Man and the Machine: The Beast in us

"Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings."
- -- John F. Kennedy

If we look almost 100-150 years back, the climatic conditions of any geographical areas were not too bad. There used to be summers, but no air conditioners. There used to be winters, but no Geysers. The machines have reformed our lives and so have reformed/deformed the environment. All the luxury items of yesteryears have become the necessity of today.

Who is responsible? Are we playing too much with the environment. Are we trying to tresspass the boundaries of nature? Are we getting punished for tresspassing the natural habitats? The law of humans are governed by the laws of nature. As we do trespass any property, there is a provision in law for the punishment. Same is true for trespassing the property of nature. Not only we as human beings are trespassing we are playing with it too.

We are inflicting damages to the whole eco-system on such localised levels that we aren't able to understand the gravity of situation. A small example is when we are turning on our A/Cs though we are cooling our rooms but we are contributing towards the heat being dissipated to the local neighborhood. It does not mean that we should avoid the comforts of cooling. But a small contribution, by planting 3-4 trees, towards nature can help in maintaining the equilibrium.

The resource scarcity is a problem created by Man himself. We always talk about our rights but forget about our responsibilities. We always talk about what we should have and not about what we should contribute. The comforts come at a price. And we are paying it. El-Nino, Tsunami, Katrina, Flash Floods, Global Warming - All these natural disasters/calamities is the price we are paying. We are violating the basic law of Demand and Supply. And nature is trying to make an equilibrium. Nature has its own way of maintaining equilibrium - Harsh or Soft.
But are we making any efforts to help achieve the ecological equilibrium.

Am I Right????

Often the basis of any argument is I am right. But the situation always demand what is right?
A classic example is let's say a truck is speeding towards you on the wrong side, but you are on the right side of the lane. Now if you keep on arguing that you are right then possibly you will not be there to argue that you were right. The situation demanded you to get away from your "RIGHT" Lane and determine what is right at that time?

A good captain/leader is the one who understands the situation that what is right at the given time/situation but not who is right? If you are able to understand many of your struggles with your peers/families will go away instantly.

So always baseline the question "What is Right?" and then probably you can move on to another series of questions of why, when and how.

The Business of Climate Change

Global Warming, Genetically Modified Vegetables and terms like toxic wastes are such hot buzz words that everyone seems to be talking about. People have started to think in capitalising this as well and the concept of Carbon Trading is catching up fast.

But for common man is it worth?

Criticism might follow after this post but are we able to provide the basic amenities or so called basic hygiene factor to our fellow men. We are not able to provide the basic amenities like Hygienic Living Conditions, Basic Infrastructure of Road, Electricity and Water. But still we are talking about the growth. For common man the GDP does not matters. What matters for him is that he is able to commute easily, have electricity available when he is back home in the scorching heat and have clean water at his disposal. Are the activists of NGOs listening?

Buying a New Camera!!!!

There are many a questions when you want to purchase a camera and you google on net what to look for? These are the main things which someone should look for

Aperture <= 2.5; The number is represented as 1:2.5 on the camera or the manual

Shutter Delay < 1/50 seconds; This is generally given in the manual of the camera

Lens should be generally Leica or Zeiss and it should be between 20mm - 100mm equivalent

Optical Image Stabilisation

SD Card

It should have Inbuilt Rechargeable Battery


I will keep on editing this to give more insight.

Till then, Happy Clicking!!!!!

Why MBA?

In one of the MBA Aspirants forum it was disheartening to see the way how most of the future managers were getting into an act of mud-slinging. But what most of us fail to see is the big picture.
There is a complete lack of vision. Education is like a long term investment for which you reap the benefits later on. If you are looking for a small term investment, a professional certification during your job might help. I do agree that the RoI is calculated while investing but in small term plans the RoI may or may not be high. It is a calculated risk which you take. Your salary is not a derivative of only one parameter (read degree from a very reputable insti) but various parameters. Your attitude, aptitude, decision making skills, communication skills, logical skills (real time and not what you do in your entrance exam) do matter when someone is paying you. Companies don't pay anyone because he/she is from IIM or IMT or Harvard, but they pay because they are going to reap benefits from your skill sets and much higher than what they are paying you.
If you have the perfect blend of the skill sets you will be paid the due salary which you deserve. MBA Aspirants do think that since they have made to a good insti, it is their right to be paid. But the organizations don't work that way. And if you have the right skill sets, you have the right and duty to show the skill sets and get what you deserve.
As far as faking of data/inflated figures are concerned every insti/organization has their own way of putting up the data and mind it they will never quote wrong figures, but its in the eyes of the analyzer that how he interprets the data. Data Interpretation is very much important for doing the research on which insti/organization to join. Don't go by the sentiments and put in your own research work to find out what's best for you.
Grow up people!!! Don't be like a child who is always spoon fed. You have every right to go according to your taste and choice.

Criteria for Selection in Management Institutes

Management Institutes definitely needs to have a better way of selection and the fundamental of your past records does not show that you have not changed.
Its like saying that we will not accept Ramayana because it was written by Valmiki, who was a robber.
The judgment should be passed on the basis of current state of the candidate. A person who has strive hard to come up out of the past failures can actually turn the tables round in a Management position. The taste of failure at some point of life helps him identify the risks involved. A well mixed portion of current state should be considered as a criteria for selection. The CAT scores might be a fluke. So the selection criteria should be a blend of some luck and some work.
The formula should look like this
Final Score = % of Luck (Read CAT Scores) + % of Work - Ex (Should include the current position as well as the salary being drawn)+ % of Communication Skills (Both Written and Verbal)+ % of Risk Taking Capabilities + % of Judgmental Skills

The rest can be taught by IIMs i.e. the theory (Finance, Marketing,Operations etc.) and the processes (Six Sigma, ISO, Business Processes).
Disclaimer:-The comment is not to offend any Individual/Organisation but an attempt to put in my thoughts.

Is Hindi our National Language?

It was indeed a shocking revelation that India does not have any National language and I googled this topic after reading the MNS news.
All these years, I was under the impression that Hindi was our National Language and if the ex-political big-wigs have it their own way then the issues could have been handled by our ex-ministers then we would have seen a more synchronised country. Had it not been Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel's effort and his toughness, we would not have been living in India. We would rather have been living in either the Mysore Country or may be Hyderabad Country or may be Madras Country. But had he been given a politically free hand to deal with all the issues, we would have seen "A Better India".A Nation means a nation, it does not mean Marathis, Biharis, Kannadis, Tamilians or Mallus. It was meant to be Indians but seeing the state even the soul of Sardar will be weeping that why he left the task in between. And it is actually what is being taught to the generations coming ahead. The regional biases, religional biases, cultural biases and what not. People do talk about Developed Countries like America, Singapore, UK, France and wonder that why they cannot become like them or when they will become like them. But have these people really did a "manthan" that why they become developed countries so fast. I guess the answer lies in oneness, removing barriers whether internal or external, working towards only one goal - betterment of society. People might argue with certain instances that this has happened wrong but what I am saying is that atleast there is an effort.Are we lacking that effort?