newviewsonoldworld

Designing ...why be a desginer

2011-01-14T23:05:00.000-08:00

What are the qualities of a desginer ?
Analytic mind ; a mind that can capture the patterns, decode them and also apply them ? yes .......
Skill .....definitely .....without physical attributation abstract designs are castles in the air...
Art .......maybe not exactly because therein lies the difference between art and design.
Art is an extension of the artist himself......an art form is created for the self satisfaction of the artist. Its beauty while evident to the world is actually meant for the artist himself / herself to revel in.
A Design is different in that sense. A design is meant for OTHERS. The designer needs a quality more than the ones above and that is SENSITIVITY.
A design is a utility object. Meant to satisfy the ones using it. And so the first thing that a desginer should think of is how can the design cature the expressed and unexpressed needs of the users using it.

We in IT especially in Fin Services design systems. And so we must be focussed to our users and accept that our systems are USEFUL to the users.
This does not mean we must accpet all their requests for they are not an expert on software solutions ...we are.
So we must listen to all their requests and try to find out solutions ourselves. Accepting all their suggestions is dangerous. At the same time dismissing all their requests as low prioirty
is dangerous as we are not the experts on the domain side ...they are, so we cannot decide the priorities of what they need.
Important thing is to contain the artist in ourselves. Brilliant coders have brilliant ideas and also the techical gumption to pull them off. But best of code sometimes becomes useless becasue our users did not want to use it that way and so they will not user it that way.
lets take an example :
I want to design a system for users to display their portfolio of stocks.
Now what do i include ?
Stock names, ticker, Buy/ Sell Price, Current Close price, Profit/loss accrued, status of the stocks ( hold, sold , watch)
I also give an option to set the trigger price whereby if the price exceeds, falls the level then a email or SMS notification is sent to the portfolio users.
Now the user wants to view the top 10 trades on the stock and its consolidated financial data like EPS etc on one click on the Stock Name / Ticker. This is considerable data and the servers that hosts the portfolio management web based system is neither exactly popular for its storage capablities nor performance in case of huge data retrievals......but admit it thats the only server host that you can afford in a 10000/- a year budget !
So what you do ? do you tell the user ....sorry you are very important to us but this cannot be done and risk pissing him off ?
Worse is if we try to employ the technologically infeasible option of giving it to him.
A brilliant techo guy would explore complex grids and web services that can do the job. But then asking the user to do more than clicking a button just to give him the data that he needs for a glance is asking him to do so much. Hey markets move very fast man !
A desginer would be inclined to think ...can i give him a hyperlink on the ticker to an URL that opens up a site like nseindia.com that would give him the top trades and fin data in one single page. If nseindia.com openly publishes data for you why not use it ???

May or may not work but we did try to satisfy the user's requirement but the way we want to do it.
thanks !

of Smiles and Sunshine

2010-05-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

Of Smiles and Sunshine !

Life gave me a very weird opportunity. An opportunity to work with the chronically ill children who suffer at very tender ages from chronic problems like leukemia and others.
How does it feel to spend lives in the hospital wards, lives where at the ages of 3-4 years going home is a vacation.
Life reminds them continuously that they are different, so the last thing that they want is us to do is to remind them that by telling them or worse by giving them the so called special attention they do not need.
Let us take the case of a beautiful, angelic little girl of 6 years I will call Snow White ( actual name obviously suppressed) Snow White because she was kept in sleep by medication for almost the whole day so that she does not hurt herself. This little one suffered from a medium stage leukemia and was treated in one of the most reputed hospitals in Mumbai. She had a problem of hurting herself and others. She would bite people who came near her. She would bang her head on the walls. If people brought her toys she broke them. Chocolates were ripped apart and thrown. So to prevent her from hurting herself and also protect her from the little pain she suffered continuously from her medical problem her doctors kept her under sedation throughout the day.
I happen to visit her once. I got her a teddy bear that she instantly threw away. But surprisingly she opened my book that I had by mistake placed on her bed, turned a few pages and kept it away without attempting to damage it. While all her toys bore the signs of her anger a small caterpillar ( her room was excellent, just above the garden of the hospital and her mummy opened the windows once in a while to let fresh air in ) on the window sill was welcomed by a smile and a single word " butterfly". I said " beta its a caterpillar", she said " teacher said grow up butterfly". Bingo !!! the little beautiful Snow White suddenly opened my eyes to the reality of what chronically ill children like.
They like a normal life. With real friends, real friendship. Real world with caterpillars that grow up to be butterflies. Not costly toys or all our sympathies. While we should take special care of them we should show them that they are different by pampering them. This is a reminder to them that they do not belong to real life because they are suffering from something.
We went to the garden then; it was her first visit to the garden since her 5 month stay there. Her extremely caring doctor came with us. It was mid July and the rains had made the garden even more beautiful and bountiful. But that day was sunny, and there was sunshine and there were smiles. Our dear Snow white then talked and talked a lot about flowers, trees and animals she had learnt in 1st standard school.
A friend gave her a ChildCraft series then. To explore the real world and develop her love for nature, science and fun. And she loved it!.
Today the lovely Snow white goes to school, jumps , plays and is full of life. Thanks to her loving parents and her doctors. I talk to her sometimes and she talks and talks a lot of things she learns in school and her friends.
In ways some of you may not know the little Snow White saved my life!

the Saint and Nanndi Bail

2009-01-11T00:31:00.000-08:00

The Hrishi and Nandi Bail

My grandfather read me a lot of stories ,most of them on our Gods. Did a fusion of a Saki story and a grandfather story and made a remix …………………..

In Lord Shiva’s temple there is, always at the gate the Nandi Bail, his carrier and faithful companion. Nandi is said to be blessed with great pragmatic wisdom and street-smartness that complements Bholenath’s bholapan !

A temple near my home has a big Nandi bail whom all children love. Nandi’s neighbor is an idol of a hrishimuni ( great saint ).

One lazy afternoon when there were no people in the temple Nandi and the saint were engaged in a deep conversation on the temple rats. “ look how thin the rats have become in this season ……… the people are hardly offering anything ……….no fruits…nothing ! “ complained the saint whose heart went out for the poor rats.

“Hrishivar, its recessionary time ……..and inflation is so high ……you cannot help everybody? “ said Nandi

But I feel sorry for them ……….i feel we must do something for them! “said the saint, “ but what will I do ??” ,“people hardly come and offer prasad at my shrine nowadays ? “

“That’s because the plaster of your shrine is wearing off, that makes people sneeze “remarked the Nandi and casually dropped the conversation.

( if you want to something with all your heart then the entire universe conspires to help you do it ! – Paulo Cohelo or Sharukh Khan )

One fine day some rich lady dropped a Rs500 note in the saint’s shrine…. And the saint now had the resources he needed

“Well now I will appear in the dream of the pujari of the temple ……tell him where he will find the note and ask him to buy fruits for the temple rats”

“ Well that’s really your prerogative, “ said Nandi “ I cannot even appear in the dreams of stock brokers nowadays “ , “ but trust me you are missing the bigger picture ! “

So it was decided……the next amavasya night the saint would appear in the dream of the pujari.

