A brothel in Berlin has started a special service for virgins and first timers by providing them with specialist prostitutes who are sensitive to the needs of this special class of customers. Prostitution is supposedly legal in Germany and they charge €60 for half an hour.
Apparently 'The 40 yr old Virgin' wasn't considered funny in Germany. Now we know why... the customers of this brothel are not necessarily young men but often 40 years or older, according to the owner of the brothel. Is it any wonder then that Germany has a dying population! ;-)
Click here for original story. With this story, the rating for my blog has been changed from PG to R21. :)
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Re-serve, my foot!
Rediff carries a small post today which shows activists 'All India Reservatio Forum for OBC and SC/ST' staging a dharna in 'Nai Dilli' as a response to the recent demonstrations against the proposed reservation. Their slogan was 'Reservation = Re-serve the nation'. I rest my case....
These dodos can't even be creative with their slogan, can you imagine what they will do to our IITs and IIMs? Can you imagine such people as the CEO's of our MNCs? Even under the current merit based system, there is so much politics & filth in private organizations. Just imagine what a reservation will do.
Now don't get me wrong. I am not against those poor tribals or the genuinely backward who are struggling to get even basic education, forget IIM. I am against those people who own multi-storeyed houses in cities, who move around in big cars and then claim their right to freebies quoting that they are 'backward'. And I am dead against those crooks who take the genuinely backward masses for a ride to garner votes. I earnestly believe that both kinds of people are a burden to our soceity.
If the so called leaders are earnest in their effort, they should first conduct a public study on how reservation has helped the backward classes and at what cost. Dont tell me that there is no soceital cost involved in employing and promoting a less-deserving person over a meritorious candidate. I am sure people can accept a nominal cost if the exercise is indeed fruitful.
Instead of wasting my tax money on worthless nincompoops, I suggest that the government come up with a creative plan:-
1. First, make schooling compulsory - not 4 or 5 years - the entire 14-16 years. If you want to spend any money, do it here. Establish more schools, hire more teachers (and for god's sake pay them!) and distribute scholarships (few) and loans (freely available - but should be diligently collected later. Better get some banks involved instead of a corrupt government body).
2. Provide optional vocationary training in high school. Let people choose their own skills instead of forcing everyone to study boring topics like Indian Freedom Movement, Five Year Plans and their objectives - who cares? Whats the use of studying how 'bravely' our ancestors fought against the so called tyranny of the British (as far as I know, they were more benevolent than our own governments) if I cant get a job?
These two steps will go a long way in creating a responsible, employable talent pool which will work towards a more productive and affluent India.
3. Encourage small scale 'specialist' industries. Not that bloody 'khadi gramodyog ' and 'agarbathi' kind of nonsense. If China can make electronics a cottage industry, why are we still rolling beedis?
4. Banish the trade unions and the CPI (he he just kidding! they are necessary to bring a balance in soceity and sometimes for the sheer entertainment they provide!)
5. Eliminate the complexities involved in setting up a business. (It takes an average of 85 days to set up a company in India!)
The above steps will ensure employment to the trained manpower that comes out of educational institutes and they will have more productive work to do than writing those stupid slogans and demonstrating for a cause they dont understand!
These dodos can't even be creative with their slogan, can you imagine what they will do to our IITs and IIMs? Can you imagine such people as the CEO's of our MNCs? Even under the current merit based system, there is so much politics & filth in private organizations. Just imagine what a reservation will do.
Now don't get me wrong. I am not against those poor tribals or the genuinely backward who are struggling to get even basic education, forget IIM. I am against those people who own multi-storeyed houses in cities, who move around in big cars and then claim their right to freebies quoting that they are 'backward'. And I am dead against those crooks who take the genuinely backward masses for a ride to garner votes. I earnestly believe that both kinds of people are a burden to our soceity.
If the so called leaders are earnest in their effort, they should first conduct a public study on how reservation has helped the backward classes and at what cost. Dont tell me that there is no soceital cost involved in employing and promoting a less-deserving person over a meritorious candidate. I am sure people can accept a nominal cost if the exercise is indeed fruitful.
Instead of wasting my tax money on worthless nincompoops, I suggest that the government come up with a creative plan:-
1. First, make schooling compulsory - not 4 or 5 years - the entire 14-16 years. If you want to spend any money, do it here. Establish more schools, hire more teachers (and for god's sake pay them!) and distribute scholarships (few) and loans (freely available - but should be diligently collected later. Better get some banks involved instead of a corrupt government body).
