Some disturbing thoughts...

Case 1:
Finance class...by a renowned guest faculty.
the lecturer keeps the class amused with anecdotes and petty digressions from the topic at hand. While trying to explain how an MBA should think, he puts forward this:

Lecturer (L) : Suppose you run a business of selling pens. The cost for a pen u incur is Rs.10. and being the smart business man you are, you sell it at Rs. 20/-.. So what is the profit you make per pen???

Class (duh..simple math): Rs.10/- ..(some wise-crack talked about overheads and other indirect costs apportionment..which was ignored)

L: Business is doing good. One fine day, by chance, an old friend of yours walks in to the showroom. You exchange pleasantries, reminisces the good old days.. Reason for visit?? Oh, he wants a pen. You generously offer him one for Rs.15/- ..good old buddy and all that.. So what is the profit here?

Class(duhher... should've sent this guy to a math class) : Rs. 5/-

L (with the 'oh-i-gotcha-there' smile) : Nope..it is a loss of Rs. 5/-. This is the pen you'd have sold for Rs. 20 and had to sell at Rs.15 coz the bugger was your friend. So, coz ur friend walks into ur business, you make a lose being nice.

Guy in row behind mine : Superb!!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Case 2:

30 sec to class.. me huffing and puffing along like a mad dog..on way i ward off screeching monkeys and masticating deer. IIT life takes out the novelty of seeing such things. In the mornings, while i drag myself along to hostel mess to chew on over-burnt, elastic dosas and insipid gooey pongals... i've lost count of the number of times i have encountered a battalion of deer munching dew tipped grass with a look of detachment written well on those faces. turn your face up and you see a whole colony of monkeys on the hostel roof and sun shades fighting over the loot of the day.

ah..coming back to the topic.. on way, met friend of mine in similar condition.

Me: Morning Ho!!

Friend: hey.. was just gonna come over to your room before i realised how late i'm gonna be for the class.

Me: whazzup ?

Friend: you know..right after the exams we should go to that restuarant X, and have a plate of A and C.

Me: oh..ok. who else coming?

Friend: No one.. the curry serves only 2. last time i went there, i couldnt finish the curry off.. so i thought i'd bring someone along so that we can split the bill of the curry and not waste the stuff we pay for.

Me: noble thought there.. n i was thinking that you liked my company.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At times i wonder, where did i land up..is this what the course ought to teach me? to evaluate each and every decision in life in monetary terms? to look out for the incremental 'value-addition' that a particular opportunity would offer?

i see people forming strategic alliances rather than genuine friendship. the driving force underneath most relationships is the 'take-away', rather than liking for each other... talk about relationships that endure!!!

People hide their accomplishments/achievements until the last moment to make a grand entry, so that no-one else can copy them and take away their edge over others. Some withhold information for this very competitive advantage.. talk about fair playing ground!!!

And there are others with the 'sole shepherd' syndrome. They contribute only if assured that the particular task is impossible without their co-operation. Put them in a team of equals or better, they shrink off their responsibilities and put their skills to better use elsewhere...talk about team-spirit!!!

But am i the blue eyed babe in woods still looking for innate goodness in people ??? Heck No!!! but still..i wonder.. is this what i want to be..???

18 Facts No-one Wanted to Know abt Me

Just picked this one up from a random blog i read.. so am passing this on dutifully ..

Qn.1. Pick out a scar you have, and explain how you got it.
hmm..have been looking all over my body..and i really cant find one.. wow, am i such a blemish-less beauty?? does it have to be a scar or would pimples do? if yes, then explanation is simple enuf..dairy milk fruits n nuts, without fail...every day.

Qn.2. What does your phone look like?
my current phone..the 5th one..with the longest track record of being with me without getting its sweet self stolen or lost (touch wood) is a nokia 6070. it has got scratches on the display..chipped paint on the scroll keys..and once in a while throws a tantrum. but love it nonetheless.

Qn.3. What is on the walls of your bedroom?
moi staying in hostel..so the paint color is rather imposed than designed by self. but i still try to brighten up my dull existence. on one side i have an Anne Geddes poster ... 8 topless bar dancers.. hehe..just 8 babies in their pyjamas holding on to a bar...right next to it, there is a thermocol sheet on which i have put up post-its of class schedule n pics of family n friends. also have some newspaper articles pasted on the wall..

on the other side, i have a color charcoal drawing of calvin n hobbes. calvin leaning on a tree tryin to look kewl n saying "the world bores u when u r cool".. n hobbes with a rather amused look... i drew this when i got really bored at 2 am in the morning.

Qn.4. What is your current desktop picture?
calvin & hobbes again..
http://www.rosenet.org/teensite/Calvin_and_Hobbes_comics_cartoons_f.jpg
needless to say, am a huge fan. even had an imaginary pet/friend/toy while growing up..the big eyed deer bambi.