The saint thought “ the bigger picture ……? Hmmm …… If I ask the pujari to re-plaster my shrine then more people will visit it and offer Prasad………that prasad will be food for the mice ……. The more the people visit my shrine ……more the prasad …more the benefit of the mice!! – it was such a brilliant idea …… it would benefit everybody !!! “

And so it happened. The pujari found the money as promised by the Saint in the dream and being a God fearing man he re-plastered the shrine. The devotees admiration for the “Miraculous Saint who appears in dreams and dreams come true” suddenly increased. And there were now queues of devotees to his shrine and lots of Prasad ( and cash too ! ). The pujari who was the chosen one became the star and mopped up the cash and all the fruits offered as Prasad. The remaining was cleaned away by the sweeper. The temple mice still remained as starved as before!

And Nandi said to Bholenath “Lord , this is how India became a welfare state !!!!!!!! “

All the small things !

2008-05-27T08:25:00.001-07:00

All the small things!

I“ Arre tame tamari gadiyal bhuli gaya “ ( you have forgotten your watch ) she shouted as she bade him goodbye that morning.

“ na eno belt tuti gayo che .. akele main pehri nathi “ ( the belt is broken so I have not worn it) he smilingly replied as he waved and ran so that he would not miss 7.40am Churchgate fast.

He loved his watch, she knew. It was his most cherished possession.. a gift from his father … when he appeared for his TYBCom. She could imagine how hard his mother and father would have saved to gift him the watch. She knew because she was also saving hard to gift him a pure leather belt for the watch on their first anniversary. And it was not easy to save when his salary was Rs300 and the hapta (EMI) on their one room kitchen was Rs 101. But she saved…. A Rupee here and there… selling raddi ( they both loved reading so newspapers and books was a luxury they allowed themselves to indulge in ) at the end of the month to tie the ends together. Her housewife financial acumen was stretched to the limits. Their anniversary was two days hence and she was still Rs. 15 short

He was also thinking of the anniversary. And he was also saving. He skipped his customary paan for a week. Did accountancy work for a CA. did some typing work. He had save for a small pendant. For a year she had worn her favourite moti mala but it looked kinda incomplete as it had no pendant. Not anymore! How beautiful that pendant would look on her … her innocent and simple beauty adorned by the subtle intricacies of motis. But the pendant was still out of budget by Rs 100!

Today is the anniversary day. He come home early in a very upbeat mood. She was also smiling mysteriously. Surprise !!!!!! he shouted like all young men who are love do ! in his hand he carried a small gift packed box ( the pendant naturally )

I too have one …she blushed like all young girls in love do !.she too had a home packed gift ( the leather watch belt )

And then his eyes fell on her neck. Her beautifully neck was empty. Her mala was missing. As he raised his hand to her neck she found that his wrist was empty. His watch was not there. ( both had sold their only belonging to fund the gift)

Their eyes met and both of them smiled !!!

Needless to say… they lived happily ever after.

ek mahal ho sapno ka

2008-02-11T09:17:00.000-08:00

Ek mahal ho sapno ka ……

“kabar man jai ne su so to faristao ubha karse

Ahin befaam koi pan jagah tari nathi hoti “

- Barkat “befaam” Virani

A house has changed many a psychological forms since times. To us it is an investment opportunity and inadvertently all of us think of our homes as property- an asset class with a marketable value. For our parents it was an aspiration.. a realization of their dreams ,a fruition of their struggles .. a loan from HDFC ( the only housing loan available then ) paid @ 18% interest, the do deewane is sahar main ..ek aabudana thoondte hain “ kind of thrill. For our grandparents the home had no attachable value.. it was a consumable to be used lifelong ;preserved and used with no thoughts entertained about parting from it. But the house .. a home of MY OWN is the single largest dream known to all man.

“chacha .. bahut aachi khabar hain .. hum log ko permanent ghar milne wala hai.. Zhopadpati Navnirman Program hain BMC ka ..court ka order hain ki 1995 se pehle se rehne wale ko ghar diya jaye.. ? Chotu was speaking excitedly. Ali Chacha looked up from his harmonium to the young boy and smiled. The dream of Ali Chacha to own a house was no secret to the residents of the Aman Zopadpatti, Kandivali. In fact it was this dream that had propelled this 76 year old man to work so hard at the Meher band in his sunset period. Chacha played the trumpet at the famous Meher band sharing the joys of complete strangers, forgetting the pain in his legs and an occasional empty stomach. It is said that “blessed are those who have little yet give a lot “. Chacha Ali gave everything he had to give.. his love .. his wisdom .. and occasionally some money to his bastiwalas and was hence loved by all.

Ali Khan had come to Mumbai from Muffazarbad some 40 years ago. He belonged to a family of musicians who had once adorned the courts of the Mughal royalty but were forced to work as laborers to earn their bread in the country they prayed and fought to make independent. His wife had expired years back and no one knew where his sons went. But Ali Khan was married to music ..and he refused to part ways with it despite his music being no longer sufficient to fill his stomach.

“ meri to ek hi tamaana hai ki is seher main mera aapna ek ghar ho ..” “ Insha’Allah Chacha aapko ghar jarur milega” Chotu would say. And the next day Chacha went to the local MLA who was distributing the forms for the scheme earning political mileage ( and Rs.100 for a form of Rs10 ). “Chacha hamare karan aapko flat mil rahe hain, hum sarkar main hai to aapki chaandi hai “ typical words from a typical tobacco rotten mouth. “ chalo yeh form bhar dena aur ek mahine main 7000 rupaiya le aana .. aap ko flat ke kagazat mil jayenge “ …” bhai hamare flat kaise hain ..kidhar hain ? “ ..” chandivali main hain .. aapke pass 7000 hain Chacha nahin to 10000 mere pass se leke jaana aur flat mere naam kar dena …. Aapko to saamne se paisa milega… kya kahte ho Chacha …”

“nahin hargeez nahin .. meri to taamana hain ek ghar aapna ho … “ “ chacha soch lo ! itna aasan nahin ghar rakna ..aapko kya jaroorat hain .. aur aap 700 nahin le kar aaye to gaya samjo ..kuch nahin milega .. “ The old man could have despite his age snapped the bastardly political organism into two but he knew that he could do nothing against these bastards. So he kept quiet and left praying to Allah to forgive those bastards.

Seven thousand was a big amount for a modest man like Chacha. He had a small saving account in a bank where he put some money ( as a habit rather than a necessity ).the amount was 5000 odd. His old mastaar at Meher could lend him a 1000. And in a city like Mumbai it was not difficult to earn 1000 in a month, was it? But it was shradh paksh which meant no more band assignments for the month. But Mumbai had a lot of stations. And he selected his spot near the first class at Borivali station and started playing his harmonium.

