Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Is consumer really the king?

I had this thought when I was at a shopping mall recently.

The shopping mall security people are really funny guys. I mean, if you have the receipt, then how does it matter where you are exiting from, right? You might be in a rush to go to the loo. Or you have just realised that 2986445822 divided by 2565 is in fact 1164306.3633528265107212475633528 (This is of concern to you only if you are a scientist working in a nuclear power plant, calculating stuff. And if you HAVE made this mistake, do notify us in advance of the impeding holocaust.) And there is this irate Security fellow, asking you for your purchase receipt and telling you that he will not let you out if you don't show it to him. Now this is a real waste of time, as the cashier wouldn't have allowed you to pass without paying the cash! The irony is that shop lifters often go scot free; from right under their noses and normal, law-fearing citizens like you and me are harassed. But that is not what my today's blog is about. My blog topic, which you have probably forgotten by now, is Is consumer really the king?

I hear all sorts of people in all sorts of places saying that consumer is really king. This is not true. This is a conspiracy and this slogan has been floated by the marketing people. Is that really hard to believe? I mean, consider this : Who benefits most from the "feel good factor" that a consumer has? The vendor of course. This ploy the people haven't realised, because they are probably thinking : "Hey, that's a wonderful concept : Spend more to Save more!".

Not that I'm against the vendors or anything. And in case any of them have been offended, I offer my sincere apologies. But then, someone has to wake the ignorant masses. I sometimes wonder if people listen to me at all. Or am I the only person who realises the significance of 1164306.3633528265107212475633528? :-)

Females and human misery

Well, this is the second time I'm blogging this day. And yes, there is a reason to that. My questioning mind and its logical component have gone haywire trying to understand this phenomenon called "Women"

How many people know that most of the cyclones (hurricanes, willy - willies, etc) are named after women? The reason : They are unpredictable! :-) And so are the females I have been associated with all through my life. Following is the list of things that I've made a note of (note to self : never send this blog to any of my female friends. They will become "ex - friends") to understand (quote) Women (unquote)

Rule No. 1 : Never try to predict what a female is thinking or what she is going to do.

Rule No. 2 : In case of doubt, refer to Rule No. 1!

Rule No. 3 : There will be no second chance.

With these simple rules in place, I have been able to carry my "robotic" self through many conversations without ever having to face pouts and tantrums. While its true that I have made many a faux pas (That's French for Foot in the mouth), most of them have been forgivable. And whatever howlers I have been accused of weren't due to lack of compliance to the rules. External factors were responsible for the same; viz. my brain had stopped working due to lack of oxygen. Or maybe, it’s like the DOS (Denial of Service) attacks that servers on the internet face. When bombarded with too many requests, these just conk off! Maybe the female was yakking away to glory. Whatever the reason, the meeting probably ended with me wondering : "What the hell was she angry about?" :-(

So, in case you are in the habit of making blunders left, right and center, just follow the rules! They will keep you out of trouble for a long time to come. And don't worry if you do commit a gaffe once in a while. I think that they like that too! Damn unpredictable they are!

Monday, August 29, 2005

Blogging is easy!

Another day, another blog. I had thought this would be difficult. But now that I think of it, I find that its very easy. I mean, its easy to jot down whatever you are thinking of at any given time, isn't it? And there's the added benefit of free speech. Who doesn't want other people to hear their thoughts and hear their comments, for free!

Which brings me to today's question. Why are blogs becoming so popular? I seek an answer for this. Maybe I will find out if mine becomes popular someday. I'm going to preserve this post for posterity! :-)

Why too much isn't too good

If there's one thing that I have noticed and understood in my 22 years of existence on this planet, its this : "Greed is the destroyer". One should never want too much of a good thing. Its not good for the heart :-) (There are people who will say that its not good for the soul, but I beg to differ.) Whatever greed a person has, it is going to affect his/her heart eventually. This can be proved : Wealth and food are the two major greed causing stuff. And these cause heart problems by hypertension and high blood pressure. So, forget the soul, stop being greedy for your own hearts sake!

Money has similar effects; although its capability to cause damage is many times greater. Take for example what is currently happening to the English Premier League. The Champions of the League, both in terms of money and in terms of points, (Chelsea (for the uninitiated) have so much wealth that they don't know what to do with it. As a result of this, they have bought top players from all other leagues, in the process robbing the team of a good playmaker in one case, a striker in another, and the list goes on. So much so, that the current Chelsea manager can afford to rest an entire team for a match and can still have eleven superb players playing for him on the pitch. This has lead to unnecessary problems for managers of other teams, who aren't as lucky as one Mr. Mourinho, because they can't compete with his money! Michael Essien, who has been recently purchased from Lyon, was an absolute necessity for that team. In the scheme of things going on in EPL, he could have created wonders for some team like Manchester City. But since they didn't have the monetary power, there was no way he would have even heard of the team, forget playing for it!

--
Govindraj

A Nexus?

Question of the day : Why did it rain the proverbial "cats and dogs" in
North Mumbai on that fateful Tuesday? And why was South Mumbai spared?
Have the politicians got control over the Rain Gods too? :-)

Govindraj

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Introduction


This is me.
Alright, I don't exactly look like Einstein or Stephen Hawking. But underneath that huge bulk that I have for a brain, there is a mind that is always questioning. Well, not always! :-)

There are some things which are best left unquestioned. Like why the West behaves the way it does. Or what is it that makes the Human Body work. And why we should leave Nature as it is and not try to tinker with it too much.