A form of Social Irresponsibility

I know of a few cases in my family and in discussions with friends that there happen to be a few men-folks who due to various circumstances like bad friends-circle, lack of competitive spirit, lack of proper guidance have ended up with a rather poor educational background. This has proved to be an inerasable black mark making it very difficult for them to land well paying jobs. As a result, other family members have sometimes come forward to support these less-fortunate kith and kin.

Now coming to the Big question. Are these dependant souls right in demanding a normal life which translates into marrying and having kids. The fundamental question which every thoughtful and responsible person(irrespective of their educational qualifications) should think is whether they are right in taking the step of having a dependant wife and kids who translate financially as those who require money for their support and sustenance. My take is its better for these dependant people to take a conscious decision to remain single or if they so decide for marriage, it should be based on their confidence to sustain the dependant family themselves.

Depending on their kith and kin to support their entire family tantamouts to only Social Irresponsibility although it might sound a bit harsh.

A noble alternative is to help other children to get better educational skills so that they do not end up as dependants or anti-social elements. Nobody knows the importance of education better than these people.

AFFINI-TEA

Your's truly has got a penchant for drinking tea. But the important thing to note is the significance of the circumstances surrounding this daily event. Having born and brought up in the southern part of India, there is a strong taste and culture for drinking COFFEE. In fact, coffee making is an elaborate ceremony and the entire society takes pride in grooming coffee conneiuseurs/critics. It will not be inappropriate to see people feeling uneasy when their day starts without a good cup of steaming hot coffee.

Now, I am currently based out of Boston which again boasts of a hoary history of dumping Tea cartons into the harbor as a sign of protest against British Colonialism which turned out to be one of the harbinger's of the American War of Independence. This also is another reason for American's penchant for Coffee and STARBUCK's being one of the most household Billion dollar brands.

So, my TEA drinking habit amidst this sea of COFFEE-drinking humanity gains significance and speaks gloriously of my fidelity with this drink..

Why should one drink TEA ? Well, some say it does lesser harm than COFFEE. Green TEA and Black TEA have been certified for their excellent health boosters and its supposedly good for the heart.

One a different note, in defence of TEA, I can drum up lot of words as support in English which ends in "Tea ". Now a open challenge to readers is to come up with a similar list for COFFEE.. I bet a million dollars that Tea wins hands-down in that aspect...Here goes a sample list...

Humanity, Affinity, Duality, Fraternity, Maternity, Paternity, Equality, Liberty, Frugality and to end it " DIVINITY ".. That should rest the case in favor of TEA..

If.... By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!


--Rudyard Kipling

Confessions of a Kid....Joke..

Confessions of kid

Little Bobby came into the kitchen where his mother was making dinner.
His birthday was coming up and he thought this was a good time to tell his mother what he wanted.
"Mom, I want a bike for my birthday." Little Bobby was a bit of a troublemaker.
He had gotten into trouble at school and at home. Bobby's mother asked him if he thought he deserved to get a bike for his birthday. Little Bobby, of course, thought he did.

Bobby's mother wanted Bobby to reflect on his behavior over the last year.
"Go to your room, Bobby, and think about how you have behaved this year.

Then write a letter to God and tell him why you deserve a bike for your birthday." Little Bobby stomped up the steps to his room and sat down to write God a letter.

Letter 1
Dear God,
I have been a very good boy this year and I would like a bike for my birthday. I want a red one.
Your friend,
Bobby

Bobby knew that this wasn't true. He had not been a very good boy this year, so he tore up the letter and started over.

Letter 2
Dear God,
This is your friend Bobby. I have been a good boy this year and I would like a red bike for my birthday.
Thank you.
Your friend Bobby

Bobby knew that this wasn't true either. So, he tore up the letter and started again.

Letter 3
Dear God,
I have been an "OK "boy this year. I still would really like a bike for my birthday.
Bobby

Bobby knew he could not send this letter to God either. So, Bobby wrote a fourth letter.

