On her birthday…

… my sister calls up our mom and tells her “Congratulations mom!! It has been a whole 23 years since you gave birth to me“!!!

Thats my sis!!! All crazy!!

Happy birthday bachcha…!! I should also congratulate myself on having sustained you for 23 years now!

Infidelity: What’s the fuss all about??

Tell me if I am wrong… please do… but I just cant seem to fathom behavior of common junta over a couple of things that have come up in the past…

When Monica Lewinsky came forward with an allegation that Bill Clinton, the then President of the United States of America had had an affair with her, people all over America went berserk – right from demanding a public apology to the death of his political career caused by his impeachment.

I somehow dont get it… What exactly was his fault? Did he commit a murder or force himself upon another woman? Did he embezzle millions of dollars of tax-payer’s money? Did his affairs in any way make him any less efficient as a President? What he did was definitely not acceptable – cheating on his/her partner is an unpardonable crime… But did it deserve the kind of National importance it got? Probably not… What transpired between him and his mistresses was actually no one else’s business.. It was between him and his family… They were the only ones he was answerable to… no one else! But, seems like suddenly the whole of US was full of morality preaching pundits. I would really like to know that out of all those people, how many had never cheated on their partner??… I am pretty sure that percent would be minimal… and yet, when it came to their President, every one conveniently forgot all that he had done for the nation… All that mattered was his infidelity.

Just the other day I was watching a Golf program… All they did was talk about Tiger Woods infidelity. Oh come on! Why cant people separate a celebrity’s professional and personal lives? Tiger Woods is an excellent Golfer. Period. What he does in his personal life should not hamper his image as a Golfer… but sadly, it does! I really appreciated Obama’s statement yesterday, where he admitted that Woods was still a terrific Golfer… Suddenly, people do not remember him for all his victories – the only thing they remember about him are his affairs! A very sad state of affairs, if you ask me! Why do we have to elevate all these famous people onto a pedestal and then throw them onto the ground if they even show signs of being “human”!?

People have, in the past, committed several heinous crimes much more gruesome than an extra-marital affair. Do we see people reacting wildly to that? Well… maybe yes, but not as much as they react to a moral crime!

Whats your take on this? Am I completely wrong in thinking this way? Go on… tell me…

One woman you idolize…

A very Happy Woman’s Day to all you beautiful women out there… And dear male readers, please pass on my best wishes to all the women in your lives

On this day today… I kept wondering on who is the one woman I idolize in this world… There are many, really… But, after a lot of thought, I could come up with just one: My Nani (Mom’s mom)

She is, without doubt, the most strong-minded, confident and supremely talented woman I know! Her life was not a bed of roses, but she rose from all the difficulties and traumas to carve a niche of her own!! I can still remember all those bed time stories she would tell me, when I was a child… A lot of those characters and stories still reverberate in my head… They would all have morals at the end of it… And I cant thank her enough for her indubitable contribution in my up-bringing…

Thanks Nani.. Love ya… Muaaaaaaaahhhhhh

So, tell me about one woman you idolize.. doesnt necessarily have to be someone you know, could also be a famous woman who is known for her strenght, courage or even beauty…

Go on… tell us about her

Has CAT lost its credibility?

I have been observing the whole CAT 2009 drama with supreme interest. The more and more I hear about it, the more I doubt the credibility of CAT (Common Aptitude Test) conducted by the top B-schools of our country. CAT is one of the most sought after examinations and studies have proven that IIMA is the most difficult institute to get through in the world – with the ratio being 1:1000.

With such high stakes, can CAT afford to be slandered?

Listing down some objectionable/flawed instances that marred the most-sought-after Exam in India.

• Most exam centers had technical issues with candidates not having their centers as mentioned in the Admit Card.
• Technical hazards like Server issues/Computers rebooting on their own
• The difficulty levels of the exam on any given day was not comparable – Hence, it is not surprising that most of the candidates receiving IIM calls are from the first 3 days of the exam, when the CAT paper was the easiest of the lot.
• Some candidates who did not appear for the test on the initial slot, gave the re-test! No one to question them…
• Some candidates who had a test of more than 140 mins were asked to report the same to the concerned authorities and give a re-test – barring which, their scores would be considered null and void. Nothing of that sort happened. I personally know a few candidates whose exam was for more than 150 mins – they did not bother with the re-test and duly received their scores. This means that some candidates took more time than allocated, thus having an undue advantage over others!

Gazillion such facts and stories are out there where people have got away with doing just about anything during CAT ’09, thus making it a joke and a major fiasco! Not surprising then that the credibility built over the past 50 years has been lost, with a lot of colleges refusing to accept CAT scores as admission criteria!

Whats your take on this? Did you appear for CAT last year? Or did you know someone dear going through the tortures?

Please share your thoughts.

So, will you be playing Holi this time?

That is the question I asked most of my friends and the unanimous reply every time would be “No!“

Holi is one of my favorite festivals… I enjoyed playing it a lot with family and friends, when I was in India…!!  And it was awesomeeeeeeeeee fun!! This is one thing I miss about being in Singapore… I hear there are a few places where holi is played even here… but then, without family/friends, it isnt really that much fun, is it?

But, what concerns me is that even in India, despite Holi being a National Holiday, there is an increasing number of people who are ditching the festival…

What do you think is the reason?

Now, while we ponder over that… Wishing you all a joyful holi… Hope you have a great one… and you play to your heart’s content!