The Tables have Turned Again

Magnus Carlsen winning the FIDE championship earmarks a key structural change in the pecking order of World Chess. It all boiled down to a fight of experience and nonchalant genius. The Infographic explains all:

A singular pattern emerges. All leading game-changers were very young (24-Karpov, 22-Kasparov, 25-Kramnik and Carlsen-22) with an exception of Anand who first entered the arena with a bang at 31. He was a hesitant champion and had an Elo Rating lesser than most other greats. Still, it is his perseverance stole all the European shine. With another Grandmaster having the highest Elo Rating ever, Carlsen seems to go a long way.

Hmm..Some geeky stuff (power sector).

A Three Pronged Approach for Power Sector

Current News:

Economic Times (08-07-2013): Power plants’ capacity utilisation at record low 

Economic Times (05-07-2013): Coal Ministry agrees to sign fuel-supply pacts for 11 power projects, 122 power     projects waiting for clearances. 

Business Standard (23-06-2013): Coal cost pass-through to impact consumers by Rs 10,560 cr.

Business Standard (15-06-2013): Discom debt worth 6144 cr restructuring takes off with TN issuing bonds.

Business Today (27-06-2013): Govt approves doubling of natural gas price.

Business Standard (27-04-2013): Avoid exposure to power stocks.

With an installed capacity of nearly 225GW, around 300 million Indians still do not have an access to electricity. Moreover, the ones who have are marred by blackouts and load shedding. It is evident that India has not been able to reduce the deficit, rather the peak deficit hovers at around 11.5% whereby the CAGR of power demand is more than 8%. In spite of the inherent demand, the power utilities are bleeding.

The govt. had displayed vision by enacting Electricity Act, 2003 and laying out a promising Integrated Energy Policy. But many clauses of the act are still difficult to implement even after 10 years. A three-pronged approach is devised below to address the present situation.

Prong I (Generation): Open sourcing and grid charging can be encouraged if integrated grid connectivity with smart meters is established. Grids and utilities should have realistic targets of replacing the obsolete meters with smart ones. Privatize the Mining Sector so that miners can extract coal by paying appropriate royalty. It will not only increase the productivity but also put rest to the favoritism in arranging FSAs with CIL as the market would become competitive. Also, distributing captive blocks reduces the efficiency as many mines are operational simultaneously and demarcated for some particular project for a long period. For example – demarcating 4 coal blocks for three power plants is inefficient when they can be catered by a single block for next five years.

Majority of the Indian contracts lack the clause regarding compensatory tariff. As the imported coal prices have increased by nearly 80% in last three years, the power units depending on foreign coal are unable to sell at present costs. Even under legal purview of a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), govt controlled power utilities do not pay on time leading to cash flow crisis for the GENCOs (Generation Companies). Also, regulations are lax when steel manufacturers shut down their shops to sell electricity in the open market (as merchants). Practices like these distort the market and can be done away with by introducing strict legal measures by either CERC (Central Electricity Regulatory Commission).

Prong II (Transmission): Grid efficiency and resilience can be increased by connecting the Southern Grid with the other five grids. Introducing higher voltage lines, like 1110KV and replacing old 220/440KV with 765KV are essential for transmission efficiency.

Prong III (Distribution): The root of all the inefficiency is the distribution and theft losses that stem from undue favour by politicians and slacking power utilities that are govt controlled. Under Electricity Act, 2003, it was directed to unbundle the state Vidyut Boards. The states like Delhi, Orissa, Gujarat, etc have been successful in doing so and have reduced their aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses by more than 30%. The other states should be forced to follow the suit because the unpaid amount gets restructured as a large loan that is paid off by the tax-payers’ money.

Fig1: Role of ESCOs in Power Sector                Fig2: Incentive of DSM V/s Generation.

Efficiency in distribution can be increased by introducing:

Ø  Legislative Measures

Ø  Administrative Measures

Ø  New Technology

Ø  Awareness

Mandatory implementation of Energy Conservation and Building Code for new buildings, mandatory energy audits in six months for industrial customers and introduction of Energy Services Companies (ESCOs) by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) are some legislative measures that can improve the energy efficiency of a state. ESCOs are the allowed energy auditors that give implementable guidelines after the audit. (See the diagram below for functioning of ESCOs.) Administrative measures like Consumer Indexing System (CIS), implementation of Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) in industry, Solar Subsidies and Time of Day (ToD) metering using smart meters are implementable given some forethought by the DISCOMs (Distribution Companies). These measures backed by new technology like intelligent meters, AC Outage, Zero Energy Buildings, Star Rated appliances, etc can induce efficiency into the system. Also, rewards like “Golden Carrot” and “20-20” have been successful in USA that can be followed in India too.