2. Provide optional vocationary training in high school. Let people choose their own skills instead of forcing everyone to study boring topics like Indian Freedom Movement, Five Year Plans and their objectives - who cares? Whats the use of studying how 'bravely' our ancestors fought against the so called tyranny of the British (as far as I know, they were more benevolent than our own governments) if I cant get a job?
These two steps will go a long way in creating a responsible, employable talent pool which will work towards a more productive and affluent India.
3. Encourage small scale 'specialist' industries. Not that bloody 'khadi gramodyog ' and 'agarbathi' kind of nonsense. If China can make electronics a cottage industry, why are we still rolling beedis?
4. Banish the trade unions and the CPI (he he just kidding! they are necessary to bring a balance in soceity and sometimes for the sheer entertainment they provide!)
5. Eliminate the complexities involved in setting up a business. (It takes an average of 85 days to set up a company in India!)
The above steps will ensure employment to the trained manpower that comes out of educational institutes and they will have more productive work to do than writing those stupid slogans and demonstrating for a cause they dont understand!
Thursday, May 04, 2006
A Chance Meeting with the Fuhrer himself
As I Googled for some details on Pramod Mahajan, I found a link to a blog by someone who calls himself 'Hitler's Soul'. Below the title was his description, the words 'IIM Calcutta'. And I thought "Aha! an IIM wallah! Let's see what he's got to say about life" and I started reading. I liked his sense of humor, no doubt. But more than his hyper-imaginative, comic depiction of his own life, I liked the way he laughed at himself and I liked his down-to-earth nature.
We get bombarded with so many images by the media about these 'young achievers' that we hurriedly form an impression of a brainy, nerdy, ambitious person the moment we hear 'IIM' associated with these guys. Well, my image of an IIM grad was already changing thanks to our dear professors Das and Vish. This blog has really cast the new image of a 'fun loving, easy going IIM wallah' in concrete.
Hitler's Soul ( I wonder why he calls himself that) jots down interesting happenings with a comic touch - good timepass on a lazy afternoon! You can find a link to his blog under the 'Links' section.
We get bombarded with so many images by the media about these 'young achievers' that we hurriedly form an impression of a brainy, nerdy, ambitious person the moment we hear 'IIM' associated with these guys. Well, my image of an IIM grad was already changing thanks to our dear professors Das and Vish. This blog has really cast the new image of a 'fun loving, easy going IIM wallah' in concrete.
Hitler's Soul ( I wonder why he calls himself that) jots down interesting happenings with a comic touch - good timepass on a lazy afternoon! You can find a link to his blog under the 'Links' section.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
A Sense of Deja Vu
The year was 2000. I was in my final semester of Engineering and I was closely following the Indian economy in general and one industry in particular - IT of course! To drill down further, I was looking at one company with utmost interest. Infosys was my dream, I wanted to be an 'Infoscion' from the very day I heard about the company and its charismatic leader.
Infosys was growing 100% every quarter and so was almost every other Indian IT major. Ah, those were the golden days of IT. Everyone was bullish about India and especially the IT sector. Everything was hunky dory. I was lucky enough to squeeze into Infosys in October 2000. And then in a flash, it was all over.
First, the dot-com bubble burst and NASDAQ crashed in 2000. The Bombay sensex fell from its heady 5300 levels to the 3500 levels. Then came the death blow in 2001. The twin towers came crashing down and so did the world economy. IT in India, which was majorly driven by US demand took a huge hit. The Sensex was probably doing 2500 levels by late 2001. What a fall it was!
Small time players shut shop and laid off people. Bigger companies stopped recruiting. They couldn't lay off people coz it would hurt their image. With their solid cash base, I guess they could maintain an employee base of close to 10,000 over a short term. I languished on 'bench' for ten months before I got into a live project. I still remember my 'bench' days with pain - the frustration, the hopelessness.