“ Chacha aapun ka pehchaan hai Borivali pe .. station master ko roj 200 dene ka aur Pakiyaa Bhai ( the local goon) ko 80 bhada dene ka .. aapko 280 se uupar mila woh profeet .. aapna dost Munna sirf bheekh magta hain to 200 kama leta hain .. aap to sangeetkar hain ..aapko to jyaada milega .. yeh kya bheekh thodi hain Chacha samjaa karo … aap to artist hain artist “

But sadly we know no artists. Accustomed to the pardesi pardesi and tum dileeee kieee dhadikan main “ sung purposefully to attract attention we regard (rather disregard ..) all musicians playing this way as bheekharis. While entertainers playing guitar or the saxophone in European cities are given the respect and applause that an artist deserves the MP3 palyer or cellphone affixed Mumbai treats them with shameful disdain. Chacha found out that Borivali station afforded no respect to the raag malkous or the ballads of Mohammad Rafi ..but yes they were generous in their givings .. full of pity ..pity which was an insult to an artist. And so Borivali was over. But Mumbai hardly disappoints her dwellers. Chacha soon found a job in a karkhana to work as a thread changer on the small loom near Kandivali. A month of eye straining sleepless nights earned him the requisite. And the next time he went to the bastardly politican to sign (he was literate) the papers he held his head high. And the politico threw a worthless menacing look at him ( as they do jab unka popat hota hain ).

6 months passed by in eager anticipation and then the allotment started. People in the basti left with tearful but dreaming eyes one by one. And it was soon Chacha’s turn. Early morning he had offered a prayer on the tomb of pir Haji Ali. His dream was about to be fulfilled. But life had her own evil designs in his sunset days.

The MLA who called himself responsible for the allotment had done him good. His signatures forged.. his flat transferred .. his dream broken. And then started the vicious rounds from the BMC to the MHADA ( the agency responsible for the flats ) to the mantrlaya with despondent pleadings. Months went on to secure a meeting. Money was burned.. passed under the table… and Chacha was pulled into the vortex of the same corrupt systems he had despised ,breaking the principles that had survived 76 years of his not very easy life. And time went on.

“Chacha suna hain MHADA main koi naya aafsar aaya hai.. bahut imaandaar hain. Who humko madat jaroor karenge. “ and then through a series of contacts ( greased of course) they managed to reach the officer Mr.Siddhanth Vasu a young man of 35 who neither showed any bias ( favourable or unfavourable) towards Chaha’s religion.. nor a contempt that we reserve for the zopadpatti walas ( 7000 me saalon ko Mumbai main ghar chaiye .. property ke bhav dekhe hain .. saale ***** ) . He offered no hollow words but said it was his duty and he would look into it.

Diligently , with painstaking researches down the record offices overcoming the creative inertia of a lazy machinery he weaved the case. Taking excuses strictly and threats disdainfully he finally after a period of 8 months secured what rightfully belonged to the old man.

“Chacha .. aapka ghar ka ho gaya .. “ he wanted to delver the news personally to the old man. Early morning he went to the basti with the happy news. He returned from the basti in the evening not so happy. Later that afternoon he had placed the allotment letter on the tomb of Chacha Ali Khan.

pyar ke side effets

2008-02-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

Pyar ke side effects!

Yeh story hain do doston ki . Naam Abhijeet aur Siddharth. Dono cricket ke khiladi the aur cricket ki hare Indian ki tarah pooja karte the. That was until Pooja came into their lives.

Abhijeet Hirani and Siddharth Asar were great friends and their friendship emanated from the fact that both of them played cricket – and played it really bad. Siddharth whose idol was Sachin ( though Sidd was left handed) had ambitions of opening the team batting. But he could not hit a football if it was thrown to him. When he tried to hit the cover drive the ball would edge to midwicket and when he tried to square cut like Saurav did all he could do was swing his bat wildly at the ball which if he was lucky would not edge to the slips.Abhi on the other end tried to swing the ball like Waqaur but found to his dismay that his ball never cross the 10mt mark and imperceptibly went short which at his pace would be perfect pull stroke for even a mediocre batsman. Then he tried to bowl accurately like the “pigeon” but an invisible hand always guided his ball away from the stumps to beyond the reach of the poor keeper. Naturally you can guess their status in the Atharva College of Engineering cricket team. But they were wonderful cheer guys and every match their team palyed they would shout their lungs out. All in all nice enthusiastic blokes ( as Ian Chapel would call them )

But they loved cricket ! Loved would be an euphemism! They were devoted to it. Every morning they would turn up on the ground and do their exercise. Practise in the nets ( assume how their practice would be.. one ball if Abhi bowled well Sidd could not hit..so Abhi was congratulated.. and another abysmally short and slow ball by Abhi that Sidd could hit would earn him motivation ) .but they tried and they tried hard. Also they had a rule that their team mates would see sports together and then every match that India played was analysed, micro-analysed , each shot applauded or condemned, each statistic compared. And inevitably the analysis guy was Sidd and the Stats guy was Abhi. And their team mates loved them dearly.

“hey Abhi got a new book on the match fixing scam .. u wanna ? “ “ Chup bait scholar saale.. there is new babe on the block … a Diploma girl from Bhagubhai …. and dude she is hot !!!!”

“ kya naam hain yaar ? roll number kya hain Abhi ..aapne praqctical batch main chance hain kya “ ..” excuse me ! ..and Sidd’s world erupted in a million melodies …. I am Pooja … just got admission .. are you Siddharth Asar.. I am on your table.. please help me in the practical.. I am weak in circuits. And you are a scholar I heard ?.. thank God ..and she sat down on the stool and bent towards the CRO .. her yellow duppata making magical patterns in the air and her matching yellow bangles rendering raag malkhous with every soft movement of her hand.

“peeli dhoop pehenke tum dekho bag main mat aana .. bhoure tum ko sab chedenge …. “ hi I am Abhijeet ..I am on the next table to you .. ( aa gaya saala bhouran- Sidd) you can borrow my journals .. I have a senior’s journal and am the first to finish the journal.. smart na ? “ “ thank you… I am Pooja” and Pooja tilted her head slightly and smiled with her lips curled….” Every time you do that thing you do .. Stevie Wonders in Abhi’s mind. And the full practical all Abhi could do was watch that thing- the tilt of her head and the smile with the lips curled.

“saale aaj kya table par aa gaya ..mera bhi intro nahi hua that aur tu tapak pada ..! “ “dekh Sidd kuch bhi mat bol … who tere table par hain to kya saala chance marega ..apni bhabhi ki liye kuch to liyaaz rakh “ “ saale bhabhi hogi teri … etc etc and the two friends went on in their own worlds of fantasy.

A month passed and the class felt that Pooja was tilting towards either of them. But whom ? while she loved to discuss robotics and stuff from Sidd ..she went to movies with Abhi and his twin sister Kinjal who studied in their class. Not even Kinjal (who had become Pooja’s best saheli at ACE) could find out.. Sidd or Abhi ? And Kinjal who loved Sidd like her own brother would naturally not try to influence Pooja’s opinion.

It was DJ night and they were a grooovin lot ! numbers started filling the audi.. from “woh lamhe remix” to “I want to break free” .Pooja in her Bebe Tee looked gorgeous.. and her body moved to the music like molten gold ..fluid.. graceful..enticing.. and very very sexy. Like the enchantress Medusa she had all the guys fixed on her ..bound by a spell.. and a guy who did not wish X-ray eyes that night would definitely be gay.

And that was the night of decision! Pooja had to decide.. no ! her mind is equally divided… she cannot possibly decide –Kina “I am sure she will say yes to you both .. the first to propose gets her” .. they would have felt pushing each other and making there first ( like housewives would feel in a limited entry sale at Big Bazaar) but they were friends after all and decided to settle it man to man.