 Source: Bureau of Energy Efficiency

Hence, the three pronged approach focuses on improving the fuel supplies and improving government contracts (Generation), upgrading the grid for lower losses (Transmission) and introducing a score of measures to improve Demand Side Management (DSM) to reduce AT&C losses and curb inefficiency (Distribution).

Courtesy: Shivraj Singh Negi, PGP-2, IIMB.

The MBA Ride: How IIMA happened?

It was a sultry afternoon in Gurgaon and I was unknowingly immune to it. I was already ashamed of my IIMB interview and didn't want to repeat the performance in IIMA. All you can tell yourself before the interviewee gets revoked in the room with dim lights where life comes to stir, theory of relativity gets justified, small pauses seem like a lifetime and you are devoured by two or three witty pair of eyes.

Like almost everybody I was expecting almost anything and had tried to prepare for it. The location was relaxing and I had reached quite early. I tried to interact with a wonderful personality but my mind was still hovering around the process that started abruptly leading all of us to some big sighs and large gulps of water. The process was briefed by the admission committee and two professors led us to our respective panels. The old eyes again screened us and the professors delightfully explained the process.

The topic was like:  Loneliness is an epidemic. (Dont remember it exactly). I wrote three small paragraphs in 7 minutes and revised them and scrutinized it to the point of no grammatical error. Interviews started within no time and I was waiting out the room in almost no moments. The professor called my name that just brought me to my senses. The play:

Part I:

(greetngs exchanged)

P1: Paras, what do you do?

Me: Told. ( I am a civil engineer. Details will make some of you yawn.)

P1: What is a super thermal power plant?

Me: Told about super critical and large capacities and about the technology...

P1: OK..Tell me which is the largest power plant in India?

Me: Adani Mundra..4200MW (checked 4600 it was..oops)

P1: Are all its units working?

Me: As far as I have heard, yes sir.

P1: Hmm..(Taking long breaks in between)Where is the world power market going?

Me: If we talk about India..(interrupted...No no no...world)...Sir...large markets are going for solar and wind and developing ones are being pressurized to adopt renewable energy like wind..So trend is towards wind energy...

P1: Why wind energy now?

Me: Talked about Kyoto and environment...

Part II:

P1: Okay, so tell me three ways to tackle contractors better?

Me: Told (with stopping in between to think).

P1: Tell me

one more?

Me: Told.

Part III: (Non-Engineers may avoid)

P2: As an engineer, tell me what is common between this building and what you build? Tell me three things?

Me: I told only one. Then started thinking and he interrupted with the technical questions.

P2: How can you test whether the structure is sound after concreting?

Me: Ultrasound testing. Next two questions were revolving around this only and we had a small discussion that resulted in my answer.

P2: Asked a technical question about a cantilever beam with a hole in it and asked whether it will fail.

Me: I said it would. He disagreed and said it would not. I tried to justify by drawing BMD and he was not convinced. Our non-concurrence broke us into a laugh and he tricked me into committing a mistake that I realized after I got out.

P2: OK. Leave it. Optimized the beam for me.

Me: I did it and he said I am done.

Part IV:

P1: How do you see Modi as a prime-ministerial candidate?

Me: Sir, we have three probable candidates. Nitish Kumar. As we know, no candidate from the third front/left would say that he wants to become a PM. Rahul Gandhi has the promise of inclusiveness but has no delivery record as we saw in UP elections also and Modi who has excellent governance skills but has a cloud of communalism over his head. I see him as a bright candidate for the position sir.

P1: Hmm..OK..Tell me whether you will vote for Modi or not?

Me: Sir, I will.

P1: Why?

Me: Because I would like to see India grow like Gujarat.

P1: OK..What are India's 3 biggest post-independence achievements?

Me: (Thinking hard now)..Sir, green revolution..and white revolution if we can club them into one..The food revolution..Second would be the accidental reforms of 1991...accidental because it was forced upon us but that brought a continuous growth for next twenty years....And, third would be the space and science..India has been able to launch satellites that even developed countries have not been able to launch...eg PSLV 2...SO Space revolution would be the third...

