funeral expenses and give you an excellent farewell from the world. :-)

While making a decision about investing with banks and other financial institutions:

• Ensure that you don't blindly follow the bankers' suggestions. It is their job to win you as a customer so they might not have your interest at heart.


• Be selfish enough to determine what's best for you.


• Get off the couch and use Google to compare various schemes offered by different banks and investment firms.


• Consult friends who have made similar investments.


• Think over several options for at least a day. Do not make a decision right then and there.


• Use various scoring models to determine where each scheme stands against each other.


• Assess your present and future liquidity requirements. Investments are a liability while you make payments for them. As a result, if you need to maintain high amount of liquidity in your account for personal reasons, do not invest in a high-payment investment option. If you do so, you might end up seeking personal loan to make committed payments into your investment schemes.

Finally, take the pain of reading each and every line on the offer document. It has very critical information related to the fees and charges associated with investment schemes. In the name of service, bankers just ask us to sign the forms on certain marked places. However, never fall into such a trap. Be careful. It is your hard-earned money that you are giving someone to keep. If you don't care about the money, then be sure to meet me. I could do with some money that you don't need. :-)

Do leave a comment :-)

Lokesh

Swine Flu and Terrorism

Foreword: I've made an attempt to analyze the type of  media coverage given to  Swine Flu and Terrorism with the aid of some behavoral economic aspects. Comments welcome.

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On most news channels in India, the Swine Flu outbreak has taken away the spotlight from haunted houses, (so-called) saints with divine powers, or some kids falling in pot holes. This is especially true for some Hindi news channels. Additionally, the news papers are performing an excellent support role in making Swine Flu Panademic à (Panic + Epidemic). Some of you might have asked the question: Why such a hype around it?

Well, this type of special coverage by media is true not only in this case, but also in several other trivial cases like:

• Rakhi Sawant’s Swamvar (the most recent one)


• Amitabh Bachan feeling cold


• Conspiracy theories about Taliban


• Fictional terror plot discussions


• Making of stupid movies, OR


• Finally, 30 minute specials on Obscenity in a Bollywood movie (Censor Board needs to review these special prime time telecasts J)

Why does the electronic media cover such, seemingly, trivial and queer topics during prime time?

The answer is Target Rating Point (TRP). Such stories might be queer to you, but are enjoyed by the masses. TV channels show what audience wants to see. And, what the audience views, sells like hot cake among the companies wanting to buy air time for advertising.

People want to view news about their favorite stars and hence it is understandable that they are keen to view prime time news about their idols. However, why would someone want to see news that overkills swine flu and terrorist plots?

The simple answer would be: both things are likely to take peoples’ lives; hence, everyone is inquisitive to know more about them. Rationally, the grave consequences of both the items are unknown. They send a sense of fear among the masses, which leads the news channels to over killing their coverage. Additionally, in case of terrorism, it can lead to a highly unpredictable and dreaded way of dying. However, collectively observing the number of deaths due to these threats, I can say that more number of people die because of poverty, accidents, AIDS, or natural death.

Well, if more people die off these, then why don’t the news media provide an extensive coverage to these causes of death? Is it because these causes of death are not as dramatic as terrorism, which involves movie-like blasts and gun fire (however most people are on the receiving/undeserving end)? Or, is it because the minds of people are now used to these threats and they are keener about knowing new things.

The answer to these questions can be given with the aid of neophobic human nature and relativism.

Neophobia is the fear of something new. Most living things are neophobic. Before the past decade, terrorism had not touched our shores so openly. It was limited to some regions of the country. Hence, its present widespread nature across the world is new and has stimulated the neophobic human nature. The neophobhic nature along with the human tendency to relate the present with the past has coupled the fear of terrorism and swine flu among the masses. However, in case of terrorism, the dramatic, cruel, and sudden nature of death has aided in propagating terror among people.

One very significant and grave consequence of relativist psychology with terrorism is associating people of one particular community with terrorism. Few fools across communities are propagating false agendas that we need to ignore and protest in every way possible.

What I’d like to change?

Instead of being scared or scaring others by these phenomenons, what we need to address is to understand their root causes, which is not an easy task. Specifically in case of terrorism, the root cause analysis is a must.

Terrorist organizations’ activities are extortions with no clear demands. They want to get things done in a way that will never reap any results. They are selling fear/terror that we must not buy and thus aid in derailing their campaign.

In case of Swine Flu, we should not pay much heed to the panademic forte of the news channels, but try to learn how to avoid and thus limit swine flu. We must not buy the panicky stories of news channels. Google is available for all the basic information that we need to avoid the spread of disease.

