Posts

Showing posts from May, 2011

Counterfeit Money (or Taking The Fight Back To The Dogs...)

Image
There was a study released by CRISIL in 2011 that stated that Indians spent Rs.5.8 lakh crores extra between between 2008 and 2011 because inflation had been higher than the targeted 5%. that we spent 5.8 lakh crores more than we would have spent if inflation had been at 5%. [8]  That means for the same amount of goods and services, we had to shell out an additional 5.68 lakh crores. This was because of inflation higher than 5% by 3 percentage points. Imagine how much the figure would have been if inflation had been taken zero. But.....how did we, the citizens of India, manage to shell out 5.8 lakh crores collectively in order to buy our goods and services? Where did we get this money from? Did we remove it from our savings and if so, then our savings must have substantially come down now. But that doesn't seem to be the case . Certainly the amount of money in circulation is rapidly increasing. More and more people are earning more in a month than their fathers did in a deca

Tales of Decapitation...

It was late in the evening on a hot summer day in May. I was in a market in Rampur in Western UP. Already most of the shops were closed and the remaining ones were preparing to call it a day. The heat of the summer afternoon had given way to a dust storm so strong that the people were forced to take shelter inside shops and pull down the shutters. Sand from ongoing constructions was being blown in waves across the road even as new waves of dust were swept along from the country-side. The commuters on bikes, unable to continue in the wind, had parked their bikes on the sides and were standing cautiously along the roadside wary of trees and electricity poles that might come down with the wind. As is expected in UP, the electricity board had cut off the electricity and except for light from some inverters, it was all dark and dusty. Most people, like me, had taken shelter inside any open shop or restaurant, waiting for the storm to abate. A man, undaunted by the storm, passed up by

Grotesque Adult Humour for Children (well, not really)

Children can be so cute at times you could die. It's something that evolution instilled in us to prevent some of us from devouring their tender flesh... Uhm, sorry for digressing there... Well, one of my cousins has a one and a half year old son who's a naughty little devil. He's very adorable, but then again, he's the nemesis for many of his own age. Beating up kids, tearing their hair apart, smashing his toy scooter into the legs of unsuspecting passers-by... All the naughtiness that can be found in that age. So anyway, as a wicked joke on my cousin, somebody taught his little son some swear words. So one day, the boy's in the shop, and in come two girls who see him, are overcome by the cuteness and go to him crying out, fingers getting ready to pull them cheeks pink, "ollee. what a sweet baby!". To which the dude replies, "botlikey"! And the girls quietly turn around and leave. Not quite sure shocked or horrified.

Them Ludicrus Airplane Seat Belts...

What is the purpose of the seat belts in an aircraft anyway? The way the crew makes a fuss about their usage, they could be the difference between taking off alive or dead! Anyways, the last time I was on a flight, the pilot started doing some shitty stunts in the air as we were approaching Delhi. Judging by the spurts of zero gravity, I guess he was adjusting the altitude as we drew near. There were also patches of cumulous clouds the static from which caused the plane to get possessed and sway from side to side in violent tantric invocation, so perhaps he was avoiding them cloudies. Or perhaps he was a disciple of IndiGo’s Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati. He only knows. Anyway, although moments of zero g when your stomach is tied up in knots may not be the perfect yogic aasan for a eureka moment, but then, neither was a bath tub... So, the seat belts in a car protect you from a frontal impact in case of a collision. That’s why they are so nice and cover the s

Bargaining for Dummies

Image
We all love to bargain. What's better than to get something priced at 200 for, say, 150 bucks, even though it may be worth only a 100. But it feels even better to get something worth that 100 for 90 bucks... i lobe my uN79... :) Anyways, so about a year and half ago, I went to buy a phone, the Nokia N79. Had not heard of Android at that time and was wary of touchscreens. Tried the MobileStore, et al, and got a price of around 14500/- but still thought I could get a better deal. So I tossed a coin and went to try my luck at Daryaganj. Enquired at 2 or 3 places, and the prices they quoted were actually more than the MobileStore's. Damn! The N79 had very good reviews on www.techtree.com , but the phone was about to be withdrawn from the market (or had already been withdrawn), so i figured its price was going higher instead of lower as the availability was low.  Then i went to this store who gave me highest price, more than 500 more than anyone else. It was turn