P1: Who was the pioneer of Green Revolution?

Me: Dr. MS Swaminathan

P1: White Revolution?

Me: Dr. Verghese Kurien

P1: Space Revolution?

Me: Dr. Vikram Sarabhai

P1: OK...You may go...

Me: Thanks sir...

(No maths..I had prepared for that actually...technical was a bumpy ride..So was quite unsure about it..)

Verdict: Converted..OMG..couldnt believe it for two to three days...

The MBA Ride: IIMB

Sometimes, it all boils down to an instant where everything is going wrong and a small spark of performance helps you just touch the bay. I was being pounded with simple questions with not so simple face expressions. IIMB gives a lot of stress on SOP and they will pick a simple word and revolve your whole interview around it. Mine was 'project development plan'. They asked me the same question may be six to seven times. In the end frustrated I blurted everything I knew about it and still got a 'Leave it'. 

A heated discussion on 'How can we improve power crisis in India?' subjugated me to admit that prices should be lowered in India and make them praise one of my solutions. An IIM interview is most of the times 'Can't say affair' but I didn't feel so good about it.

May be I did very good in WAT that was based on a daily problem: 'Instant things like noodles are eroding our age-old values and degrading our society and lifestyle'.

Verdict: Converted. (A Pursuit of Happyness Moment)

Caution: While checking results, kindly fill both 'S' and 'R' of SR12345 in capitals else you may sulk for one day realizing that you could not make it to the 'Place to B'.

The MBA Ride: IIM Lucknow

I thought I had a very good interview but the results proved something else. The questions asked varied from technical (am a civil engineer) to jokes. It started with them asking me to recite a 'veg-joke' that I somehow averted coz the only jokes coming to my mind at that time were 'non-veg'.

A lot of technical questions and then questioned me to judge my GD performance about which I was satisfied so confidently stuck to my judgement. May be they stuck to theirs too much.

Anyways, GD topic was something like 'The more you study, the more you read' and we had to write an essay also that I could not justify. In nutshell,

Verdict: Not Selected. Lessons learnt but it came as a shock because this was the only interview after IITB that I was sure of. 

The MBA Ride: IIM Shillong

One of the best interview takers covering a range of topics. Though candidates grudge about the technical part but no IIM leaves that part, the silver lining is the GD. But an awful amount of stress on academics plays a spoilsport.

If you have written chess as a hobby in the form, they will ask everything about latest events, their locations, etc. It is quite a linked affair, the next question depending on the answer you give. My breakup is as follows:

Though I had converted it last time also, but a fair interview is what everyone looks for. For example: in the ethics part, professor asked whether the bribe to the policeman is justified if we pay the waiter a tip in the same vein.

Caution: Hotel Amaltas, New Delhi has a swimming pool constructed in a way to deceit the candidates into falling. So please beware. :)

The MBA Ride: NMIMS

NMIMS has a huge location advantage, located just in the middle of all the big banks. The process starts with a case study discussion and ends with an interview mine was at the last. Large GD group stalls everyone's performance. A panel of 4 experienced faculty and alumni does make a good image. Interview was crisp and went well. Verdict: Converted.

A to Z of CAT

A – ‘Aspirant’ is what you will be called....Everyone’s dream: “Ahmedabad”...The benchmark of CAT tests - ‘AimCats’. And ‘Alumni’ are the best people to help out when in doubt.

B – Of course, “Bangalore”: a ‘B-School’ that you all want to have a kick at – a place to be and arguably the best IIM grooming under the leadership of the corporate czar – Mukesh Ambani. ‘BLACKI’ is the coveted call status not many can boast in the country.

C – It starts with ‘Computer Based’ ‘CAT’ and goes all the way upto ‘Calls’ whose number predicts the augmentation of your facebook friend list. And since they are just in the same order: “Calcutta”. - a place to be for finance enthusiasts and a hope for CAT enthusiasts who have faltered in either X, XII or graduation. ‘Confidence’ will get you there. And ‘Communication Skills’ will be tested in GD/PI.

D – Oh! ‘DI’ – a cakewalk for math lovers while a headache for others. ‘Days of CAT’... The whole period (20 or 21 days) seems like an age till your own CAT is done. But ‘Diversity’ is the word you should look for. ‘Dont Know’ is what you will never want to stay in the interview.