And so the practice started. Vaibhav ( their captain) had decided to play them in the final 11 provided they raised their game to that level and the first to win the man of the match award in any match would propose Pooja .. the other would back out.

The semester was over before you could know it there was sport season. Sidd ( who was the class CR ) had to persuade, cajole and finally fight with their HOD Prof Alaspure ( Prof was the title .. he barely knew Microcontrollers to teach them )for attendance for the team. And then the first match started. And Sidd came out opening in a lefty righty combination with Saurabh Gupta. The first shot that he hit to Amrish ( Computers bowler .. by the way Sidd and Abhi were in EXTC) was as Bhavik would later put it the shot that Yuvraj had started his career with. A smashing uppish drive over the mid-off. The junoon with which Sidd must have practiced was evident from his game that day. And Abhi… his pace was good and his control was superb. He hit the deck seam upright and managed a decent bounce which at his improved pace and immaculate length was fatal. If there was ever a transformation this was it ! they were in the playing 11 henceforth and forever. Ands it was only a matter of time before one of them would claim her……….

It was a big match ! ACE against their arch rivals Thakur College ! Target 75 in 7 overs… ACE 4 wickets down..in trouble..But Sidd was hitting all over the park. Nasty pulls and hooks rendered Sandesh ( the Thakur express! ) useless. Classy drives through the covers and touchy cuts square and to the thirdman .. flicks to the fine leg and squarish flicks off the pads to the leg. And finally full firing shots over the long on and deep mid wicket. Sidd was bound to be a match winner this match and then ……………..

“we are the champions !!.. Sidd on the shoulders of the team . A Kodak moment. Congo Sidd bhai you rocked.. said Abhi. She is all yours man. You can have her! said Abhi. (What a friend thought Sidd… mere liye kitna khush tha !!! and that man loved her too ! ) Sidd ran to the lobby. He found Pooja talking on her cell. “hi Pooja why did you not come to watch the match today ..i am the man of the match.. see I wanna tell you something .. “ “ please not your stupid cricket stuff .. such a boring game … stupid silly .. Indians are fools to love it so much… crazy..and your team.. jerks”……. The sitar was tuning wrongly, the bangles were clamoring and Pooja was suddenly far far away. “ pyar ham ko bhi hai pyar tum ko bhi hain ..phir ye kya silsile ho gaye ….. “

“Abhi there is a problem ..Pooja .she ..she hates … “-Sidd. “ I know she hates cricket. Sorry dude, when you were batting that day I was sure I would lose the bet and so I proposed her before you came back from the field. I loved her man .. I am sorry to have broken the word. I came to know then that she hates cricket “’-Abhi. “So what have you decided” –Sidd said praying for the answer he wanted. “ Jaane de usko yaar ..aapun ko practice ke liye kate ho raha hain ! –Abhi.

They say love is a bitter pill. But it definitely has very good side effects ! Sidd the guy who could not hit a ball straight became the team vice captain soon. And Abhi became the strike bowler.

“ kya se kya ho gaya bewaffa tere pyaar main …” in fact aacha hua !

kyunki .....

2008-02-04T04:12:00.000-08:00

" taro dushman tu che " - a gujrati saying. here is why :

Kyunki saas bhi ….

Their son was reputed in the entire family as being the most obedient of the lot ! they said he never did anything without asking his mother .. even playing football in college was affirmed by his Mummy .. and now he had done this to her !!

One fine morning he had disclosed that he loved a girl and wanted to marry her : with or without consent. She and Mr.Shridhar ( his father) had to accept. And then he brought Shruti home. She was beautiful ( like the fair and lovely girl :as Mrs.Joshi called her ) with long wavy hair and a ringing laughter that filled their home.. a laughter that reverberated in Shri and Sonu ( her son Swaruup ) as an effect. Had she not loved them enough all these years that they had so quickly taken in to her !?

Today she had taken a CL at work .. she was not feeling well. My god ! she will now interfere in my work the whole day. Trying to help .. may I cut the vegetables for you .. and her insolence that she prepare the lunch … so can I have a day off .. is she my boss to give me a day off !

Shruti was bored. So she decided to clean the cabinet in the storage corner they called mahal . it was a small house wasn’t it ? But Shruti loved it anyways ! ..

“See Shruti was cleaning our cabinet today… Shri are you listening .. that was our cabinet.. our .. remember the day when you had my painting done and your mother came.. we had hid it in the mahal.. how dare she intrude upon our space Shri ..are you listening?”.. .”yes I am listening Sulu ( her name was Sulochna btw ) but she is new to the house.. she does not know .. and remember it is her home too.. let her explore and develop a belongingness !” “ Shri .. you do not understand .. these girls of today do not care about such things..all they want is a lifestyle … belongingness etc does not exist in their vocabulary”… “Sulu stop being a paranoid.. she is not taking your son away from you ! “

“ Papa Shru was telling me that you have some shares of Reliance in physical form.. why don’t we dematerialize them ? post the spilt they must me worth quite a bit ! “ “ I do not understand this new system..why do you not transfer them to your name and do whatever you deem right “ “ Ok Papa we will see .. Shru please get the transfer forms from your office ( Shru worked with a top Corporate law firm ) …” “ sambhdo cho ! even mummy has some UTI Mastergain as a sole holder.. why don’t we redeem them and put them in some new fund ..”

“ see I told you Shri.. belongingness … she explored our mahali and see the outcome.. she spotted what she wanted .. shares… these girls care only about money.. you listen I will NOT sign anything…nor am I going to transfer anything .. and nor will you .. are you listening Shri ? “ “ Sulu the systems have changed.. the kids know more than us .. and what Sonu said was correct.. and what is wrong in transferring to their names .. they are our children Sulu .. have faith “ “ you keep your faith … it has no meaning to these children .. and I do not trust that girl .. not even Sonu now ! “ Some day Sulu you will realize that you were wrong …sometimes you realize that keeping the faith is an easier thing to do .. and the right thing ,too !“

“mummy I brought the transfer deed from my office .. I will mark where you have to sign”

“ I know where to sign .. I can read the form .. that is IF I want to sign ! “ came the reply. And the matter was not discussed thereafter.

Six months passed … Sulu had to admit that Shruti had breezed in a freshness and happiness in the home .. and Shri also was very happy .. never before since he had retired was Shri so much involved in different activities … his resignation from life after his premature retirement ( as the textile sector collapsed , leaving many in Mumbai ..even in mamagerial posts ..jobless) had changed into a new zeal .. because Shruti in her stupid ways had everybody by their hearts .. Sonu and now Shri… ! Sulu’s instincts told her that it was all a part of the design.. to take away those shares ( did not their neighbor Mr.Ganatra who was in the stock business mention that the Reliance shares were now worth a fortune )

“ it is like a dream .. am I dreaming “ Sulu thought. “It cannot be!! . how could I be so wrong .. I always thought that I was an expert in judging people .. this time I was wrong and Shri with his naive faith was right ! “ “but if it was defeat, she prayed to God for million such defeats ! “

That day was their 30^th marriage anniversary. Sonu and Shruti decided that they go on a long drive and then have lunch outside. “ these kids just want long drives and expensive lunches “ thought Sulu. And the drive was quite long… they stopped only when they reached nearby Dahnu. And it stood there. In its live munificence .. a small bunglow named Madhooli.. .with a courtyard and China roses.. just as Shri had painted it … her imagination translated into watercolours ! and now into bricks and marble. But how did they.. ( Sonu and Shruti ) …. And why did we not know ?