Letter 4
God,
I know I haven't been a good boy this year. I am very sorry. I will be a good boy if you just send me a bike for my birthday. Please!
Thank you,
Bobby

Bobby knew, even if it was true, this letter was not going to get him a bike.



Now, Bobby was very upset. He went downstairs and told his mom that he wanted to go to church. Bobby's mother thought her plan had worked, as Bobby looked very sad.
"Just be home in time for dinner," Bobby's mother told him.


Bobby walked down the street to the church on the corner. Little Bobby went into the church and up to the altar. He looked around to see if anyone was there. Bobby bent down and picked up a statue of the Mary. He slipped the statue under his shirt and ran out of the church, down the street, into the house, and up to his room. He shut the door to his room and sat down with a piece of paper and a pen. Bobby began to write his letter to God.

Letter 5
God,
I'VE KIDNAPPED YOUR MOM. IF YOU WANT TO SEE HER AGAIN, SEND THE BIKE!!!!!!!!!

Mechanisation and Divinity

Whenever there is a human element involved in a certain activity, the output becomes somewhat unpredictable due to inherent inconsistencies. Say for example, cooking is a very good example of a human centric process which lends itself to an air of unpredictablity and hence excitement in its outcome.

What happens when machines replace humans in their work. Machines by their inherent design are more predicatable and less inconsistent. They are also not to have the human weaknesses which include favoritism, bribes, bias, partiality etc.This predicatability of the outcome gives some sense of comfort for humans that they are on top whereas in the former when they did things on their own, they had to pray for a divine intervention in order to get outcomes as per their predictions and with a greater semblance of consistency.

Science and Technology keeps God at bay... I am currently living in the Bay State(Massachusetts,USA)

Gresham's law and its strange applications to life

1) Bad Money drives good money away: Given a choice between Counterfeit currency and legal currency, people in the society always want to pass on the Counterfeit ones and hoard the legal currency. Thereby, its more likely that bad currency is more in circulation than good ones.

2) Movie critics have invoked Gresham's law to explain why movies with innovative visuals and writing are rare but, once created, are much copied or made into sequels. The claim is that production companies and theaters see all movies as virtually interchangeable product, and prefer ones which are cheaper to make or that have less risk to promote.

3) In a democracy, a less intelligent majority may be able to out-vote an exceptionally intelligent minority, effectively driving out the most intelligent voters by guaranteeing that their votes will be defeated.

4) In the market for second hand cars, lemon automobiles (analogous to bad currency) will drive out the good cars. This is because the seller of good cars will find that the "average" price of both lemons and good cars is less than the fair price of the good car.

And Finally, extending the same principle to my current place of work, wherein in the past 3 years, I have seen how poor managers and employees can drive out good ones, although, I would have loved it to be otherwise.

Does OPM give you a High ?

First, OPM is an abbreviation which stands for Other People's Money. It should be pronounced like a narcotic drug " Opium" which is supposedly known for giving its users a " High" and also known for its rather dangerously addictive nature.

Coming back to OPM. What you do with other people's money distinguishes and decides whether you will become rich or poor in life. Firstly, taking OPM from the market has got its associated cost(interest) that must be paid back along with the principal amount after a certain period of time. The longer the delay in repayment, the more is the amount that gets repaid and hence, the happier the lender.

In most cases, poor people spend OPM on frivolous value destroying activities(VDA). Hence, they need to struggle more at work in order to honor their financial commitments. I should actually put it the other way. People who spend OPM on VDA can be rightly branded as poor(although, they may not be so technically from a financial point of view).

Rich people on the other hand take OPM and invest it in value generating activities(VGA). Hence, the corresponding effort that they need to make to repay becomes significantly less. Yes, there is definitely an added pressure to squeeze more returns than what they need to repay back their creditors, so that, their profits are as high as possible. The more credit-worthy they become over a period of time, the more is the power they wield to swing lower interest rates and it becomes a positive feedback loop creating wealth in the process. In short, its a case of money making more money.

Its all about Money, Honey....