E – The foreign and India’s official language – ‘English’ and ‘E’ is dedicated to all those who died in the act of mastering the language.

F – Like boys, every IIM is having a thing for them these days – ‘Female’. And ‘Fun’ it has been preparing for CAT and it all gets better when you make it to one of the coveted institutes. ‘FMS’ is the B-school with the best ROI option and you can find this info in many ‘Forums’ where you will pass your time after the CAT. And in the end, ‘Faculty’ does matter.

G – ‘Girls’ are the ones you will be on the lookout in ‘Group Discussions’ that are forte of some while make others sweat.   

H – ‘High5’ will be the status every fresher vies for but less would be also respectable. And ‘Hard Work’ might help you achieve that.

I – ‘Indore’ has a separate place in the books because of its media loving nature and its long placement season. ‘Indian vs Foreign’ the most debatable topic you can find on forums.

J – ‘Joka’ (IIMC) has been discussed in ‘C’ but this place has a separate place in the world of finance.

K – ‘Kozikhode’ has the most beautiful campus among IIMs and this place is also a homemaker for many students. You will understand when you read the ratio. And the baby IIM ‘Kashipur’ with its own radio station is also welcome in the list.

L – ‘Lucknow’ you know but ‘Landlines’ will be the one you will be calling after the calls. ‘LR’ might give heart attack to some even. ‘List’ is the word you will look for far down the road to a B-school.

M (for boys) – ‘Male’ is the word you are gonna hate when you will see the criteria and ‘Motivation’ is what might be needed during the whole process.

N – ‘Not Selected’ and ‘Not appears in the list’ will become your worst nightmares. And you might curse ‘Normalisation’ any time.

O – ‘Oral skills’ are put to test in the second stages and you definitely need to be ‘Organized’ during the prep.   

P – It all boils down to ‘Percentile’ and ‘Profile’ during the ‘PIs’. Down the ladder you will start hating ‘Puzzles’ because you might have solved too many of them. And how can we miss the ‘Placements’. And our brother ‘Pagalguy’ who has resolved the boundaries between Admission committees and aspirants.   

Q – How can we forget ‘Quant’ after all making some leap with joy while testing others’ wits. ‘Quality’ is what they are looking for and be confident to provide them some.

R – ‘Results’ might help you hear your heartbeats...Plenty of IIMs with ‘Rohtak’, ‘Raipur’ and ‘Ranchi’ and ‘Reasoning’ should be your forte to get there. ‘Rankings’ will be you gauge which school is the best.

S – ‘Shillong’ is one of the few IIMs whose interview process is better than others and cover a range of topics. And a bit of ‘Study’ might help u get past it. ‘Salary’ is on the minds of most of you...

T – ‘Trichy’ I suppose a vibrant and new entrant to the league...”TotalGadha’ notes might help you lay good foundations of your concepts...

U – ‘Udaipur’ is again a baby IIM but has a lot of promise.

V – ‘Vault’ is the store that will help you solve your career doubts.

W – ‘WIMWI’ is the other name for IIMA....’WAT’: the new stage that has arguably replaced GDs in the selection process..

X – Probably the most loved alphabet by math lovers...solve for ‘x’...And, arguably, the most irritating alphabet sometimes...You can surely find it in any CAT exam...

Y – ‘Years’ pass by for some to make their dreams come true...

Z – Tough one...Hell, there is no ‘Z’ to be found...

The MBA Ride: SPJain (Operations)

Reviving the blog, I am posting the entire MBA journey through graphs and stuff. My profile is as below:

CAT'12: 99.20 (QA-97.93 and VA-98.5)
NMAT: 221
CMAT: 63 AIR (First Test)
XAT: Screwed it badly
SNAP: 99.17 (No calls)
Xth: 94.60%
XIIth: 88.50%
Grad (Civil Engineering): 9.35 converted to 88.50%
Experience: 31months as on interviews in Power Sector.

I had a total of 11 interview calls: SPJain (Ops-Profile Based), NMIMS, IIM-Shillong, IIM Lucknow, IIMA, IIMB, FMS, IITB, NITIE, IIM Indore, IIM (New ones: Score was taken from older ones) and MDI.