“ that day when I was cleaning the corner I found this beautiful painting made by Papa.. and I found the letter in which Papa promised you this bunglow .. was it not on your 5^th anniversary ? “ so Sonu and I decided that we make Papa’s promise come true “ .. “ but beta how did you manage the finance “, Shri. “ oh ! I took a loan, we were some short so Shruti took a loan “ …( Sulu knew that the reliance shares could have helped.. but knowing Shruti she knew that they would not have even thought of it as a possible source of finance )

And so dudes .. keep the faith .. you never know that the one you are passing a judgment on is the one who loves you the most !

-sidd

short story : a missed call

2008-02-04T04:09:00.000-08:00

not every call that rings for a second and gets cut is a missed call ... here is why :

Missed call …

Mumbai was under siege ! with 7 bombs blasting along the western railways line ..the blood lines of Mumbai carrying a traffic of 25 lakhs commuters a day during the peak hours. And it was a peak hour. At 6.55 pm IST the bomb blasted in a 1^st class compartment in a Borivali bound train near Santacruz.

Sam was lying somewhere along the grasslands between Vile Parle and Santacruz some 30mts away from the inferno that the train was now.. he was injured badly with shrapnel piercing his unconscious body like aabhlas on a Navrati dancer’s dress. Preeti bent over him trying to check his pulse.. praying .. for an indication that the boy was alive. Yes ! he was but he would not be for a long time ..she reckoned .. if he did not receive medical attention. Preeti an employee of the famous brokers Motilal Oswal was returning home on what was a smashing day at her workplace with the Sensex jumping 350 points up. But she was no medic and she knew that the boy needed help. Perhaps she should call his family.

His cell phone was not there !! not in his pockets ,… not anywhere around .. she searched frantically for his cell.. and found it finally in a compartment of what was once a bag. Why does he have to keep in in the bag ? she cursed him for her 30 secs of suspense..and she cursed even harder: as the display on the cell phone was blank .. kaputted by the impact of the blast.. what kind of cheap handsets do they make nowadays?! is there any other identification in the bag. No! there was none. So the cell was her only hope .. but the display was gone. No phone book ..no message box.

But Preeti was a smart girl. She immediately remembered the CIA agent’s trick of giving a call on the last number dialed. All she had to do was press the green button twice.

“ kiska hai yeh tumko intezaar main hoon na “ and before the song went on Minal picked up the call.. Sameer again! Bastard ! will he ever learn ! trying to give me a missed call again .. kanjoos.. well this should teach him a lesson… and she promptly connected the call before he could cut it from his end. Hello ? ? the voice was very weak .. she could barely hear anything.. Sameer voice was coming in too thin …barely audible .. almost feminine .. and then the line went dead ! “kanjoos kanjoos kanjoos !Minal almost shrieked .. you never have balance in ur cell .. I will NOT call u back !” NO NO NO “ she shouted to the handset ..as if it were Sam !

“:shit !” Preeti knew her last chance was off. The last number dialed was received but probably the person on the other side could barely hear her ..and before she could talk properly the f**k**g message came “ aap ke pass paryapt balance nahi hai .. krupya aapke prepaid account ko recharge kare !! god damn this boy Preeti said almost in tears. She decided to wait .. till the person on the other side called back. She prayed and she prayed that God help her save this young boy ( he looked around 24-25 ) but there was no call .. And then she left ! in search of someone to carry the boy.

“He needs immediate operation “ “ where are his family members “ oh you do not know who he is ? yes no problem .. the norms are relaxed during emergencies you see “ “ please fill the form over there and go to the police station nearby “ “ they will sign it and we can proceed “ “ madam .. we have other patients to attend to ! please follow the procedure .. “ . And Preeti went on with the procedures. There was no Munnabhai to speed things up. She knew that time was getting wasted. Time that could prove crucial ( oh God please not fatal ) for the boy. “if only she could have contacted someone who could have established the identity of the boy.. It could have saved his life!!!!!!!!!!

She was crying.. so was everyone .. it was the next day that Sameer’s identity was established and the bad news were out. The networks were jammed but it was not because of this reason that Ody ( their close friend )came personally with the news. But I had talked to him just then at .. and she fumbled with her call directory.. at 6.45pm. he said he had something very important to say but he only had a balance of Rs2.50 so could she call him back. How had she cursed him then … and she had also cursed him when he gave her the damn missed call.. at around 7.05 pm …. And then the realization dawned upon her…. Like the summer tempest her eyes flowed .. uncontrollably … if only she would have called him back .. probably … ????????

When the network came back on the next day Minal received a message .. from Sameer .. sent on that fateful day at about 6.45pm. with the last rupee in his mobile prepaid account (as he knew Minal would not call him back ) Sameer had messaged “ Minal I love you very much … will you marry me ?? “

fractals-the poetry of complex numbers

2007-07-30T22:17:00.001-07:00

A peek in the multi-dimensional magic

Nature sure is an artist ! in every flower pattern , every tree shape, in the flow of rivulets you see art and you hear music. Though most of it may seem beautiful to us due to its abstract nature, it is in fact as precise in form as it can get … it is in fact based on the language of mathematical poetry called probability. Probability is what brings about the patterns that we see in the flowers or the movement of birds ( though physics underlies the principles the patterns are still probabilistic not deterministic) or even the design of the cosmos. The rhythm of the cosmos i.e the frequencies at which matters vibrate due to a confluence of forces like gravity or the weak and the strong forces are all probabilistic.
our very own light also is a probability wave. Information itself that is a manifestation of randomness ( the less likely is the occurrence of an event the greater is the information contained in it ) is is a function of probability.
Why does a rose stem have 1….2…3...5...8…13 shoots ? ( Fibonacci sequence for you ). This is because the leaves in the new shoots need to soak in the sunlight and any other number of shoots would be arranged such that they would block the sunlight of the other shoots. So the shoots are in the fibonnaci sequence. That is the power of probability for you.

Let us look at a yet amazing facet of patterns that are generated not by nature or neither by probabilistic processes but by mathematics more precisely polynomials. These patterns are called fractals. And analysis of fractals is a big business in the analysis of businesses ( stock prices, game theory , behavorial analysis , business simulation) . this is because fractals add to the dimensions of your thinking .. and they do it quite literally.

