News I Read Today

Today Fed Chair Bernanke says the risk for further troubles in the credit market as "exceptionally low" while at the Press Club Wednesday.

Where as AIG today disclosed names of conterparties who got some of the bail out money thanks to its (in)famous CDS trade, with Societe Generale getting almost $4.1 billion. Though the disclosure was forced by Congress, on the flip side AIG the largest insurer paid $163 million as extra bonus to executives for doing their job well. It doesn't matter even you are on life support you can surely enjoy the wine!

This is what is called self-imposed-market regulation. I'm getting Green.

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Devil is in details

“The moment you leverage the tool for client then we can use it to optimize the client relation. Work in a co-sourcing model i.e. give and take model among different vendors. Identify the key persons who are involved, models view has to come from the current application team and the moment you do that you have a better feel of the architecture. This is what I’m assuming. Identify the start point, end point, how much bandwidth required – it’s basically planning the execution and driving the execution. That’s how I’m thinking right now. How do you think about the practical purposes? How we package the solution is important. How shall we come to know about all the application is important? Identify the “next to the vision” operation. Instead of starting from the scratch you are starting those applications that we are currently working. Going forward this will help identifying how the collaboration will work. This will come from the visionary level not from the team. When you are sharing this information for that engagement, they will have a good insight about what you are going to do. The only difference is level of understanding. We need to have an executive buy mind.”

This is how my day begun. By 15:30 I was confident that we are not taking in relation to the stock market but to grab a pie of business in this down-time. By now I have at least 5 different strategies for approaching this problem the only problem is the amount of confusion it is there in my head. Given the lack of confidence in the main street, imagine doing a BD chase with so much option/confusion. In the hindsight, it remembers me when I was sitting for my Programming Lab some 8 years back; I was to code a program in 8085 architecture. After executing successfully the code I was literally grilled by the interviewer in all “what if scenarios” – incidentally she didn’t like my logic and couldn’t comprehend the end objective can be met with difference in path.

If I have not confused you enough, let me get to the matter. In times of crisis of this nature can’t we do the simple things in a simple manner? Clarity of thought is important we should always keep a tab of the bigger picture before getting into too much of Glocalization. The simple rule of thumb would be let’s own what we do and lets be accountable. This will create confidence which will reflect in us and the main street.

Till that time comes I wish Amen!

 

Who will Rate this

[This one I published some couple of months back in my company’s intranet, thought to upload it here]

We have chronic dissidence.  Not with the world but with ourselves.

The current financial stress world over is again magnified with words like, biggest fall in recorded history, Dow loosing in a single day more than the GDP of India, World in recession, Re-living the ‘30s et al. These are the first things that glares when one open the newspaper in the morning.  This news almost creates nausea as it was a forte of pink papers now migrated to the whites.

On a quite stroll of nearby market in Kolkata I’m surprised to see that the person selling vegetables sitting in street is still selling vegetables, the milkman still comes in the morning. What am I thinking! Am I expecting them to talk in terms of futures & options or will they sell Nasdaq futures tomorrow. Then why is it we market the stress of financial downturn as if it’s Armageddon.

Oh come on! I know it’s quite easy to comprehend that the market players should be part of the market not in speculation. Imagine our poor vegetable seller asking you to deposit money for price of cabbage that s/he will deliver month end and charged a differential rate on it. Will you buy the deal? What is the difference between a person gambling in Las Vegas and the broker doing a reverse swap on inflation-interest of an economy? The answer is the second person is wearing a tie.

We have invented too many products to satisfy our appetite. God must be wondering it’s safe to be in heaven rather than to see what amount of re-packaging is done in this world (that will in effect mean we have to wait some more time to have any other re-incarnation). To regulate it we have created agencies which publish the rating of those products judging by the “fundamentals”. The interesting fact is all the ratings are nothing but a mere advisory and the agencies are not in any ways responsible for their god-sent-gift of ranking product. To complete the circle most of the compliance/regulatory laws require following the rating and having risk-mitigation exposure on that. I wish I could advice on something like this and get away with a fat pay check and zero downside – true Nirvana.

Before we reach the Buddha in ourselves, we will persists to have the chronic dissidence about thinking of everything is counterbalanced force in things we create and marketing sediments & rocks as a potential ingredient of oil. Just that we need patience for 10 million years. May be oil will be AAA+ commodity then.

 

Dirty Drawing Anyone?

Interesting forward mail that I received thought to share with you!                                           .

 

Just another Sunday

Spent the entire day trying to organise myself... As we are having nation election round the corner and particularly being from a state where communists ruled for more than 3 decades it throws up some interesting debate. Excerpts of some heated debated thanks to the flurry of local news channel:

Mamata Banerjee speaking at the election campaign kick off: "The ruling government need to have land at any cost and will snatch it from poor, tell them to go to the moon like Rakesh Roshan"

My comment: Incidentally it should be the Rakesh Sharma rather than Rakesh Roshan famed father of a bollywood hero! :)

Congress leader (forgot the name): "Dr. Manmohan Singh deliberately slowed down the GDP in this year to protect the country from recession created by the west"

My comment: Thank God he is not in a miles radius from finance ministry!