Starting from SPJain (Ops)-Profile Based:

The two step based interviews and that too involving eliminations does raise the pulse. But a profile based call backed by a good CAT Score has some advantages.

I have always revered SPJain because of its low batch strength and an excellent location.

Missing Individualism

Last month I was having dinner in my mess which caters to nearly 200 people. We were short of rotis so we ordered some and we were quite a number. And the waiter brought a plate full for so many of us. Obviously, we all jumped like a typical Indian mob. Alas, four rotis and two people were left. The other guy took all four. And it is not that no more rotis were to come. I could not understand the sense of insecurity a common Indian was having. Is it that the notion of optimum has still not sunken after nearly seven decades of British rule/scarcity?

Mess is a wonderful place where one can find similar behaviours. If you are sitting in a typical Indian mess and ask someone to pass the jug, the passer will first fill up his half filled glass first and then pass, as if he has discovered a newly found thirst; or is he the victim of the evolutionary indian insecurity deep rooted in our genes which arises from centuries of scarcity? Either way it is excruciating to watch this type of common behaviour.

India obviously is a vibrant and an arriving superpower but the common indian is still a timid individual, rather has a host psychology. We cannot do businesses individually, we are good at tennis doubles and awful at singles. We unite as a team when there is no other option. We like the herds and follow them religiously.

I think an indian individual has an instilled sense of insecurity when he is alone. Maybe it is the feeling, 'united we fail', that serves as a further justification of our failures that none is ready to espouse but everyone knows are inevitable. Whom to blame, huh?


Where is the Indian Individual's conviction? Why are we afraid to take decisions which are crucial to the fulfillment of our own dreams. Why are we so willing to tap the herd psychology and marry stereotypism when, I am sure, we have abundance of individual genius who can surpass the herd and set new benchmarks. Hitting the nail on the head, why do we need someone to protect us (a wall behind)? Maybe it lies in the way we have been brought up, following the stereotypical paths our parents have shown us but the change is needed and the society needs the change. Our country needs embodiments of individualism whom we can look upto and I am unsure whether plenty of them are in line.

Black: The Savior

When the world around us ponders over the corruption and black money, it is important to note why our money becomes black and why, instead of rising asset prices in India, we are not facing an asset bubble in our face.

Well, when Mr. Babu took money from the contractor, he could eventually not deposit it in a bank account. So, he thought to buy a house instead in the name of his wife. The govt. norms would not allow him to buy a house (an asset) quite costly vis-a-vis his income. So he told the seller that I will pay you half black and the rest white. Obviously, the owner was happy. Now, India does not have practice of issuing loans as per the market rate. The Indian Property law is not market driven, as the law should never be. The law can be based on some parameters but it should not be dynamically driven by it. The Indian lawmakers probably saved the day for India.

When the world was having a turmoil, 50-60% of our GDP was finding ways to be spent since the only thing stopping it was the archaic Law of India. If it would have been the other way around, Mr. Babu could have shown a stock purchase, inflated his profits therby making it legitimate and then, on the books, bought the house for an x amount registered in the banks. Bank also knows that Mr. Babu's home costs a lot more than he has shown in papers and in case of a scrutiny, the same can be highlighted.

The transparency would have made the market hands on thereby making the fall more steep. In India, housing price is a localized and customized phenomenon. This saves the day when everything is falling down, because the actual cost is always higher than that in the books. So, all in all, black money becomes a savior when macro-economic situation is not looking fine. And that would not have been possible without the old and beautiful Indian law.

The Sacrificial Generation

In the history of fame and corporation, the foundations of an idea that has revolutionized the dynamics of livelihood has not been given but implemented by a sacrificial generation. It was the generation which had no time to listen to daily chores or live an ordinary life because they were born to give the world, what I call, pumps of a nation. These pumps gave birth to revolutions our nation had never seen before like telecom revolution started by Bharti-Mittal or the power revolution which we will all see in 5 years or soon.

Obviously, they sacrifised a lot. It is said that the idea of insurance was born in a slum where these people hated the whole idea as such but look what it turned out to be. What were they losing? It was nothing except a ordinary life. It is one to know the objective and then sacrifice, a privelege which a socialist setup could never lend, and it is the other to be driven by an idea like you are pushed in Mumbai locals. The choice obviously lies with us.