Benoit Mandelbrot is generally considered to be the father of fractals. He coined the term fractal to describe curves, surfaces and objects that have some very peculiar properties. We learnt in school that simple curves, such as a line, have one dimension. Squares, rectangles, circles, polygons, etc. have two dimensions, while solid objects such as a cube, have three dimensions. The three dimensions define space. Time can be considered a fourth dimension. We normally think of dimensions as integers: 1, 2, 3, . . .
What is so peculiar about about fractals is that they have fractional dimensions! A fractal curve could have a dimensionality of 1.4332, for example, rather than 1. Fractals are not just a mathematical curiosity. Most natural objects are fractal by nature, and can be best described using fractal mathematics. Clouds, leaves, the blood vessel system, coastlines, particles of lint, etc. have fractal shapes.
Fractals are generated by an iterative process - doing the same thing again and again. Fractals also have the property that when you magnify them they still look much the same. This is called self-similarity.
The mathematics behind it deals with the amazing properties of complex numbers to add dimensions to a data ( a number X is one dimensional ,but in complex domain it is x+iy i.e it has miraculously become 2 dimensional )

The most popular of the fractals are the divergent set represented by a innocuous looking function ( polynomial in complex domain )

zn+1 = z2n + c
This equation uses complex numbers for z and c where c is a constant.
The Mandelbrot equation is an iterative equation, that is, each value of z generated on the left side is fed back in on the right side to generate a new value of z. This produces a sequence of z values: z0, z1, z2, z3... Typically, the starting point is z0 = (0, 0). Each value of the complex constant c will generate a different sequence. Let's consider a graph with the X axis (real axis) covering the range -2.5 to 1.5 and the Y axis (imaginary axis) covering the range -1.5 to 1.5. Consider that each point on this graph represents a possible value for c, and that iterations start with z0 = (0, 0). Let's determine whether to make a dot on the graph at a given c value based upon the results of iterating the Mandelbrot equation. If we iterate the Mandelbrot equation long enough, the absolute values of some of the sequences will "blow up" to infinity, and some will cycle around with values less than 2. That is, the sequence stays bounded. It can be proven that if the absolute value ever exceeds 2 in the sequence it will always "blow up". The Mandelbrot set is all the values of c which give sequences that are bounded. The image below is a representation of the Mandebrot set:

The border of the Mandelbrot set is infinite in length, and is "self-similar". That is, any magnification of the border will look similar at any level of magnification.

The divergent set can create wonderful colour play
From a fractal art perspective, it is the region where the Mandebrot sequences DIVERGE that is most interesting. Coloring the region outside the set can produce spectacular images, and so fractal images generated from functions like the Mandelbrot function are generally created from the divergent region of the functions. The areas of greatest interest, which produce images with the highest level of detail, are near the borders of the Mandelbrot set. This is illustrated in the next image, which uses a coloring method called "triangle inequality":

In the regions near the Mandelbrot set, the sequences, which are sometimes called "orbits" because if they are plotted they tend to follow ellipsoid or spiral paths, will eventually "blow up" to infinity. One method for coloring the divergent region is to set a threshold value, called a "bailout", If the absolute value of a member of the sequence exceeds the bailout value, then the point on the complex plane represented by c is colored according to the number of iterations needed to exceed the bailout. This was the first and most common way to color fractals.
Now the fractals are also used to extrapolate the bond curve yields given a starting value of constant C. the self-similarity allows the iterative function to be independent of time and magnitude of the calculations

how google works-collective intelligence

2007-07-29T01:28:00.000-07:00

How Google works?

Have you wondered why after an ant finds out food how quickly the others arrive and how quickly do these tiny creatures take care of so big a load ! the ant work on collective wisdom to take decisions rather than individual intelligence and therein lies the power that enables them to optimize their meager resources.
When the NASA spaceship Challenger unfortunately broke down taking lives of all astronauts and caused a huge shakeout in NASA’s program the blame of technical failure was laid upon three Companies that made the jet section, the fuel section and the communication section. The NASA took 2 weeks to point the blame on the Company making the jet lining. But the US stockmarket took less than 2 hours to proclaim the verdict. The stocks of all 3 Companies fell heavily immediately after the crash but recovered slightly as the day progressed – the only stock that did not recover that day was that of the Company making the jet lining. How did the stock market come to know in minutes what a NASA probe took 2 weeks to find out? The answer lies in the Collective intelligence of the stock market!!!!
The most popular search engine- the incarnation of information at your fingertips- Google works on the principle of collective intelligence. The algorithm that propels Google is called PageRank.PageRank is a link analysis algorithm which assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a hyperlinked set of documents, such as the World Wide Web with the purpose of "measuring" its relative importance within the set.

Google describes the PageRank as thus :

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important".

thus Google works on the collective wisdom of the WWW to vote for themselves and their peers and give importance to them accordingly. The results are wonderful with the most relevant pages displayed prominently as if by a mind reading. Numerous papers enumerate the algorithm based on the principles of probability and random walk ( random surfer) and include the discussion of damping ( to make it work faster by preventing oscillations about a particular page )
But the idea is that the use of Collective intelligence is made in many (search decision optimization networks) like the ad-hoc intelligent sensing networks that is a self-communicating net of sensors that make intelligent decisions to procure and report data in terrains where central control is impossible or where there is a link that affects the next ( like traffic signal ) in a non Markovian way.
“Alone I may be wrong alone but we will be right together” Right you are were Mr.Cobain. There is a certain wisdom in the crowds.

views on RBI policy .. and sensex

2007-07-29T01:25:00.000-07:00

Bridge over troubled waters

“ when you are feeling down….. I will lay me over, like a bridge over troubled waters”
In the US in the good old times of Alan Greenspan the denizens of the Wall Street and Corporate US believed in a strange option which they called the Greenspan put. They believed that if the economy went through a downturn then the Fed will take measures to provide a bastion to the investors and the Corporate and allow them to recoup from their financial problems. Hence provide a virtual put to them on their investments. When the hedge fund LTCM went down after the Russian crisis and the crisis created fears of strangulating the liquidity in the markets and pushing the economy on the edge of a reversal ( the South East Asian crisis had already created a huge expectation factor towards an impending crisis ) . Alan Greenspan reduced the interest rates gradually in steps 17 times. This prevented a spiraling liquidity crunch ( liquidity crunch >> rising interest rates >> panic withdrawal >> more crunch ). Greenspan did a reverse ( falling rates >> expectation factor towards a favourable FED>> rejuvenated investments >>economy booming >>falling rates). The US economy emerged standing the twister of global contagion.
Do we have a Reddy put if our economy. If India ( God forbid) loses its sheen as a investment destination and our economy reverses. Overheating.. emerging markets becoming riskier…. a commodity downturn….
RBI rising the CRR successively and talking of credit control sent alarm bells ringing and the stock market tumbling by the second highest fall ( absolute terms). Is the Central bank being overcautious about the inflationary pressure and administering a stronger medicine that may have nauseating effects on our otherwise healthy economy. Or is it UP elections and the Central Bank kowtowing to the Southern and Northern blocs. In the overheating economy with bank credit @71% of their deposits and bubbles building in the housing and probably the capital markets and Indians on a consumption binge the RBI is going by the axiom “precaution is better then cure”. So investors in India have a call option assuming that the strict measure taken now will allow them to reap benefits later ( as the economy stables on the growth trajectory with a inflation under control and fundamentals justifying valuations beyond even the most vocal doubting Thomasses ). So probably we all have a call option on our economy.
India is really calling to all the global investors.

