My experience with Kerala-1

After writing few Management entrance exams and applying to Not so worth colleges it was time to do a bit of travelling for attending GD/PI( Process). For those who are not familiar with what is GD/PI( I wonder if anyone is!!).It is the process where the College authorities do a Final check up of students and after crucifying them in the process if found good enough( If parents of the Prospective student are rich!!) give them a Coveted "Admission letter" and ask to Submit hugely idiotic sums of money in order to reserve a Seat in the college. They demanding the money is nothing but asking for a Ransom amount before the Kidnapping process is complete!!

Nevertheless the less said the better regarding the average B-schools. I had applied to SCMS-Cochin after getting to know that it was consistently ranked high ( A high as 22 at top india level)

Now that i know the credentials of the college,i have learnt a very important lesson "Never believe Magazines Rankings they are rigged". I had to attend the GD/PI process at Cochin( Ernakulam) so it was fun considering that i had to go to kerala where i have never been before.

It is a 27 hr journey from Hyderabad and surprisingly there is only one train to choose for the journey. Its Sabari express. Booked my tickets under Tatkal scheme hence had to pay 105 rs more than the usual amount.The ticket price was 495rs.

Now coming to the journey part.

I have always loved Train journeys, there is something about it which you can never find in other means of transport be it by Road or Air. The people whom you meet in trains become your friends for short duration and then after the journey you forget them. But you do remember them in some special ways. It is more easier to communicate with strangers in Train since we don't have some pre-conceived notions about them. Where as it becomes difficult to speak with people whom you know but have some Concepts regarding them which force you to be skeptical in talking to them.

In my part of the Bogie there was this group of three people who were going to Calicut. They were keralites. There was this other guy who seemed to be a Hyderabadi and who was more busy with his phone and songs,so din't get to know him much. There was this couple in the group i mentioned who were very sweet.They were in their 50's and the way the husband was pressing the legs of wife,it was worth seeing it. It must be because of Love or it can also be because of wife dominance!! You never know.

I talked with them and the only language which we could communicate in it was "English".Finally me having some knowledge helped me!! Surprisingly the other person in the group who was also in 50's had completed his MBA from calicut university and was so happy to say me that his college was only 3 minutes from his home!!

Two guys got into the Train at coimbatore and were very acting very strange!!

One of them had such a huge grin on his face as if someone had hit him just before getting onto the train and the other guy was listening to songs on loudspeaker mode irritating fellow passengers.I don't know how "educated" people do such Silly mistakes. The guy was in his formals and was looking as a corporate employee but he was showing such stupidity. When uncle said him to turn him off the phone only then he stopped it. Even i had thought of telling him but then considering i was younger to him i din't expect a good response from him so i refrained.

The group i was talking about got down at Pagalgat junction( Somewhere in Kerala) and they wished me luck for the interview and one uncle was so sure that i will get the admission!! See in so less time people see my Talents!! ( Which i am not aware of!!)

Then one more uncle who was also in his 50's got into the train and we talked for next 3 hrs!!

He was a Marketing manager of a company named Kerala Electricals limited( A PSU).He has been working there for 34yrs!! It was good knowing what opinion he had about the Youngsters,IT industry,Films,Politics,MBA,Family,Religion. We talked on almost all the topics which came to our mind!! It was good knowing him.

There is this feeling that after talking so long with someone on a Journey we should take their Phone number and keep in touch with them. But I feel we shouldn't do that,reason being it is a beautiful temporary relationship which is created and the major essence is it being Temporary.

We never might meet them again but they are etched in your memory at some corner of your mind. It is always beautiful to meet people on journey.

Part 2 of the journey is to be continued......

"Role of Idiot box"

Television in our country or for that matter across the world plays a very important role as a Medium for Entertainment,News etc. In our country the quality of the Television industry has gradually degraded over the decades. Just the other day i was reading a article which highlighted the great TV serials on Doordarshan when there was only one channel on the "Idiot box".

But now there are numerous channels and now we have a ministry to look after it!! (Information and broadcasting ministry).

But the point is whether TV is only for entertainment or can it be used for Educating people in various fields as well!! Media,especially electronic is so focussed on Breaking news philosophy that they have become news makers rather than news presenters!!

TV world has to understand the power of the medium and do more in bringing sense to the people rather than having 40 sec commercials on projects like Save tiger campaign.

