BRAToSPHERE

Tag: new

  • Confusion | Opportunity

    In the Midst of Confusion Lies Opportunity

    This is a famous saying, but how true is it? before we get into that, let us delve into the basics – why do we get confused?

    We are majorly confused when we can see two or more probable destinations, and are in a position to take any one of them. This decision making is what leads to confusion.

    Why am I talking about confusion right now? Coz,  I am majorly confused. I have been doing everything till date in a conformist way, most of the times, and this has got sufficient returns, again the conformist way. Now I think is the time, that I should jump out, in the open, do things that I have always wanted to do, and test the untested waters. Well, yes there is this possibility of falling flat, straight on the face, and this particular aspect of life is called risk taking. ( “Risk to spider man bhi leta hai.. mein to sirf ek salesman hun!”) The point is that, will I have this any longer.

    The other option, is to keep doing the conformal things, in the routine manner that I have been following religiously. In other words, follow the herd, and strive for the best and get the conformal returns( which , are not really less by any standards!). Now is this what I want to do?

    This dilemma of the heart or the mind is quintessential, and has probably been there since human existence. I am once again facing this dilemma. Heart or mind?

    While discussing the same with one of my friend, I realized that the Chinese have the same sign for confusion and opportunity.

    Confusion | Opportunity
    Confusion | Opportunity

    Now how much are these two linked? I would say completely. Confusion, as discussed above, arises out of indecisiveness,  among options, and therein lies the  opportunity.

    Whenever you are confused, just treat it like an opportunity, and, as I always suggest, follow the heart, and you would prevail.

  • Welcome to the Sphere

    Voila! We are finally up and running.

    A lot of exciting stuff has been happening of late, and you would gradually come to know of it.( sorry, confidential right now. I know saying this just raise even more curiosity!)

    Many things have been happening on the professional as well as on the personal front( NO! I AM NOT GETTING MARRIED!). Well, again, more on that later.

    After a lot of tweaking, and twisting, and going through oodles of manuals, the site is up on its own domain.

    The visible change, evident in front of you, is the new home of my dear blog. It is a complete revamp of the existing blog, which has been there for more than 5 years. Considering the many decisions that I have taken in the last couple of weeks, this is one activity which figures quite high on my priority list – Blogging.

    The name has changed, the design has changed, heck! The address itself has changed. But well, the treatment is still the same. This is the same sphere which has been providing you with your share of fun, and one liners, along with a lot of gyaan. Just expect it to increase in the coming days.

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  • >New Year Resolutions

    >Now this is one funny thing that I have not understood for many years now. Why do people have new year resolutions? 99% of them are done with it by January end itself, and the remaining 1% wean away gradually I am sure. So why have it?

    As one of my friend has it on her Gtalk status – “people who don’t keep their new years resolutions are weak people, and those who actually make new year resolutions are fools!”

    What’s the difference b/w a New Year resolution and this blog?

    A. You at least follow the latter! (picked this one from the MTVINDIA twitter stream)

    I remember the last new years party in campus last year. Srini who was trying hard to quit smoking, comes over to me and Abhinav, and asks for a cigarette.

    He had just got refused by Chitta.

    Bharat: “I thought you made a New Year’s resolution to quit smoking”

    Srini: “I’m in the process of quitting”, he replies with a grin on his face.“

    Srini: “Right now, I am in the middle of phase one.”

    Abhinav: “Phase one?”

    Srini: “Yeah.. I’ve quit buying!!”

    Needless to say, the cigarette remained lit for the entire year, and yes he did buy many a times. On his was to car dealers, in Mumbai local trains, he had to.

    Talking more about resolutions, I wondered how a resolution list of people would look across the years.

    Lazy reader

    2006: I will read at least 20 books a year
    2007: I will read all of Chetan Bhagat’s books
    2008: I will read some articles in the newspaper this year.
    2009: I will read at least one article this year.
    2010: I will try to glance at RK laxman’s cartoon everyday this year!!

    An Overweight guy

    2006: I will reduce to 80Kg.
    2009: I will try to develop a realistic attitude about my weight.
    2008: I will work out 5 days a week.
    2009: I will work out 3 days a week.
    2010: I will try to drive past a gym at least once a week!

    An extravagant woman

    2006: I will not spend my money frivolously.
    2007: I will pay off my credit card bills without fines
    2008: I will be totally out of debt by the year end
    2009: I will try to pay off the debt interest by the year end
    2010: I will try to be out of the country before getting thrown into jail!

    A poor husband

    2007: I will try to be a better husband to pooja
    2008: I will not leave pooja
    2009: I will try for reconciliation with pooja
    2010: I will try to be a better husband to Shilpa!

    Again, a poor husband (come on, he deserves it!!

    2007: I will stop looking at other women.
    2008: I will not get involved with Shilpa.
    2009: I will not let Shillpa affect my marriage
    2010: I will stop looking at other women!! (there it starts again!)

