M4

I am notorious for using these words occasionally in my conversations with friends and I know these are met with rolling eyes and contempt too sometimes. But every time I use these words, there is a deep, resounding quiet that resonates around- that not everyone has the power to think about things, not everyone is given the power to act on any/some/most of them, not everyone has the power to change what is beyond most others’ comprehension- to make a difference, to change the course of (a part of) the world. And those who have been endowed with such a power are burdened with a moral responsibility to ‘act’ in the greater interest of humanity. As Dante famously sums up in his Divine Comedy, “The darkest places in hell are reserved for those who maintain neutrality in times of moral crises…” I was reminded recently that I fall in the category of this elite few; I didn’t believe it one bit then. I am still young, naïve and too small to make a difference- or at least that’s what I th

“Loving someone is giving them the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to.” – Julianne Moore Well, this ain’t just love. It happens everywhere- Be it in politics, administration, business, and relationships. When you give someone power over you, and expect things to NOT go wrong ever, perpetually- you are being stupid. As simple as that. Politics: We elect politicians ourselves. Some countries like India have a pretty messed up system of election, some countries like the US spend months of time and billions of money in the process. But is there one country in the world that is totally, absolutely (or even relatively) satisfied with their leaders? People are dissatisfied everywhere because some leaders of nations bring wars, some bring disasters through their stupidity, some have able, accomplished minds but no voices, some are there just for personal gain- the list just goes on. Now, we gave them the power. We trusted them to work for the common good while we

There is a general perception that Indian students who visit Europe on exchange program attend classes the least and travel across Europe the most. Well, I have two questions: What took so long for the universities to figure out? And what gave it away? For my part, having a few years left in the European age limit for youth, I got a Eurail pass for 3 months of continuous travel. When I bought the pass, I had absolutely zilch clue of why I was spending almost a €1000 on the pass. Well, I was already quite confused about how I became eligible for the exchange program in the first place; That moment, figuring out whether the pass was worth the money was beyond me. Then everything changed when I reached Europe and had to travel by train to the university. Just the reservation charges for a single journey with the discounts of the pass was higher than a reasonable first class ticket for an similar journey in India. God knows what the full fare was! Anyways, I learnt from the o

Renault, VW, Mercedes Benz, Volvo, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati Triumph, Suzuki, Honda, Harley Davidson, BMW, Ducati...Swedes do have a fine taste in cars and bikes. And the homes- each of them deserves a picture postcard. The first few days, I thought Swedes were filthy rich; not just because of the kind of houses they live in and the kind of cars they drive but the quality of their life and the consumption patterns are evidently not cheap nor mediocre even- everything was affluent, almost lavish. However, as I dug a little beneath the surface, I was told that behind this opulence was the deathly D-word: Debt. Apparently, Swedes have this compulsive obsession with things bigger and better- bigger houses, better smartphones, and faster cars and they take up huge debts to get these. With average direct taxation rates as high as 48-50% and a lot more in the form of Value added taxes and social fee, the average Swede pays the world’s highest rate of tax and of c

Surrounded by the most amazing, picturesque views, Of mountains, meadows, lakes and mews, I travel through winding tunnels and valleys, With the occasional towns, hamlets and alleys With bags many, loaded to the brim, The heaviest load I carry that makes me grim Is this aching hollow in the chest From the heart I left behind with you, my dearest! With fast trains, swift cars and expressways so swell With likes of IKEA, Volvo and Shell They call this place plush But what do they know of wealth Who’ve never seen you blush! In a place that hadn’t fought a war in millennia Where people seldom experience paranoia Within me rages an Iliad And this journey shall turn into an Odyssey!   -ManChan Stockholm, Sweden

Well, I don’t want to sound like a show-off, but I said this was coming, at least a year ago. Here’s why- 1. The market and customers have moved on With enterprises taking to BYOD initiatives and allowing people to get their own devices (the iOSes and the Androids) to work, companies and people are fine with whatever platforms get the work done. Security on mobile isn’t the scare it used to be, at least not enough to command the BB premium in price. 2. D ominant design, no more Agreed a keyboard makes typing long messages easy, but who wants to type when you can dictate (I’m talking about Siri and its ilk here). Same goes with the look, feel, build et al. Dear BB, you are not leading on the design front anymore. Sorry. 3. Apps and Social Networking Cross platform and cross-device integration- the ability to access all your information from all your devices like desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile etc.- is the future on which billion dollar businesses are being built