Not that the commercials showcasing such projects are not required,but something more has to be done,we cant just have advertisements.

Media should have active debates on the the issues prevalent to the nation and lead the campaigns to bring along a change in the country. Sadly very few media houses play this role barring a few like NDTV and CNN-IBN.

One clear example which showcases the irresponsibility out industry is that, only foreign channels( Fox history,Discovery) showcase shows on the History,diversity of india but not even one show is showed by indian channels!! why do we need others to show,what we can do better after all we are the citizens of this country.( Not that others showing our country's history and diversity is bad!!)

There has to be new concepts which need to be implemented and one such is the new show which is being aired on Sony channel "Lift kara dey" which is a very new and wonderful concept. It brings together the stars,fans and the poor in a good way.

It is a Win-Win situation for everyone,fans get to meet their favorite star and whatever amount they earn in the competition is multiplied by a huge factor and the amount is given to poor by the stars. Such a noble concept!! But there is only one small problem which i have with the serial,

I know they try to make it more emotional since India runs with emotion and in that way the serial gets more TRP's. The kind of music or the atmosphere which they create when some poor people come into it is too much!! The fact that they are helping is great but why should they be shown in such a sorry state. We should not feel sorry for them,we should be happy that we are helping them!! Yes I agree they are in a very bad state but feeling more sorry for them will only make them realise their poorness. We should make them feel proud for what they are!!

Anyway thats a small change which is needed in the show,otherwise it is a excellent show!!

Kudos to the person who came up with the concept and of course karan johar as well.

What we call as Idiot box should be a medium which brings a positive change rather than a Negative change!!

"Feminine Power"

It is amazing how much literary talent our country has!! The op-ed pages of our National Newspaper "The Hindu" have always got a good response from the readers. Few days back,to be precise on 31st jan 2010,there was a article written by Seema kini a housewife which was thought provoking and made me realise the importance of the role of a Mother in present generation.

Here is the link of that article.

http://www.thehindu.com/op/2010/01/31/stories/2010013150071200.htm

She signifies the role of a mother in the present generation where there is not much difference in the genders. Women are in every field and possibly can achieve as much as a man does,if not more!! She realised that she had to give time to her young son and hence she left the job and spent more time with her family.

The article has been getting a great response and the letters sent to the editor are also something to ponder on!!

In my view, it is not only what a Mother thinks but also what family does. In today's world it is not uncommon to see working mother's but still there are many orthodox families who do not encourage women to be a shareholder in family income.

Now coming to the point where a mother is working,then i am in a better position to express the views since my mother has been working ever since i had opened my eyes in this enormous world. I remember a lot of memories shared with my mother in my young age but the single memory which stands out is the "Idiot box". I have all my life watched the television and wasted most of the precious time of growing up. If my mother like the author of the above article had given up her job and had only one objective of raising me then i am sure i would have been a lot different than what i am now,Obviously in a good sense!!

I cannot blame my mother since she had her own reasons to continue doing her job.

For some families it is a necessity that a Women works and increases the family income but for most of the well to do families who have a choice,there comes this concept of the gender bias.

Such women feel that if they dont work they would be acting as second fiddle all their life!!

What I dont understand why is that women have to show to the world that they are equal to men??

Why do they have to show their superiority??

I feel women are great,they are the one's who give birth to us and should always be respected no matter what they do,be it home maker or a CEO of a company!!!

The problem lies in the social stigma associated with the respect shown towards women generally!! Our today's world does not respect the women for what they are. There are many reasons for it. Be it the way women are shown in the television serials and movies. They are either shown crying or super women who can do anything for a family!!

Why cant they show women in a normal way?? Is it difficult??

It should be realised that the growing up age of children is very important and it is important for the parents to impart moral and ethical values to children from a young age and help them nourish their dreams and help them achieve them,Mothers are better equipped to do that since they are more caring than Men!!

One more very interesting point raised by the author is that why is GDP always calculated on the basis of the economic returns of the country why not on family,health,love,memories!!

There is really a problem on how GDP is calculated in the world,only based on Money!!

Even Nicolas sarkozy the French president feels that GDP should be calculated in a different way,but obviously he does not share our views. Here is the link reporting that.

http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/09/french-president-nicolas-sarkozy-gdp-is-inadequate-for-measuring-economic-health/

See I started the Post writing about women/mothers and at last i finish at GDP..See how women influence the GDP of a country!!