    An Alcoholic

    2007: I will not take a drink before 8PM
    2008: I will not touch the bottle before 4PM
    2009: I will not become a “problem drinker”.
    2010: I will not miss my appointments with the liver doctor!!

    A nerd

    2005: When I hear a funny joke I will not reply, “LOL… LOL!”
    2006: I will stop sending e-mail, gmail, webmail and be on the phone at the same time with the same person.
    2007: I will stop sending e-mail to my roommate.
    2008: will spend less than five hour a day on the Internet.
    2009: I will not subscribe to an unlimited internet connection!
    2010: I will not miss my appointments with the ophthalmologist.

    Well, these were the resolutions of different kind of people. Coming to my own list:-

    1. Give up smoking (again).
    2. Learn a new skill, take up a new hobby. (really!)
    3. Get organized. (yeah sure, and well buying an organizer does not fulfil this resolution)
    4. Become more security conscious. (whose security?)
    5. Be more regular on this page (this one i am serious)
    6. Give up drinking, at least for the first week of January! (ahem! Well.. lets see!)
    7. Stop procrastinating. Will start this from 11th jan, come on it’s a weekend, and last week I was busy.

    Happy new year once again.

    Quotes
    New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual. -Mark Twain

    Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account – Oscar Wilde

  • >IDEA to airtel – with the same number

    >Mobile Number Portability (MNP), which has been on the anvil for long will finaly be implemented by the beginning of the next year. It would allow subscribers to retain their mobile telephone number while discarding one service provider for another.

    So, airtel today, wait aircel has come up with pocket internet – SHIFT! Four days and boom I am on a different network. It would take a maximum of 12 days in Jammu & Kashmir, Assam and north eastern circles, though.
    March 20, 2010 is stipulated to be the deadline for this to be implemented all across the country.
    Ofcourse, there would be charges for the shift, and some other formalities, which I guess is completely worth the pain.

    Brand loyalty is on question, and the consumer is the ultimate winner. The fight for ARPU (average revenue per user) is going to get more fiercer, and the telecom is to see some interesting times ahead.

    I so thank TRAI for this initiative, though delayed. I had bought an IDEA sim long back in 2003, when other players were not all that good in network. But boom! What happens, as time passed by, other players came up with good exciting offers, and IDEA was still with the old times.

    NIGHT call free, SMS at 1ps, and so many such offers which my college friends took full advantage with very good returns on the personal front. But I just lagged.

    Why? I did not want to change my number! Now I finally can get out of idea’s hold.

    I guess the next initiative of the government should be to absolve inter state roaming issues too. India is one country, and calling someone from kerala to JnK should be the same, as calling someone in the next room.

    Maybe atleast, TRAI could come up with number portability inter state. So, for a person like me, who would keep shifting states would not have to change the number with every state.

    All this would just increase the churn among the operators, which is at a very high level even now – 4.5 per cent per month in india, which roughly means that more than half India’s over 400 million subscribers change operators in a year.

    All for the good of the consumer!!

  • >‘Online’ CAT, and nothing else!!

    >

    I have been coaching for CAT for the last few months, and think it is my duty to keep my students updated about any new developments in this arena. More so this year, with the CAT going online, and many of you having loadsa questions and queries.

    Here I bumped into this article, where prometric – the body organizing CAT this year spoke to an online CAT portal and clears lots of doubts.

    Prometric has for the first time revealed that computer-based CAT 2009 will actually allow test takers to “scroll back and forth” during the exam. This confirmation has a lot of significance for the thousands of MBA aspirants taking the test this year.

    This implies that CAT 2009 will not be a ‘computer-adaptive’ test, but will only be a ‘computer-based’ test. A computer-adaptive test offers a new question based on answer to the previous question.

    Thus, one thing for clear, answer to a question will not matter in answering the next question. So it is just like answering CAT like last year, the only difference being the new medium of a computer, rather than the traditional paper and pencil.

    Some more interesting insights from the interview are like the information that the total contract value for conducting the exam is a whopping 40 million USD (a cool 200 crore rupees!!). Also, Prometric is assuming responsibility for all aspects of the CAT computer-based test, including item authoring, test development, test administration, scoring and reporting services. Prometric will add resources, including dedicated test development and support staff in India for handling the project in a better manner.

    About the security in administering the test, prometric ensures that enough measures are being taken for ensuring strict security. All test centres hosting CAT 2009 will employ Prometric’s identity management (biometric) solution, digital image capture of all candidates and digital video recording of all testing activities

    Regarding the questions, the pattern, comparison of the CAT with GMAT, and other such ‘confidential’ issues, prometric remained silent. Also, it preferred to remain mum on the amount to be charged by the IIMs for the test.

    Thus, aspirants who have been thinking of tweaking their strategies, and waiting for the notification has this clear – Computer exam, that is the only change. Nothing more!!!