Show the Finger

[caption id="attachment_70" align="alignright" width="107" caption="Ink Mark"][/caption]

Finally, the day has come for showing the finger. So, what's the big deal? It is the first time I showed the finger in good spirit. Guess what? It feels nice. Don't mistake me guys :-). It really feels good to show the finger and use the power of your vote. So, I showed the finger so that the election officers mark my finger as a symbol of casting vote. (No offensive feelings involved using the phrase SHOW THE FINGER ;-))

Well, I didn't fall for the crap making a buzz that your one vote makes a difference. It is all fuss for me when all I had for selection was a bunch of millionaire contestants who have rode their luck and earned so much money mostly by being in the literate band, being Xth pass, or by being 12th pass. I can't imagine how these people earned so much money by being meagerly educated. Well, I guess  our parents might not have been right at asking us to study so that we can earn our bread. They missed the trick. We should have enrolled in a political party soon after Xth to earn money like the bunch of present politicians. And may be, we could have been better at electorate than the present bunch.

Well, getting back to track about their eduction levels. With such meagre acedemic education, they will govern one of the largest lok sabha constituencies, which includes Thane, Mira Bhayandar, and New Mumbai. When even a small-scale organization looks for top B-school grads for operating their organization and its main functional units, how can a bunch, including mainly nerds, can be elected and nominated for governing such large constituencies and the country. This thought just drives me crazy and it should do the same for any sane and logical individual (atleast I think so).

Additionally, most political party candidates had some sort of criminal case filed against them. Good bless our electorate when in our urban areas we have all candidates with a criminal background, leave alone the remote regions. Do spare a thought for some of the backward states in the country.

Now with all the fuss about using your voting power for electing the right people in your constituency after 26/11, and having such a crappy list of candidates to elect from, I wish I could hope for positive things in future.

At one moment, you might also consider filling the 49-O form, which expresses your discontent about all candidates from your constituency. A mail is being circulated explaining that if majority voters from a constituency fill the form 49-O, it leads to re-election. And, the re-election will not feature any of the existing candidates. But an article in DNA newspaper clarified those doubts. The 49-O form does not have much say except for revealing your identity and letting the candidates being selected from the vote of other voters.

But, as this was my first time (again, don't take me wrong) I voted for what I think was the best amongst the worst. Now I am hoping against hope that some change might come, but I know, it is a crappy thought. But strangely enough, there is some hope for the good.

For Once, I was Relieved the Cops Arrived

Before I tell you the actual story, let me tell you about my schedule, which is the main reason for my involvement in this case. After I took the new job in BMC Software, Pune, I travel back to Mumbai every weekend. Mostly, I return home on Friday evening enroute Thane.

On 3rd April 09, I was on my way back home in a BEST bus. The bus was about to leave the bus stop near the Cadbury factory when a drunkard almost collided with the bus. However, the bus driver was alert and avoided the collision. But, as drunk drivers are, he perceived that the near-collision was the bus driver’s mistake. So, to avenge the driver for not hitting his car, the drunkard parked his Tata Indica in front of the bus such that the bus couldn’t move forward. Well, as a result, a wonderful vocabulary came on display in the conversation between the drunkard and the bus driver. All respect to their mother and sisters was forgotten. Just wondering, how come their mother and sisters got involved in this?  ;-)

Judging by what was said in that heated conversation, the drunkard became a self-proclaimed Don with a large gang. He proclaimed that he had the capability to thwart the government property, the bus driver, and all the passengers. The drunkard then called his so called gang members thanks to the anywhere, anytime mobility. And guess what, his supporters were there at the scene in no time. So, this small case of road rage attracted a large crowd of bystanders.

The Great Mumbai Road Rage debate continued between the Driver (along with passengers) and the drunkard (and his gang) for approximately 15 minutes. Some passenger from the bus had the idea of reversing the bus and bypassing the drunkard and his gang. However, they were alert enough to start reversing their vehicle and blocking the entire road. So, the result was a great traffic jam on the Cadbury road. Well, I haven’t mentioned the time yet. The Great Mumbai Road Rage debate had started at 22:10 and the traffic jam was witnessed at 22:25.

The road was completely blocked for 10 minutes. All the bus passengers and some bystanders started negotiating with the drunkard and his gang to let the bus driver park on the road side and let the traffic flow freely. Finally, the drunkard’s gang was convinced and the story continued on the road side.

Once the drunkard’s gang realized that the driver won’t get off the bus or drive the bus away, they started hitting the bus and tried to break the window glass. The drunkard’s gang started behaving like men possessed. Their voice was roaring through the passing traffic. It seemed that they were determined to teach a lesson to the bus driver. Finally, common sense prevailed and a passenger had the idea of calling the cops. So, we called 100, got the Thane control room number from there, and finally, the Cops arrived in five minutes. Phew!!! The atmosphere felt better with the Cops’ arrival, strangely. :-)

The Cops first shoved away the ever increasing crowd of bystanders in a typical Indian way of crowd management. That is, by scaring them with their lathis. Too bad these lathis don’t work on terrorists, but this is an administrative issue and we can’t expect civil police to carry hi-tech weapons. Fortunately, the Cops didn’t hit anyone from the crowd, but hit the ground with their lathis to create panic and make the crowd runaway. Now, I just can’t stop imagining what the situation would have been if the Cops had requested the crowd to move back politely. I can easily picture the scene in which the Cops are making polite requests and the crowd not moving an inch. May be lathis are the way the Indian society understands the way they need to behave.