The ruling MP from my area used a train in full media galore to commute and even played football match. The contesting MP from my area made a mockery of things by suitable penning down a song for this and singing all along.

My comment: It always pays to be in a good mood! :)

Looks like things are going to be interesting in coming days. But I promise to blog from the voting queue in a months time.

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Watching Surviving Everest

Today evening I along with mom and dad was watching the Nat Geo documentary-"Surviving Everest". It's a great piece where the sons of Tenzing Norgey and Edmund Hillary try reaching the Summit a good 40 years after humans first reached there. I was amazed to note that it took more time for mankind to reach Everest than to go to space!

Well, three things came out, my mom was sad watching sherpas as young as 12 years old carrying 25 kilos weight for a day and climbing the base camp (5333 meters). My dad was consumed with the different tribes in Nepal who are good at mountaineering as well as giving a thorough prescription of the socio-cultural divide that exists and the religious belief along the mountain. I was glued to the human endeavour of reaching Everest.

The purpose of "Surviving Everest" has three connotations for three people, is this how we are groomed or is it our intrinsic nature that makes us so individualistic? Someone may say, It's all in stars!

Whatever be the case one should attempt Everest in a life time. Altitude is such a leveller. Oops! Was it Time?

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In times of Need

It's been quite some time since the last time I scribbled. Almost 2 years! Lot of things have changed, the impulsive feeling of being into studies has slowly eroded. But one thing that stuck me, I should write about what ever I see around and try to figure. This is a post to welcome you once again and to officially proclaim I'm out of hibernation... Let's get rolling!
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What does a woman want?

Everything happens for the first time.

Let me tell you a story that somehow personifies what women wants. Don't expect any magic or a potion that somehow you will engulf and be that Oh-So-Charming womanizer. It's a story that I heard over a mug of beer and somehow stayed with me even when the alcohol drained away from my blood.

Once upon a time when the world was ruled by the iron fist of a knight, there came a legend called king Arthur. In a battle king Arthur was defeated and was captured by King Solomon's army. The rule of the land was, a defeated king is as good as a dead wish. Before putting king Arthur to gallows, King Solomon gave him a choice; “Answer me one question correctly and if you can answer that I'll set you free give you back your kingdom”. King Arthur asked him the question that will eventually decide the fate of his people. King Solomon said, “ What does a woman want?” That's a pretty simply stuff for a person who is a King.

King Arthur said, “A woman wants money ,a woman wants to be proud of her man,a woman wants to feel successful”. King Solomon told king Arthur “I'll give you a year and then come back with the answer”. King Arthur went back to his kingdom to find a simple answer, an answer that foxes the very soul-mind-brain of a man even in the age of abundance. King Arthur gathered the noblest men and put forward the same question only to face confused looks and even more fuddled answer. As time went by, king Arthur became restless for the answer that eludes everyone. He came across a elderly lady with a hump in her back. Everyone around said if anyone could answer this, it will be her. King Arthur went to the elderly lady and asked “What women want?”. The lady replied, I'll answer you provided you marry me with the most eligible bachelor of the kingdom. The most eligible bachelor turned out to be king Arthur best friend. The King decided that, its better to die that to ruin the life of his friend. After much coaxing, the king finally agreed to give his the answer in return for his friend's hand. The elderly lady answered, “What a woman want is to take control of her life”. The elderly lady got married to King Arthur's friend. At the wedding night when his friend came for bed, he saw a beautiful princess waiting for her in bed, the old crooked lady was no where to be seen. The princess said to him, “Because you have been honest with me I'll give you two options; either you see me old at night and as a princess in the morning or as a princess at night and an old lady during day time.”

Had you been there what would have been your choice?

King Arthur's friend answered, “As you too have been true with me, I want you to decide what time you want to be a princess and what time you want to be an old lady”. The princess was so charmed by his reply and his honesty she stayed as a princess. Taking a cue from the story if we try to fit in our lives, somehow somewhere we all utter the words “I wish...” Every melodrama of the day is a matter of rejoice for tomorrow. Even when you are honest with someone and start building up expectations... nature has a crude way of grounding. We are only left with one question, “Why why and only why...” Socrates once said, “A person who can answer five whys at a go is God.” Over the period of time we forget that the only thing constant in life is “change”, all of a sudden the love flies off and we are only left with a mortal greed of gaining back that person. Do we ever ponder at what cost? Do we ever think that everything is not meant to happen. Aha!! I know the thoughts visiting your mind “If we have to lie on the laps of destiny then why try for anything”. My dear friend ask me how it feels, where it pains. But never clapper-claw anyone just because she was like that. I know its tough, in front of mirror when you stand alone you should always be able to look at your own eyes and be proud of that. How many of us can do that. You may be gulled, try a genuine effort to smile and say “ It's Ok”. Good things always happen to good people, is a thing better said than done. Like ways, marriages are made in heaven so are lightning and thunderstorm. Have faith in yourself so that someday you can smile over it rather than cry over something that you tried so hard but you couldn't make it.

Everything happens for the first time.
Everything happens for the last time also.

Stay foolish.
Stay hungry.