-Why it hurts most people    True that it is the home I've known all my life: my memories, friendships, the places, the food, the culture and my way of life are all made there. But it has been several years since I left home to make a life of my own, and that makes nostalgia even more painful. Having said that, I've seen and read enough of history- business and political- to understand that change is inevitable. In a time when families are turning nuclear, no wonder people would prefer smaller places to govern. As a digression, it pains me to point out that governance and the rulers these days are incompetent to manage large provinces. Come to think of it, we can’t trust such tremendous power in the hands of slobs who can’t look beyond the very short term. The granting of a request for partitioning of a state would encourage many more similar (or much less-thought-out) petitions from agencies and persons with much ulterior motives. But this is the least of the probl

- Dear Democracy, you have turned into a dysfunctional Bureaucracy Recently, I happened to have a chance conversation with some of the rare good people in the echelons of power in the government and this is what they said ails the state- an overbearing emphasis on the process over and above the result. "Of course, when trying to manage the largest democratic government with its multitude of powers and interests, you can never be unbiased in totality; what is unfavorable to you may be very profitable to someone else," they said.  And then there is also the Indian way with a huge tolerance for false negative errors-meaning, we are tolerant of giving benefits to the undeserving in order to ensure all the deserving receive them. So the processes were established ages ago to ensure transparency and safeguard the interests of the larger society. These very same processes set up to protect are now a major hindrance and often fail to do what they are supposed to. Why?

The farce called the 'Case Method' Now, this may attract the ire of all who swear by it and many more who find it enlightening or even amusing, but here is what I feel, and not without reason: The ‘Case Method’ of instruction followed in most institutes of national and international importance and repute is starkly incomplete and in its current form- a FARCE! Firstly, problems in real life- the kind we face every day at work and in life- don’t come in neat little packages, like cases do. Anyone who has attempted solving cases would agree that we are oft encouraged to work with only the information contained within the case, sometimes even castigated for not toeing the line. And most cases give more than sufficient information (which is useless most of the time) and even go as far as listing out the issues that need be thought about. This, I found, is not the case in the work I’d done- very few knew what the problem was, most of the time and nobody ever had the complete

I know I’m not the best person to be writing this, but it is time someone did it. So, here it is- Some advice to the first timers: 1. Feel things, don’t think much This would help improve intuition, which is certainly a very important asset and also avoid overly complicating things. 2. When in doubt, Ask Never guess. Guesstimates are best left to consulting case competitions. Even if you are required to make assumptions, make sure you get the approval of your boss (or someone who can cover for you) 3. Make friends Another asset, the importance of which cannot be emphasised enough. You never know who would come to your rescue when you need most. 4. Never let your guard down Just because they are friendly and welcoming doesn’t mean they are not evaluating you. They have eyes and ears on you, at all times (particularly in social occasions) 5. Be humble The way you treat people below you tells a lot about you than you can ever think about. Call it ‘Humility’,

T hey are leaving. And I doubt if I would see them ever again. Strange is this knot in the heart and the gut. And despite the intensity of feelings and thoughts that would rage inside me, I was hopelessly tongue-tied when in their company. Hell, I couldn't even muster enough courage to say anything beyond a feeble ‘Hi’.  To think that just a year ago, I was unaware of their existence-any of them- happily lost in the quandary of life, like a kid playing in a sandbox. Yet, here I am, writing this piece while I should be sitting by them, pouring my heart out. There are a million things I so want to tell them. Right Now. I even tried going to them. But then I couldn't go even within a few yards of them. I do know that this is my last chance- what I don’t say now will stay buried inside me forever. Perhaps, life had handed me lemons quite a few times before, and the sour taste of those lemonades still lingers inside me. Perhaps, I’m just not brave enough- a coward. Perhaps… Des

A few years ago, I made public a question that has been tormenting me ever since I was able to think : "What's 'new' in a 'new year' ? And understandably, I received you-must-be-crazy-or-dumb-looks in no less numbers  Every year, when people across the world celebrate new year- most cultures more than once a calender year- I tried to fathom why people behave so stupidly this time of the year (Trust me, I'd seen people do some really weird things that they would not usually do). Well, for one, it is just another damn day and we all have to go to school/college/work again. For another, the year actually changes a quarter to three quarters of a day later (#leapYearAdjustment). For yet another, we all have to go through the tedious process of getting new calendars, diaries, planners, greeting cards, subscriptions et al. (Yes, I'm lazy!) They say, "Hope keeps a man alive" and so I convinced myself that it must be hope that people see