For, the likes of magnates we see today (Ambanis, Birlas, etc) are not the chosen ones, but they are the lucky administrators who's one sacrificial generation had laid the seeds of implementing many a ideas that can push all the undecisive ones along. This one generation can be called as a mutation in the history of economic evolution. You might be one of these X-men, all that matters is one decision you will never regret taking, whether you wanna push the world or get pulled. Because once on deathbed, like an old warrior, you might wish a death in blood than in your piss.

Get Paid For Being Pregnant

The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana seems a boost to our population numbers. Every pregnant woman will get a sum of Rs. 4000 over a period of six months. All street vendors would be covered under this. There is no doubt that the maternal aide program thus created will help many but will prove as a headache to human resource deptt.

This seems to be benifitting nearly 18.6 lacs women and would soon turn out be a huge business in places that are poverty stricken. The places where you see threatening eyes when you click your dear friend near a picturesque. It is sad to see places like these and it definitely reminds you of the high Ginni coefficient.

But still the sight of small young girls going to schools is refreshening. But guess what the ministry has given a hidden incentive to only those families having strength of five. Though we need to improve our infant mortality rates and low birth weights, but this is a solution with some externalities that seem far more harmful and I can envisage a viscious circle ahead.

TOSS

That was the first day when I felt that I had been listening to all the crap in the classrooms till yet. It was not about the class, the quality of teaching or the resources. It was the teacher, the most important person in the life of a student. He's our Project Director (PD) and he's got it all. The feeling was the elation that a child experiences when a grandfather/mother recites a story to a kid.

The lecture was a sheer technical story; the experience was pouring out of PD as if he had been immersed in the process of building the largest machines on the planet. The reverse engineering was being done through the very basic science which even a tenth class kid knows. That's when it hit me like a bullet that when we all had been studying for hours no one taught us how to think which is the underlying skill for understanding systematically. Just imagine if our PD would teach a bunch of third class kids for an hour on Sundays. He can produce many PDs like him and our country has no dearth of such people who just fade away from the face of earth by devoting their lives to the only process which they enjoy.

That's where TOSS comes in. These people are eager to contribute and would love to Teach On Saturdays & Sundays. A huge responsibility of educating the young and making them 'really educated' rests on on all the experienced 'corporate teachers'. If we make the point bigger, it might be a Teach Revolution.

How Does the Debt Work?

Here's a story how big our Debt might be. Headlines: America in debt of trillions of dollars. Oooops!! Isn't is horrifying? Well maybe not. Let us look a bit closely and understand it through a small 'ode'.

A small motel in California.

Scene I:
Traveller: Hey! Wake up you Mr. I need a room. (Pays him 100 bucks)
Motel Owner (MO): Ohk. 100 bucks!
Traveller: ??? Are you out of your mind? This is recession going on.
MO: Well, get it or get out. (Takes the buck). I will be back in fifteen minutes.

Scene II:
MO: Take your money, man. We are even now.
Contractor: Well, yes until you return my drilling machine.

Scene III:
Contractor: Well, Mr. Manager. Now I dont owe you a single buck you blood-sucking new version of satan.
Mr. Manager: You still owe up 10 bucks of interest. I won't let you go coz all of us are after all returning the interest to the mighty Fed.
Contractor: Oh take the cake. I will return the cherry later.

Scene IV: ( Hey, Sandy!! Go, go. Just make him feeeel good. Alrite!! Just ride. GO!)
Bank Manager: Hey! Ms. LovelyAssForYou. Here's the rest.
Prostitute: You didn't turn your back on me. you are a nice man, Banky. Want another.
BM: No, I have to file Chapter-11 today. My bank is going broke tomorrow. Smiles.
Prosti: Well, then we will celebrate the fat check you will get tomorrow, Fatass!

Scene V:
Prosti: Hey, Lou! Thanks man. Seems like a new arrival huh? Set me up. And here's your pain in ass. Take it. I'm waiting. Just say ready when he says yes. ohk?
Motel Owner: Well, yes! But no lending this time.
Prosti: You dumbass! It is his room this time not mine.
MO: (Makes a deal).


And the chain goes on. Well, maybe you guys got it. But the total debt was 500 bucks. See, how big and inter-linked it is.

The Last Four Years.....