Qn.5. Do you believe in gay marriage?
i believe you should spend ur life with whomsoever u want to..

Qn.6. What do you want more than anything right now?
some clarity in thought.. and a direction..
or maybe a time machine.. so that i could zip back into the past..relive my engg college days n see all my friends again.

Qn.7 . What time were you born?
Around 7.10pm. legend has it that i took my sown weet time coming out that my dad got tired of waiting and pacing the floor that he slept off in one of the chairs kept outside the labour room. my mom still blackmails him with this gross apathy that he exhibited.

Qn.8. Are your parents still together?
Very much so..

Qn.9.Last person who made you cry?
My friend here - Priya...when she tried to wake me up and smell the coffee.

Qn.10. What is your favorite perfume / cologne?
old spice.. not on me, but on others..sure fire way of getting me real close to a guy is dab him with old spice. brings out memories of childhood. when i'd go to my native place during summers. i used to play the FBI and dig up stuff from cellars and attics. one such excavations ended up with me opening an old trunk and finding an old spice after shave. the fragrance was intoxicating...n nothing like had experienced before. i hid the bottle for days until it was found and confiscated- only to sniff at regular intervals.

current flavor of the season is vanilla though.. makes me think of freshly baked cake. but i guess they dont make perfumes with that fragrance.

Qn.11. What kind of hair/eye color do you like in the opposite sex?
Doesnt really matter much.. but ceterus paribus, i'd like to stare into and drown in moss-green eyes.

Qn.12. What are you listening to?
Just the whirring sound of fan. Lectures during day time.

Qn.13. Do you get scared of the dark?
No..am not scared of the dark, ghosts, crawly things... but do pretend to be so at times..depending on whom i'm with ;)

Qn.14. Do you like pain killers?
what??? come again??

Qn.15. Are you too shy to ask someone out?
Shy? well..my summer internship feedback form had my mentor writing in that i was rather shy. back in college, my classmates ROFLAO seeing it. guess that explains how shy a person i'm.

but asking someone out is not something i would do even if i want to.. not coz i am shy. just some weird sense of propriety which makes me think that it is always better to be asked for than ask.

Qn.16. If you could eat anything right now, what would it be?
the answer never changes... a piece of rich, dark, gooey chocolate cake.

Qn.17. Who was the last person you made you mad?
I get mad every Friday evening without fail.. coz thats the day i wanna go out and have some junk/comfort food..but cant. My mom had asked me to observe a 'no non-veg' fast on that day and in a moment of generosity i agreed to that.

Qn.18. Who was the last person who made you smile?
My friend back from college... got a call an hour back saying she is gonna get married soon. her excitement and happiness rubbed off a bit on me too.. :)

Wokie..now that i am done with the 18 qns, i hereby tag Sathya, Megha & Golu and the general public who may stumble upon this.

Spotlight or Nappies???

everywhere u look..provided u r looking at the newspapers, ibnlive, gossip columns...u'd see a scantily dressed britney spears... and the general population giving her expert advice. she has become the international 'throw ball to drown clown' that you see in fairs. though i detest the amount of quality media space that is given to irrelevant and unimportant events.. there is something that makes me ponder..

u have in front of ur eyes.. a woman [oops..something between a girl and a woman, going by her song] who let her career [ and common sense ] take a back seat to marry and to procreate... and then she tries to come back..

people speak of throwing away her career for what she thought was gonna be a happily ever after. i wonder, is career and domestic bliss mutually exclusive for a woman? how much of the criticism directed against her is really valid..rather than just the general spite?

true..she has put on weight and is outta shape. but then, she also had 2 kids.
true.. her dance movements are nothing like what it used to be. Compare it with the yesteryears VMA performances and the difference is mind numbing. Gone is the agile, flexible, nimble footed & spirited diva. The latest one showed her gasping to keep in pace with her co-dancers..n failing. You almost feel the angst thinking of the 'wasted' talent.

But this feeling of angst.. y is it always directed at the woman who wants to marry when in prime or near prime of their careers? y is it that they are thought to abandon a plum, exciting future for a tame life? U never see the public uproar when a guy gets married. and in corollary, when a woman do get married, y do we expect her professional life to take a back seat? y are highly successful women, perceived to have strained relationships with their spouses?

i can only pity britney.. she had made a couple of wrong choices in her life. i wonder how that is not possible when u r under media scrutiny all the time since u were a teenager. she ended up with a money-mismanaging husband, 2 kids, a shaved head and rehab - most of which i guess she dint plan to have. but then, braving it all, she is trying to be back where she felt the most comfortable.. and, she gotta convince the whole world.. that she still has it in her... more so now, than when she was trying to establish herself as a new entrant.. image make-overs are always so more difficult than just image making.

till she redeems herself, she would be talked about - with sniggers n tsk-tsks.. a price she has to pay for doing what she wanted... a price for trying to make a family while she should've broken more album sales record..