Have we hit the bottom of the recession?

I personally believe that these two indicators point out that we may have hit the bottom of the recession. The stimulus package, however weak/confusing it maybe, might provide that much needed push to set things moving up. 

These are probably the best pieces of news about the economy in several months now. Maybe we have turned the tide. Unfortunately, we'll only know that same time next year. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7886088.stm


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7852011.stm

Radical yet Rational

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/813d18d4-f7aa-11dd-a284-000077b07658.html

Although I'm not a big-fan of "mark to market" system of accounting, this does seem like a good way to 'clean up' the system in way that we normally wouldn't imagine. Yes, I agree this is going to "fatally bleed" companies that have already lost a lot of blood, but atleast this way the books get "cleaned up" for good and they can start afresh under a greater degree of transparency that this country's financial system needs badly. 

Since things have gotten out of hand already, doing this might precipitate the issue a bit more but then on the positive side help these institutions regain some level of efficiency in operation that makes sense. If these companies deserve to get any more of taxpayer's money, then must show the committment to "come clean",

Revival of Cricket

Australia's recent slump in form in both major forms of cricket has given me a lot to cheer about in these cold winter months. To see them getting beaten in their own backyard, not once or twice, but five times in a row is no mean achievement and for teams like SA, India and NZ to achieve this makes it even more cherishable. 

This has virtually opened the doors for other teams to sneak back into contention for the top spots and makes watching cricket a more exciting proposition, once again! For too long the Australian's have dominated world cricket by playing ruthlessly and handing it down to the opposition but when the opponent has handed it back to them, they dont seem to be able to respond adequately. Time and again the Indians did it (2001, 2004 and 2008 Test Series) and now finally SA managed to get rid of the chokers tag and push the Aussies beyond the brink into a downward spiral. The next few months of international cricket must definitely be worth watching. 

Hopefully, the Windies will take a few leaves out of NZ's book and revive their game, which should make it even better!

Filter Kaapi

* Take some 1/4th of the steel glass with some strong warm degoction, 
* Add about 1 spoon of sugar, 
* 'Aathi' the degoction about 20 times till the whole glass is filled with just the froth and 
* Then pour hot milk into this. 
* Carefully follow instructions and you will be hooked to the receipe for life. 
* Make sure the degoction is strong, which only the South Indian filter can do.


Courtesy: WS Ravishankar

I Run, Therefore I am

I could see the finish line in front of me, I could virtually hear my favourite lines from the Pink Floyd song "Learning to Fly" - "There is no sensation to compare to this, suspended animation state of bliss" and I swear a few drops of tears rolled down my eyes. The magnitude of what had happened struck me quite hard - I had finished my first 1/2 marathon - for many it would have been a stroll in the park, but for me it was a personal statement that I had put the past behind me and moved on and moved on with a purpose. 

 

With several of my friends completing marathons, 1/2 marathons and 10k's I keep hearing how running can be a life changing experience and this time I got to experience it first hand. I had barely completed 2 miles and was doing good pace when I was thinking of the "failures and disappointments" in life and how completing this run would be my way of saying that I've learned to look beyond failures and focus on the end result. As these thoughts were crossing my mind, I saw this lady, who must have been in her late 30s, doing excellent pace, only that she had a prosthetic limb - for a moment, everything before me froze and all I could see was empty, infinite space in front of me and this woman running. It was quite a mind-altering sight and it struck me then that "failures and disappointments" are issues of perspectives. I'm very sure the lady would have completed the 1/2 marathon in great time and put most of us "regular" runners to shame, but her effort was quite admirable. 

 

There were several others - young, old, men, women, cancer survivors, people running for their loved ones, in memory of some - running is so simple, yet it can carry a powerful message. I was quite blown away by the sheer number of thoughts that were flowing through my head during those 2 hours 15 minutes and 3 seconds. Every time I felt a pain in my legs, there would be a band round the corner playing rock'n'roll music that would pump me up to pick up pace - putting mind over body and blanking out the pain. 

 

The human body is an amazing feat of engineering - the sheer magnificence of this feat was put to test during this run for me by pushing it beyond the limits. Despite having trained for over two months, I was constantly doubting my ability to complete even 10 miles et alone finish the run. The constant self-doubting pushed me to train harder and try "innovative" routines to build stamina, all this while I had to spend close to 16-18 hours trying to balance a work-study routine. At the end of it, I am extremely pleased with myself for having completed the run and instilling a ton of self-confidence and motivated to push myself to achieve greater things in life. 

 

It is definitely a crazy thing to do, but I think I’m beginning to like pushing myself to achieve things that I once thought were either beyond me or irrelevant to what I would want to do – but its only a matter of perspective. 

What a CEO Means to a Company

As a consumer I have to make a choice when I buy a product, however very rarely do you really see a CEO having an impact on the consumer who makes the choice. Very recently I had to decide on buying a new laptop (as a student its an important decision) and for while I was really torn between a PC and Mac - the ads did not make things any better. 

So I was doing my research on what to buy and as most people would, I ended up youtubing something and this is what I found with respect to a PC (Jesus! I think this guy needs to 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fcRBy6RAEg&feature=related

And when I compare to the other choice I had, I think my decision became very very easy.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5iPJwZkr6E&feature=related

Bye! Bye! PC

A New Place, New People and a New Life

After a long and "arduous" tenure in San Antonio, I moved out to a new place - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Life is known to throw up surprises and go through changes (I'm a believer of the statement that "the only thing constant in life is change"). My decision to pursue an MBA from Tepper School of Business @ Carnegie Mellon University necessitated this move. A major downgrade in luxuries and quality of life or in other words, a cutback to facilitate a better upgrade in 2+ years. 

My stay in Texas can be summarized as "interesting". What started off a boring and dull, turned out to be quite nice with a whole new bunch of friends, but having to move out leaving behind everything can be quite tough, as I've figured out from life experiences. I now look forward to a new life, at a new place with new people around. 

In the words of Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - California sunlight, sweet calcutta rain

Honolulu starbright--the song remains the same. ooh! ooh! Here we go! (Song Remains the Same - House of the Holy)