I still remember the first day of the college and the only thing I understood was that it was not for me. I realized that either I was in the wrong college or maybe wrong profession. As many say time is the best medicine. Soon I found that here people vary from chill-out-creatures to serious psychos. Everyone having a different tale ranging from joints to niche ambitions. I realized that it is not the brand of college that matters but people who make that brand. I was soon feeling lucky seeing the long and successful alumni. I thanked God but have known since childhood that mediocrity is in abundance but excellence is rare. Soon I was finding the parameters of excellence. I could not find any external parameter (except beauty in case of girls). Money (it will come), CGPA (does not matter), intelligence (all here are equally or rather more intelligent than me), character (well maybe), cars, girlfriends, placement, etc. nothing fits. Well then what?

The first I found was in the third year. Since childhood I wanted to be an engineer, to build big buildings, big planes, etc, I have never thought about money. When I was interning in L&T I found that after working till late one night, I didn't want to go the next day. I understood that it is the hunger that matters. If you are not hungry, sooner or later you will be complacent, nothing will matter. The second one I found out in the last semester - the people. They only can make it happen. They can pull you out they can push you, from birth till now, they were always there to listen to me, to rebuke me, to support me - friends, parents, etc.

After long four years, all I have left still is hunger and people those who can die for you and I can die for them. After these four years some will achieve goals, some confused like me will reach a bit later, but all us - hungry people- will reach. Everyday reminds me of the first day: the stage, the auditorium the gorgeous seniors, the vibrant Director, etc. I still question myself whether I will be able to justify myself as "ENGINEER" for the rest of my life. However, hellish it was, it was worth the friends (people).

MX: New Financial Instruments

With the rise of Identification schemes like UID, soon all marriages will be registered and the day is not far when our relationships will have a financial derivative for themselves i.e. a representation of the stability of marriages in form of an economic trade-off, a marriage price or stock price, as it will be called. When all stocks like these will be traded on speculation or by diagnosing community traits, we will have an MX, a Marriage Exchange. Well why not? If we can have those filthy sub-primes running down the economic pipelines why not some more random and interesting derivatives like these. Well, I am sure it will churn the world.

After all, sociology will find its real economic value. But what can be the pros and cons? Well soon we will have an insurance product that acts like 'Meher'. No marriage without that insurance product, wow!, what an idea Sirjee! Everyone who marries has to buy that product like you have for your motor-vehicles. Insurance companies and banks will bribe senators so that this instrument gets an opening ceremony from one of the fanatics who will say, "This is the start of new Social Order in the World and that through Capitalism. God Bless all couples." And soon, there will be trading charts released in a prominent Bank which has formulated the pivot point after which the marriage will be in chaos. Every sector including Pharma, Fashion, FMCG, etc will start churning strategies such that the intrinsic stock value of the couple increases.

In case you are found roaming with your beautiful wife, the policeman might impound your vehicle (wife) and guess what before you bail her out, your stock value is down on the MX and all debtors are standing at your doorsteps asking for loans because the collateral lost its value, you lost your prestige and guess what the policeman had sucked out all of the oil before you could roam with your vehicle (wife) again. You have to file Chapter 11.

That's MADNESS! And that is what sub-prime mortgage backed securities were, an utter madness. People with loans are out of their houses. Everything was being borrowed using collateral which never existed but on paper being traded in mortgage markets under AAA rating. We should make capitalism improvise our lives but we should not let it be an orgy.

I'm Heretical and I'm Confident.

I would be called 'heretical' if I will say that earth hour is a foul attempt to mitigate the climate change or I refuse to turn off my lights to save energy when there are no outages anywhere in the region. Maybe I am against the whole notion that Humans are causing global warming and I would be among a few group of people who are called insensitive and idiots.

I might be wrong but I am not confused. We have all ignored the daddy of life causing agent on earth: the Sun, not the minute 'we'. Earth's climate has been much hotter than this and much colder than this too. In 1970s we were debating about global cooling and a mini-ice age. but today we are saying that this is because of us. Impossible. It is true that we are exploiting our non-renewable resources but the trends are depressingly hyped and I just don't agree. We have forgotten the main source of temperature called Sun. Look at the red solar activity and black temperature line.

It is interesting to see that even after the second stage of Industrialization started, we had a dip in the temperature curve but it should have risen because of the increased carbon dioxide emissions. So instead of whining about the green house gases we should see that we are not using are non-renewable resources inefficiently and are not destroying our environment like fresh water lakes, etc. Human contribution to green house emissions is only a meager fraction of what volcanoes contribute. Also there is a 800 year lag in the increase in carbon dioxide levels in atmosphere and the average temperature thereby we can deduce that increased temperature causes increased carbon dioxide levels.