Fast forward to 2006. As my MBA program enters its last phase, I observe the Indian economy in general and one industry in particular. The Indian economy seems to be on a roll, growing at 7% every year. The stock markets are at historic high levels with the BSE Sensex at 12,000 odd. IT companies are upbeat and I see an article on rediff that says techies are having a ball in India. Every Indian IT major needs 25,000 people per year. Salaries have gone up 14% on average. Everything seems hunky dory again, and that is what worries me! :(
Is India such a good bet - Even when the morons in power think reservation in private sector is a good idea? Aren't wage hikes eating into India's competitive advantage - 'low cost talent'? Does anyone really believe that those astronomical real estate prices in Indian cities are justified, given the dismal state of infrastructure? When I look at all this, I cant help but look back at 2000 and ask myself "How long will this last?"
A selfish human that I am, I ask myself "Will this dream run hold until I complete my MBA? Can I get lucky once again and manage to sqeeze in just before the gates close? And how many months will I languish on bench this time around? Or is it too optimistic on my behalf to hope for bench time? With 60,000 people on their rolls, can the companies afford not to lay off people this time around, image or no image?" Only time will tell. Call me pessimistic, but I dont feel too comfortable with this dizzy growth.
(Picture Courtesy: Yahoo!News and Analisi Tecnica Online)
Infosys was growing 100% every quarter and so was almost every other Indian IT major. Ah, those were the golden days of IT. Everyone was bullish about India and especially the IT sector. Everything was hunky dory. I was lucky enough to squeeze into Infosys in October 2000. And then in a flash, it was all over.
First, the dot-com bubble burst and NASDAQ crashed in 2000. The Bombay sensex fell from its heady 5300 levels to the 3500 levels. Then came the death blow in 2001. The twin towers came crashing down and so did the world economy. IT in India, which was majorly driven by US demand took a huge hit. The Sensex was probably doing 2500 levels by late 2001. What a fall it was!
Small time players shut shop and laid off people. Bigger companies stopped recruiting. They couldn't lay off people coz it would hurt their image. With their solid cash base, I guess they could maintain an employee base of close to 10,000 over a short term. I languished on 'bench' for ten months before I got into a live project. I still remember my 'bench' days with pain - the frustration, the hopelessness.
Fast forward to 2006. As my MBA program enters its last phase, I observe the Indian economy in general and one industry in particular. The Indian economy seems to be on a roll, growing at 7% every year. The stock markets are at historic high levels with the BSE Sensex at 12,000 odd. IT companies are upbeat and I see an article on rediff that says techies are having a ball in India. Every Indian IT major needs 25,000 people per year. Salaries have gone up 14% on average. Everything seems hunky dory again, and that is what worries me! :(
Is India such a good bet - Even when the morons in power think reservation in private sector is a good idea? Aren't wage hikes eating into India's competitive advantage - 'low cost talent'? Does anyone really believe that those astronomical real estate prices in Indian cities are justified, given the dismal state of infrastructure? When I look at all this, I cant help but look back at 2000 and ask myself "How long will this last?"
A selfish human that I am, I ask myself "Will this dream run hold until I complete my MBA? Can I get lucky once again and manage to sqeeze in just before the gates close? And how many months will I languish on bench this time around? Or is it too optimistic on my behalf to hope for bench time? With 60,000 people on their rolls, can the companies afford not to lay off people this time around, image or no image?" Only time will tell. Call me pessimistic, but I dont feel too comfortable with this dizzy growth.
(Picture Courtesy: Yahoo!News and Analisi Tecnica Online)
The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...
Apple decided to move onto Intel Chips last year. Intel was supposedly in talks with Apple since 2003 to push for this deal and was happy to see an Apple Computer with 'Intel Inside' launched in Jan 2006. Sales have been pretty good and Apple shipped more Intel based machines than its own PowerPC based macs this year. This was touted as a great move by the folks at Apple, Intel and pundits alike. For Apple, it was a show of its superiority over MicroSoft now that both OS worked on the same platform. Intel was happy that it could overcome the 'final frontier' of sorts.
But no one accounted for the number of attacks on the new Mac OS. I read today that the security threat for Mac OS (especialy on Intel) is growing by the day. Mac suddenly seems to have lost its aura of technical superiority. This news report should have brought the smile back on the faces of the folks at Redmond. Another legend falls by the wayside.....
But no one accounted for the number of attacks on the new Mac OS. I read today that the security threat for Mac OS (especialy on Intel) is growing by the day. Mac suddenly seems to have lost its aura of technical superiority. This news report should have brought the smile back on the faces of the folks at Redmond. Another legend falls by the wayside.....
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