Are we really that costly?
People say we are overheating but it is probably becoz of hot babes at bollywood
The foreign funds are constantly and repeatedly talking of the sensex trading at PE ratio of 16/18.With the RBI moves triggering a correction the valuations have come to PE of 14/15. The foreign fund managers like Morgan Stanley recommend a PE of 12/13 i.e. according to them sensex is 1500 points too high based on the current fundamentals. But the Companies on the sensex have invested a huge amount of capital in projects that will give them huge cash flows once they break even. If we consider the NPV of all these projects that all the sensex Companies have undertaken then surely that will boost the fundamentals enough to justify a 1500 more on the benchmark index. Professors told us never to mix investment, financing and capital budgeting together. But this was just a passing thought…

how contras think to make money

2007-07-29T01:23:00.000-07:00

The true contra man with the true contra stand

“ two roads diverged by the woods
and I took the one less traveled by
and that is all that made the difference”
-Robert Frost
that is all that makes a difference !
between the guy who makes money and who makes a lot of money.. a guy who thinks opposite to what others think and has the cheek to think he is right when others think he is a insane ( they all say it because they all say it ! ) .. such an impetuous guy is the true contra man and such men made histories on the Wall Street and Dalal Street.
The contra man thinks always in causalities.. he is a top what if thinker and can link the events in a necklace of time and geography to make seemingly worthless stones as beautiful as China jade.
Now think… what if ( God forbid!) there is an earthquake in Tokyo ! and you are an investor with a lot of money. There is panic in the investors, everybody is selling yen and getting out of the Nikkei … the stocks of all Japanese insurance Companies are falling like a misfired missile… what to do??? You exit like all and make losses because not everyone is lucky enough to exit at par.. you sell your insurance bonds at a discount and exit yen futures at a discount !!! you sell because there is someone buying.. and he is forcing to sell you at even greater discount
That someone is Mr.Contra. His cold logic has kept him impervious to market panic. Insurance will be hit but in Japan some insurance Companies provide specially earthquake insurance and they will bear all the brunt. The other insurance Companies would not be hit that bad but would still be available cheap. So contra man has hit a boundary. But he hits a six by buying yen forwards very cheap when all are selling them. This is because as the earthquake aftermath is slowly subsiding and Japan gets up on its feet the first thing that the Japanese will need to rebuild their lost assets is money. So they will liquidate their investments in Europe, US and elsewhere and effectively sell their dollars and Euros and buy Yen. So yen will appreciate. So yen forwards are now at a premium and people rush to catch the Virar local. But our Contra man has come down ( all mumbaikars who travel in trains know “ down”) in the train on a window seat.

The Dalal Street also had its variants of the contra men ( not the contra funds that invest in seemingly small and midcaps) . these contra men are OK rich guys who can take risk on a decent margin capital ( decent is > 1 crore). These people buy the Nifty stocks when the market is plunging down at relatively cheap levels but not the bottom ( the falls have been so steep recently that no one could gauge the bottom ) . while the market falls and there is a deluge of sells at very cheap levels as the margin stocks are sold by brokers to meet their margin requirements these contra men keep on accumulating stocks ( bought 100 @ 50 , wait buy 100@ 37 wait… if market stabilizes there good or wait for a stabilizing level ) averaging out their price to lower values ( they cannot wait for a bottom out because the market may show a rebound anytime and keep them waiting for a bottom that never was !) when the market rebounds ( what goes down goes up faster) they sell their stocks in small lots above the avg price ( if avg : 42 start selling 50 @ 48 , 50 more @ 52 , 50 @ 57 so on ) so they follow a reverse curve then normal speculators who sell on a slide and buy on a rise ( because they do not have much margin capital to defy the market and swim upstream )

We start selling here we buy here : with the market
Contra starts accumulating here starts selling here till he reaches the top

How to be a contra I do not know ! I also would sell at the fall and buy at the rise. To defy the market you need to hold and for that you should have vitamin M. Also very few real contra get away with this. Many a mighty have fallen by buying very high above the bottom and accumulating the shares at averages that may or may not be reached. By averaging they had multiplied their risks ( large sum large risk!) and now have their funds locked up till heaven knows when.
Anormal man like me once told me “hum bhi chalti hui local pakadte hai Churchgate se, charni road se down aane ka time nahi aur kaunsi local pakadne ki hai uski judgement nahi aati “
To be a contra you must have a judgement of a Chief Justice and the aloofness of a surgeon. Good Contra men are so probably born !

new capital for the new breed

2007-07-29T01:21:00.000-07:00

Tamaso ma jyhotir gamay!
( deliverance from darkness to light)

You are an entrepreneur in the semiconductor business and your Company has just received level 1 funding from a VC who has faith that your Company will the next revolution in the semiconductor circuit development. And aye uddi uddi uddi you are going home a happy man.
You stop your bike at the signal and you see that the kid who sells peanuts is trying to read a comic series on the paper that he uses to wrap the peanuts ? you are overwhelmed and a prayer thanking God for your current state escapes your lips. You also know that the situation can be changed if the kid has enough educational resources. You swear at the country growing at 9%( and you are growing @20% p.a) and investing only 3% in education. You make a note to call your regular NGO ( because your firm makes many donations to it (Sec80G you see!) and make a small contribution. You reach home , India loses and you forget the world…….

Entrepreneurs changed the Indian business landscape with their path breaking ideas that worked wonders in the emerging fields of Internet, semiconductors, bio-medicine, media and others. They on the funding that they received at various stages from angel investors, VCs ,PE and finally the people (IPOs) created value for the investors and also their consumers. What holds back entrepreneurship in the social fields like the known ( relative to the virgin fields of new techs) and forgotten field like education. Can social entrepreneurs create value for the poor children and yet make money for their investors (if they get one) ?
Let us explore some ideas…..

PPP : to work in the field of mass education there is a need for public private partnership because the government to its credit has the highest network of primary schools and the best reach to them which is wasted in poor management. The private player can help to boost the infrastructure in these schools by starting libraries and computer centers whose operations must be privately handled.

What if there is no municipal school or any school as the area is very remote ?
This is where the social entrepreneur ( SE) comes in.. John Wood a Microsoft employee left his highly paying job to start an organization called Room to Read that started libraries, schools and computer labs in the developing nations like Nepal, Vietnam ,India , Cambodia, Sri-Lanka etc. his model is unique.
Co-investment : in this model the SE provides the funds for building materials books, computers and other requirements and the locals chip in with labour and land. Also due to the contribution of local benefactors like NGOs or individuals usually the construction costs are covered locally. So the investment of the SE is limited to the educational infra only.
But the investments can be substantial for ambitious projects of helping millions. The fund raising is done through the Chapter Approach. The SE can use his contacts to get part time volunteers in different cities called city chapter. The volunteers are responsible to raise funds in their respective chapter by hosting dinners, events and personal contacts. The power of network or social marketing like the buzz is more evident when it is actually used for social purposes.
The same idea of co-investment can be used in cites if the schools can lend their rooms (as their investment) to expand the existing libraries or set up new ones. It’s a win win as both the street children and school students also benefit.

VCs in people : for a young boy who has completed primary education and wants to learn more but may not have access to a scholarship ( very few for a few ). He starts working. If a reputed Company invests in his education with a contract that he remains under them for X years then he will study and the Company finds him suitable employment. The Company has a team of hundreds of such young trained men and considering the demand pressure for trained men in manufacturing the Company makes a decent profit on its investment. The risks : what if the people run away without honoring the contract. I am sure there are HR solutions for this problems .
But if companies can invest in Companies then why not in people ?