Now, coming back to the drunkard and his gang, seeing the Cops converted them from the GANG to a bunch of kids pleading guilty from their parents for a fight with the neighbor kid. So, mere presence of the Cops suppressed all the rhetoric, attitude, ego, and strength of the GANG.

Now the time is 22:45 and we are on our way to Rabodi Police Station in Thane. We reach the police station and the way the Cops behaved was contrary to our perceptions. They were very comforting and didn’t shoo us away from the Police Station. The bus driver and the drunkard were taken in along with few passengers. Their statements were taken, and we were allowed to leave in an hour. However, some passengers preferred to not give any statement as they didn’t want to get into a legal hassle. I was told that the cops would call them in an untimely manner for appearing as witnesses in courts. This is one aspect that should be improved in our civil policing to accommodate more witnesses and encourage active civil cooperation.

While leaving, we were assured that the culprits would be dealt with justly. So, I was again on my way back home at 23:45, a bit later than what I would have preferred. But, overall, kudos to the cops for once. There exists significant corruption in the police force, but for once they managed to keep the law and order situation under control. Kudos to them for this.

Mumbai On a Skywalk

They say that understanding Mumbai is such a herculean task that no person can truly understand it or write about it in its entirety. However, there are instances, which in some way surely give a glimpse of what Mumbai is. Also, there are places that give you a certain degree of idea about the varying differences that the Islandish city of Mumbai embeds. You might have visited various monuments to get the aura of Mumbai. Some of them could be Gateway of India, Marine Drive, National Park, Essel World, Nehru Planetorium, or one of the posh malls. However, most of these places give you a feeling of a different Mumbai, a city that existed at a different time.

There is a new site in the city that goes quite unnoticed after the initial hooplah that it led to while it was launched. That landmark is the Bandra Skywalk. You might be questioning: What's the big deal about the skywalk? I've been there several times. Nothing major over there except for the fact that I get a respite from walking on a crowded street.

Your thoughts are fair enough. I am not contradicting you. But, I've just put on my tourist, explorer, a lonely planet, or travel & living hat. Let me walk you through the skywalk wearing either one of the above hats.

The skywalk starts from Bandra station and immediately what you'd notice are the slums on your either side. In fact, not only slums where people reside, but also some small businesses related to textile and clothing sector operating through a fairly meagre infrastructural setup. Their manufacturing unit consists of a small enclosure made out of tin or asbestos sheets. So, you will witness enterpreneurship at its smallest level.

Now, you walk a little further and see an open field, which contains huge water pipes. No big deal in it. Just like another open area near slums, even this is utilized in every possible way. They say that in Mumbai a divine arrangement is made to satisfy the basic needs of each of it resident. And true to it, the water deficiency of the slums is made up for by the leaky BMC water pipes. Here you will see every drop being utilized to the fullest. So, you can say that Mumbai has its own way of not letting things being wasted.

Now, if you look on your left, you will see the other side of Mumbai: Big Corporate houses looming over the slums. Ain't this a good point for a tourist? Tourists from developed countries are bound to be moved by this sight. A place where poverty, small businisses and large corporates co-exist at a distance of few feets. Where else would you see this? In India ofcourse, and specifically in Mumbai.

If you are not overwhelmed by this site, walk a little ahead and it's time to peek over the empty spaces on your right. Guess what, you will now see a major-upcoming landmark of Mumbai: the Bandra-Worli Sealkink, provided the Mumbai-traffic smog doesn't degrade the clarity. Whew!!!

Now it's time to move a forward and you might have reached the headquarters of the Oil Corporation of India. And is a PSU company's premise complete without the hoardings promoting any political-party supported union? No, it isn't. So, to complete the sight, you might be lucky enough to find a hoarding or two over here. More or less, you are now through with your walk on the skywalk. It's time to get down and you are welcomed by the ominous site of the Bandra-Kurla Complex.

So, in your journey you've seen the Bandra station (crowded by the overtly unhappy middle class of Mumbai), the slums (an integral part of Mumbai, which I think represent a place of hope for each of its resident), the corporate houses (the source of survival for most of middle class), an architectural masterpiece, the sealink (a site to boast of for Mumbai residents and ofcourse the politicians craving to get the credit for building it), and one of the first corporate park in Mumbai (BKC).

Not many places of the world would give such a large variation in such a short journey. It's nothing to be proud of. It just shows that we have a long way to go before the hopes of everyone are turned into realities. A place of consistent appearance. A place called Mumbai of which we all could be really proud of. Slums are no tourist destination, and not every slum child can turn into a millionaire. That happens only in movies.