Job Vs. Business

Today 1075 of my batch mates got placed in TCS out of 1400 something who cleared the prelims. All for a package of Rs. 3.15 lacs per annunm. I wasn’t one of them. Infact I didn’t even register for PAT centre. Meaning, I m not applying for any on-campus jobs. For I want to start my own business. I would rather work for myself than for some corporate. Also, I believe my ability and creativity weighs much more than 3.15 lacs.
I don’t know yet what business I will venture into. Many of my friends and relatives call me a “fool” for my rash decision. After all, we are a part of the great Indian middle class. Maybe I m a fool, and I m hungry for being “someone who made a difference”. Every year India produces around 3 lakhs of engineers out of which a mere .5-.2% starts their own business. Starting a business is not easy and sadly India lacks the spirit of entrepreneurialism. The majority of the youth settles for an 8-2-8 job. We spend and spend, but production is negligible.
Ironically, half of the American economy is boosted by the millions of small scale industries of the country (now we know why the Indians get these much coveted software jobs!!). No doubt USA’s “one-door” policy has helped many startups to turn into successful businesses compared to the “snakes-and- ladders” industrial policy of the Indian government. Also, I blame the education system of the country. Its creating nothing but generations after generations of cheap labors. They make zombies outta us and train us 24x7 to get jobs. Its really unfortunate to see great minds go waste.
But a new wave of entrepreneurs is surfacing lately. They are young and passionate professionals who run their own business instead of joining the corporate bandwagon. They are the Young Turks of India. CNBC has very efficiently showcased these young achievers whose innovative ideas have given them the right place in the market. For India to rise into a Superpower, we need more of these Young Turks who will turn into Business Titans and eventually be Multinational Giants.

Life is like that

Every evening after my 2 hrs of swimming session, I just come back home hungry as a hippo. Now swimming has done wonders to my appetite and also I m gradually overcoming my fear of drowning. Yesterday was my 4th day of training and I completed 2 laps. I feel great! I guess I m no longer afraid of water.
By the time I came out of the pool, it was 8pm. Already hungry and tired, and to add to my woes, it started raining and there was a power-cut. My 20 mins of leisure night-walk to home turned into a frenzied run for dry shelter. In my hurry to take a shortcut, I climbed a 6 feet wall, only to slip, fall and chip my nail. Now I was tired, hungry and bruised. I think I cursed everything for ruining my evening...from the rain to the algae growing on that wall.
Little did I know that something else awaits me at home. Something that worked like a panacea to my Pandora's box. Papa cooked dinner of pork and rice...it was fantastic!! When he cooks, its more of an art than cooking. And he always says that his secret ingredient is LOVE.The pork curry was like a symphony of flavors. Four of us had an amazing candlelight dinner( Thank you, ASEB!) with the amazing pitter-patter of the rain outside. A memorable ending to my twisted evening.

What if.....

My series of what ifs is never ending. This is a new to me- " What if I studied medicine? "
Well, I have been watchin Scrubs alot lately, not to mention reading Eric Segal's Doctors at the same time. My confused brain has to play its part as always. As I lay in my bed contemplating my future as a doctor, some of the good stuffs I see:
1. My parents own a hospital.
2. My mom is a doc and I come from a family of doctors.
3. The Hyde-NJC episode would have never taken place, and eventually I would not have ended up in VIT.
4.I get to cut open cadavers and see whats actually inside...(I have just imagined in my imagination, a wonder-fool spoof of the Ramsay brothers' horror movies :P)
5.I get to live practically with a skeleton. Everyday will be a Halloween for me...Yuppie!!
6.I would have been a crazy-cool shrink ;) Only kind of doctor not in my family. I know its not considered "real" medicine, but boy, everyone does need to visit a shrink these days. The crazies of the world are catching up. Sooner or later you will defintely get humped by one of them and be a full time crazy. More about shrinks and humping crazies later. Its not just sitting on an easy chair your entire life acquiring adipose tissue on your ass telling people its ok to be crazy , its more like looking into their heads, as Kotler puts it "personal orientation". Remember JLo in "The cell" ?? Obviously you won't get patients outta a Hitchcock movie, but still, I guess it will be interesting to delve into other's brains.
Then why didn't I study medicine?!?!
1. In high school, I failed in Bio miserably . My human heart diagrams somehow always looked like a multicoloured raddishes( oh yes! we had to colour them) and the sperm diagram looked like a balloon tied by a string :P
2. My mom practically dissuaded me saying-by the time I become a full fledged doctor, half of my life will be over( which is true :( )
3. Doctors never have enough time. They are ever-busy.
4.Somehow they always smell like disinfectants .
5.I could have never remembered those 1001 names of tissues, diseases yada yada.
But oh! The beauty of rewinding back time and starting all over again, doing something new... although in my imagination! My best 60 seconds.

Yay!! Its never too late...

....to start blogging again :P
The only thing I wrote past few days was my SOP and filling up few forms. Writing exams are compulsion..thus not to be counted. Few hundreds of thoughts to blog( the "un-classified" ones) did burst up since my last entry, but damnnit!! yet again the evil power of "laziness" took over me. With the cracking of my knuckles i hereby announce my comeback! (Har! Har! I bet noboby even noticed that I was gone...lol) But what the heck? My space...MY WAY!!

Its 5 in the morNING...

....and i have absolutely no idea what to do now,other than not getting sleep....
6am..time to hit the gym but its still an hour away...so what do i do??
... i find myself surfing through a greek holiday page(i have absolutely no idea why!!!) and another page on diatomaceous earth(work!)

what can i possibly blog about?!?!.....no politics,no games,no food....at this hour nothing absolutely interests me...(sid, i hope that answers your question)

Grooms for sale..!!

It happens only in India. Well two days from now my cousin was supposed to get married. Now it’s cancelled. Reason: DOWRY!! (Very much prevalent in many Indian communities. Fortunately it doesn’t exist in my Assamese community. And this is why we were hit below the belt.) It was another boy-meets-girl story. He is a Jhat and she is an Assamese. They fell in love and decided to get married after dating for 3 years. Everything was picture perfect until a dowry of 50 lakhs was demanded a week before the marriage. Well if it wasn’t paid on the day of “sagaii” (which was two days before the marriage and to be held at Delhi), the “baraat” won’t come down to Assam for the wedding. Sounds like a stupid Sooraj Barjhatiya plot, eh? Well this has what happened in reality and that too in my family!!

Thought that in such a helpless situation the bride’s family would comply with it. But they just missed a single point. They are dealing with the Sarmas. Blame it on our genes, but we do strike back when unexpected. My sister simply told the groom: “Bhad mein jai tu aur teri ma…the marriage is off!!” I bet he didn’t see that coming. And if marriage is all about respecting one another, then dude, I can never respect a guy who asks money from my dad.

Calling off the marriage was really brave of her and the entire family supports her decision. Her only lament is that she couldn’t recognize earlier what schmuck and weakling he was. I mean who would expect an educated guy with a secured job to act like an invalid. Ironically, Indian grooms come with price tags. The marriage market is an auction house indeed. Higher your degree and your position, the dowry amount increases exponentially. No consideration even if the bride is equally qualified.

Taking dowry can never be an age-old tradition. It is just another means for filling our endless pit of greed. And the new-age Indians are crazy about easy money. So unless you clean the skeletons in your closet, there is no stopping to DOWRY.