If you these ideas impractical and absurd then the best test is to try out one ….
“ you may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one, I hope some day you join us ..:”

small is powerful

2007-07-29T01:19:00.000-07:00

Small is Beautiful and Powerful too :

“No coincidence should be dismissed as coincidence until it is proved that it is a coincidence”- Miss Marple

Sometimes small and seemingly inconsequential things have a significant effect on the fiber of the time and society.

For example the literacy rate went up from 1981 to 1991 census in India , sample this:literacy Total population 1981 1991 %change Persons 659.3 816.2 23.8 Males 340.8 423.6 24.3 Females 318.5 392.6 23.3 Population aged 7+ Persons Total 536.2 670.1 25.0 Literates 234.1 349.7 49.4 Illiterates 302.1 320.4 6.1 Males Total 278.0 348.5 25.3 Literates 157.0 223.7 42.4 Illiterates 121.0 124.8 3.1 Females Total 258.23 21.62 4.6 Literates 77.1 126.0 63.6 Illiterates 181.1 195.6 8.0 Literacy rate (%) Persons 43.7 52.2 Males 56.5 64.2 Females 29.9 39.2

If we observe the literates have significantly increased especially in the females category.
Was it the The National Literacy Mission launched in 1988 ? yes, but it may as well the rise of television and the power of Doordarshan as a medium to communicate to the masses. It may also be the yellow booths ( PCOs ) that Sam Pitroda succeeded to connect many villages and small towns with, thus ushering a new era of communication between people and spread of ideas with the “ word of the mouth” publicity. Even marketing gurus agree to the power of “buzz marketing”. Imagine pathshala and school as the buzz and the Government with follow up with the NLM and Midday Meal program reinforced the idea.
It is difficult to accept but communication alone has the power to change mindsets and provoke new thought among the masses ( the french revolution taught us that ).
In 1990-2003 the crime rate in the US fell by almost 80% in New York especially in areas like Bronx .Philadelphia, Houston, San Francisco, and Kansas City also saw their crime rates erode. What caused the crime to fall so steeply in Gotham ( Batman? )
Economic and demographic factors can be striked out in New York because the city’s economic recovery in the nineties was weaker than that of other major metropolitan areas. Gotham’s population of young black and Hispanic men—far and away the chief perpetrators of street crime—shrank, but less than the national average.
This surprising and seemingly logically inconsistent phenomenon has been discussed by Steven Lewitt in Freakonomics and Malcom Gladwell in the Tipping Point also. The crime started with the petty crimes like breaking windows and writing hate graffiti on walls. This was the angst of a generation of black people feeling insecure amongst poverty and slums ,lacking expression. Then came Rap and HipHop…

The Rap was initiated in the East Coast ( New York being the epicentre) by albums like “paid in full” by EricB & Rakim. The Hip-Hop albums like Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back with strong confrontational tone became a rage ,but it transferred the angst of that generation from guns and drugs to drums and words.The bands like The Notorious B.I.G. had all reformed criminals.( so are 50 Cents) The movement spread to the West Coast with the rise of Tupac Sakur in the late 1980s and popularization in 1990s.
( ironically Tupac Sakur became a victim of crime when he was shot outside a studio in NY)
hence probably the power of communication through music may have caused this phenomenon that has baffled social experts for a decade. DonMclean in American Pie asks “ do you believe in Rock& Roll , can music save your moral soul”. Perhaps it does!

Talking of coincidences : what led to the entry of low-end financial analysis (also equity research) in the Indian BPO scenario and what transformed Indian BPO from Call-center centric and mere Data Entry back-end into a finance research hub that laid the cornerstone of KPO in India was a small law in US. The story ( Thomas Freidman mentions it in The World Is Flat) goes…
Initially all the Wall Street big shot firms hired big analysts at a high cost to do equity research.They charged the costs to the brokerage section and I-Bank section also claiming that the analysis helps them convince clients in the I-banking side. The New York District Attorney Elliot Spitzer conducted an investigation in this cost manipulation on the face of many scandals and concluded by a law that stipulated the firms to treat their stockbrokerge and I-banking divisions seperately. The stockbrokerage section now forced to bear the entire cost of the analysis sought to reduced the costs of analysis.
And they naturally thought to transfer a part of analysis to India. Thus enter the domain of financial analysis in Indian BPO scene.

So if we see small changes around us we must not ignore them as they may change what we see.

reductio ad absurdum

2007-07-29T01:14:00.000-07:00

Reductio ad absurdum
( proof by contradiction )

corporate finance is a funny field to do summers in ! and for those engineers and science guys it is like jumping through the rabbit hole into a wonder land of numbers.
It is a land of numbers and numbers rule there and like the Queen of Hearts they overwhelm you by the sheer absurdity in their logic…. But like the queen the numbers get their whims fulfilled .. their power is too overwhelming to resist… and once you look at a credit proposal you cannot help but feel their hypnotic power…. You forsake your thinking and become a believer..
Imagine a company that has a gross profit of 10crores and a net profit of ( 10cr) on their P&L . They are on the mercy of their working capital lenders to issue BGs ( bank guarantees) and open LCs( letter of credit) for them to enable them purchase raw materials ( imported or inland ). And if such a company has contingent liabilities of 100cr you are shocked. And of the 100cr there are CGs ( corporate guarantee ) of 80cr on behalf of their subsidiaries then you are more than shocked. It is like a guy who borrows Rs100 from you to pay his son’s fees ( an amount he conveniently forgets to return on time) and then takes a rickshaw from Malad to Borivali ( which costs him Rs.55) and also offers to drop you at Kandivali bus depot. But there is a logic in there according to corporate finance… if you do not lend to your subsidiaries they do not do well and if they do not do well then your sales/profit do not reach the projected values .. and your Wcap lenders desperately need them to meet the targets as a reassurance that you will return their money on time. So carry on ..
The title proof by contradiction comes from even interesting idea to do financial jhol. How about this .. you have to pay fees to your bank for the services rendered you create a fancy name like “ financial restructuring account” and put the fees in this fancy account and push the account in loans and advances. You claim that it was not supposed to be paid till the restructuring is done completely but you have paid it and hence show it as an asset in advances. What a blatant shameless manipulation of the Balance Sheet ( and the dude gets away with it ) . surprising yet it is true …. The logic offered is accepted because the restructuring fees according to the package itself were to be included along with the interests in a FITL ( funded interest term loan) that is to be paid after 5 years. Then why did the company pay the money ? Because the banks have to show an income and so they need income…. Even though it is a liability for the banks by accounting logic but by the same accounting as it accrues that year it can be treated as an income by the bank ( to the hell with the package terms becoz the package is not even implemented fully ) So by using the package as an impedance matching IC 741 Op-Amp buffer the win win is created for both. And logic rules accounting rules stoop to conquer. So the entry is a BS in one party a P&L in another and cannot be otherwise. Hence the result has to be right.
My CA friends will be looking at me in a been there seen all gesture ( Cheshire cats)…. So this article dedicated to engineers like me who are novices in the wonderland of number jugglery.