So what is the reason behind all this global warming hype? Well, it is Africa's large exploitable resources (coal, petrol, etc). World Bank recently gave 4 billion dollar loan to South Africa for building a coal powered plant. The loan was criticized by the whole of developed world and so called global warming foundations. Well, they want these countries to use unreliable solar and wind energies so that they can suck their resources at back hand and break the cherished African dream to develop. The developing world definitely needs energy to cut back their emissions. The cooking is still dependent on firewood which causes more harm to environment. So what is the argument? Well, I'm not an African but this hyped game is not that difficult to understand. All you need is some right stats.

How to derive satisfaction from a choice?

O God! I am writing after ages and it feels really good. I don't know where I was. Though, let us evolve a mathematical formula for satisfaction. We all have infinite choices to make and to reach to a decision we have a infinite options to select from. You all must have gone to buy a mobile phone and you have a plenty of options, rather infinite of them and after you have bought one which fulfills the functions you wanted and looks fine but you still fancy the ones you left. ' O boy that one had all the features and so low a price but it weighed a bit more.' Isn't it? May be this reveals the magic of market place which is driven by incentives. But how to justify yourself that the option you have chosen stands validated among the infinite options you have rejected?

That is where the formula shown below is useful:-

Satisfaction from a choice (xi) = Pros of choice(xi) - Cons of choice(xi) - Pros of all the rejected choices (∑x=1 to ∞xi) excluding xi.

That is why all of us are unhappy even after making some of the best decisions in our life. Because we carry only the pros of the rejected choices and not the cons but we subtract the cons of the selected choice. Rather we should try to remove the ∑ (sigma) out of the whole equation. This sigma in economics is called opportunity cost of the rejected choice. This removal of opportunity cost will make the choice worth more and increase the satisfaction levels for the decisions for which we are responsible. But physically what is this sigma?

Actually, it is the emotional value of the rejected choices. When women go out to buy saris, after coming to their places, they still fancy the one they left at the shop. And a kid fancies the rejected toy that he would buy the next time. The bride fancies the other possible groom. A graduate fancies the placement he left for something else. We all feel hollowness after leaving something because it is the tendency of human beings to emotionally stick to the things we have rejected and thus, justifying the ∑ in our equation.

Hence, the actual equation representing a rational and emotionless decision is:

Satisfaction from a choice (xi) = Pros of choice(xi) - Cons of choice(xi)

Is it Religion?

If I am one of the senators in a supposedly world govt. (let us assume) and there comes a bill I am awaiting for, "Sciencism Act" which will enforce a new religion all over the world. Let us say that there will be many Gods - the Nobel Gods (Physics, Chemistry, Peace, etc) and other Gods (Engineering). Just imagine we have Einstein as an idol in one of our 'mandirs' and Paul Krugman in the Eco. part of the temple and our grannies would make hymns for Him in the required jargon. Though it would be a better idea than setting up a museum for these great personalities as it would invite more popularity of science. Still, we can all understand the drastic change we have to deliberately bring in our lifestyles. Just imagine our granny saying 'Oh Albert' and we guys yelling out 'Betashit' and what not.

Something like this happened when Christianity was passed as a law in Rome during Augustus rule. The conversion was from Pagan. The point I am stressing here is not the change but the way change had been brought. What was the change for? It was to unite the whole Roman empire under one emperor. Consequently, religion was a play card used by kings to control the citizens or 'praja'.

Take the Ramayana example. Isn't it too ideal? Why? Well, it can also be regarded as an example. I cannot prove the time but Rama seems a very ideal king as one would want to show himself in the media. And Hanumana (another God) already knew that Rama had to incarnate and hence started reciting his name before his birth when he would meditate. Does not he seem as a marketing agent of Rama who knows when will be the product launched. Well, all these are tools to control us. And our daily practices have been so intricately tied with them that we believe it that it is true. We are not educated enough to answer our kids when they ask how was Sun made and what is universe. We tell him that it is the yawn of the Great One and why not fart. I really regret the fanatics who have devoted their lives to the religion because in the end they are just marketing agents of the product launched by some ancient king in the arcane periods. Religion is not belief, it is a tool.