Tuesday 19 June 2012

Mystified Sanity

~ I just read a tweet which said that there is a marriage breaking amount of sport on television this month. True! The French Open has just ended and Wimbledon is here. Not to mention Euro, Formula 1 and the English cricket series. The French Open has always been my favourite grand slam. For one, it had much longer rallies, which make for better viewing. And secondly, it gave me sadistic pleasure to see top ranked players like Sampras, Agassi, Rafter and the likes, struggle against little known names.

~ Talking about tennis, I really don't get how the seeding in women's tennis works or why they even bother having it. Women's seeding is pretty much like the ranks we had in school - never a true reflection of the persons' potential.

~ The other day I was travelling to work and I realised that there isn't one particular thing / hobby that I am extremely passionate about. And that's really sad. A Hindu friend of mine pointed out, that not being passionate is actually a very desirable quality. It shows lack of maya and enhances my chances of escaping the cycle of life and death! Well I guess there are two ways of looking at everything! Reminds me of an IIM interview where I was selling myself like a street walker. At one point in the interview, I mentioned how the fact that I got great scores in all sections shows that I don't have one particular weakness. To which the interviewer replied that it also meant I didn't have any particular strength. #facepalm

~ So my commute to office involves taking a rickshaw from Kanjurmarg station to Powai. Now these rick guys act so pricey when it comes to going to Powai, that I have come up with an ingenious plan. I strike a conversation with every rickshaw driver during my twenty minute ride. Ask his name, dhandha kaisa hai bhaiyya and the likes, hoping that the next time they see me they find it harder to say no!

~ Working is strange in a way. It is the first time in life that I've started something without knowing when it will end. And so when I go to work day in, day out, I begin to think about the purpose of life and all that jazz. But then by the end of the month my bank account is credited and the world is all rosy again.


~ And ya, in case you are wondering what my title is all about, I flicked it from a painting. That is the way paintings sell you know. You paint just about anything, but give it an enigmatic title and people lap it up. Throw in some thunderclouds for good measure.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Work, Wilde and Demand Supply mismatches

~ Last fortnight, I went with my friends to the Janjira fort and then on to Diveagar beach. We settled for beaches because the hill stations in and around Mumbai, like Mahabaleshwar and Khandala, are highly over rated. I mean they remind me of the girls in engineering. Mediocre at best, but immensely popular due to the unbalanced demand supply equation.

~ I started working from Monday. The first thing I did when I got access to the intra net was to look up the organisational tree. 9 levels till I become CEO!

~ It happened during my internship and now it happened again. New joinees will always get a cubicle where your screen can be viewed by at least 60% of the people working in the office. The only way to get a better place is to wait a year for the next batch of newbies to join. Pretty much reminds me of the debutant who invariably fields at sily mid off!

~ In case you are wondering what I am working as, then I am a credit analyst. Liar's Poker, Michael Lewis' hilarious rendition of the sub prime crisis mentions credit analysts only twice, if I am not mistaken.

"In the investment banking world, credit analysts are the lowest of the low. But the world views them as the lowest of the high."

"The most foolish thing a credit analyst can do is to be the best credit analyst, because frankly no one really cares!"


Don't know how true that is, but with weekends off and a subsidized canteen, I'm taking the job dude! Besides, it doesn't pay too bad either!


~ I had heard of Oscar Wilde before but became a fan in 2008, when I saw the guys tomb in Paris. I mean screw the Eiffel tower and Mona Lisa, Wilde's tomb is easily the best attraction in Paris. It is covered with lipstick and graffiti and the people just love the guy. So I have started reading a lot of Wilde's quotes off late. Here are a couple of not so famous, but really good ones that I just came across.

There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.

If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life.


~ I went to watch a play yesterday. The Great Raja Master Dance Company. Was a really nice play. Part of the Kala Ghoda Festival. I needed to have something cool to say na when colleagues ask tomorrow ki weekend pe kya kiya? Updating my blog which I force my three closest friends to read, doesn't quite make an impression, does it?

Post Script : New Joinee Tip #1 - You are expected to know the name of your company CEO.