ShamiKa.in

Last week I received a call from my professor (who was also my mentor all through college) asking if I would like to judge a departmental event on Saturday. My reply was a big YES! Being called back by your alma mater is always an honour and something I had been looking forward to for quite some time.  The week long event was on "Acing the Recruitment Process" where student applicants were made to sit through mock interview rounds starting with resume screening, group discussions and finally the personal interview (which I was to judge). I think that something like this is a definite must-have in any institute. While degree college gives you an idea of what you will be working on in the coming 10 years (that is if you make a career in what you've studied) it really doesn't really put you in the seat of a candidate who's applying for a job. While fresh graduates know WHAT they want to do, and WHERE they want to be in 5 years, many of them are unware of HOW to take ...

Over the last 4 days, news articles have been pouring in of how badly screwed we are thanks to all the 'warning bells' the generations before us have ignored. I'd like to think that our parents' and grandparents' generation wasn't so much at fault but there doesn't seem to be a lot of other people left to blame for the state of our environment right now.    What's all the uproar about? The IPCC   has in it's latest report said that global heating has arrived which will see Earth’s average temperature reach 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels around 2030, a decade earlier than projected only three years ago, according to a landmark UN assessment published on Monday. The threshold will be breached around 2050, no matter how aggressively humanity draws down carbon pollution. “This report should send a shiver down the spine of everyone who reads it," said Dave Reay, director of the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute at the Universit...

  #wordoftheday is a Shamika.in spin-off where I post about new words & terms I come across either through articles, forwards or just simply the dictionary. The Backstory - I studied in ICSE board right up till 10th standard. Which means I was done studying the unabridged version of Huckleberry Finn by the time I was in 6th Grade and The Merchant of Venice & As You Like It by Shakespeare by the time I was 15. Living in the 21st Century and studying something that was written in the 1600s. Not that I was complaining; Shakespeare was a pleasure to read (and also a HUGE flex when I went to college - as I later realized). Two days ago

2021. The year of finding normalcy in chaos.  Chaos brought about by the uncertainty of the virus, of what tomorrow would look like and what is to come. With new processes being set and routines changing overnight, (some of which happened for the better and some which I’d be more than happy to see not be a part of tomorrow) the one thing that remained constant like a silent support system was nature.

Once upon a time, a few mistakes ago, there lived (and still lives) a man who decided to take the Pandemic very lightly. What happened to him? He contracted the virus. Not only that, he passed it on to his entire family (we live in India - so you can assume it was a joint one). His wife, brother, sister-in-law, children and parents. All of whom tested positive even though they've been staying home since the start of the year. That brings us to the question - So what? The point is, one person's recklessness can result in an entire family being affected by it, in the process rendering everyone else's efforts of try to stay safe a waste . The lockdown has been tough on everyone for some time and things have been abnormal (or should we say - the new normal) for longer than we expected. However, as sensible adults and citizens of a country we know (or rather hope) is trying do it's best in controlling the spread of the virus, we must take it upon ourselves to try as hard as ...

Very often it so happens that you encounter a problem and arrive at a solution which appears to be the most logical one - an outcome of the First Order Thinking.  Every action has a consequence. And every consequence has another consequence. The premise of  Second Order Thinking  is that every solution, if not evaluated thoroughly, will have a bigger consequence which has worse side effects than the original one, thus possessing the potential to mess up the ecosystem (imagine being asked to rework and made additions to a code which already works perfectly fine. What you will end up doing may not only give you the desired outcome but may also make more undesired changes to the output). Simply put, the prevention of this kind of a "screw up" is what calls for Second Order Thinking.  Let me give you two examples which lacked Second Order Thinking:

4 days ago when PM Modi requested the nation in his 30 minute long #JantaCurfew speech to bang their utensils and applaud the people on the frontline on Sunday, 22nd March 2020, I must admit that I wasn't expecting much of a turnout. But lo and behold!  Modi isn't our Prime Minister for nothing. The man actually got everyone up, awake and banging their thaalis , not at 5 PM, but as early as 4:45 PM (atleast around my place) . All he asked was for 5 minutes. But we gave, whoever deserved our gratitude, a full 30 minutes of ear-deafening and enthusiastic thaali -banging appreciation (in hindsight, it would've been so cool if the whole thing turned into an impromptu "We will rock you" mass concert). The whole vibe, for that period, was amazing. Amid all the stress of everyone contracting the Corona Virus, I actually felt for sometime, that there was a chance, that India would survive the outbreak much better than any of the other countries would. T...

Like any other evening on my way home from work, I went to stand in the share auto line for rickshaws, when one guy popped his head out of his auto to ask if I wanted to get in (note: there were already 3 men sitting inside). I nodded in agreement and in less than 30 seconds one of the men was asked to sit in front. Three minutes into the ride, the driver and one of the uncles sitting beside me got into a small (but very respectful) disagreement. The conversation went as follows: Passenger Uncle #1 - Why do you need 4 people to start your journey. This is a 3 seater vehicle. Rickshaw wale Bhaiyya  - Saab, no one after 7 PM will start their gaadi without 4 people. Passenger Uncle #1 - This is wrong. Kanoon aisa nhi hai (It's not the law). Increase the per seating rates if you want. One day a policeman will catch you and you people will go on strike, leaving us stranded. Rickshaw wale Bhaiyya  - Siri, yaha 7 baje ke baad Police ka kanoon chalta hai. No one will touch...

About a week ago, I was tasked with formulating the culture document for my Company.I love writing, so this presented itself as an excellent opportunity to do something different.  Attempting to do something for the first time always requires research. This may include reading culture handbooks of different companies, talking to the management as well as employees who've been with the organization since a long time. During one such interaction, I was introduced to a quote (authored by Rob Siltanen) which I totally related and agreed with: “Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them ...

Everyone looks forward to weekends for the simple reason that they get to relax, unwind and recharge themselves for another hectic workweek. But not the Maharashtra Govt. Atleast not this weekend. In between Friday night and Saturday early morning, our State Govt proved to us that if they put their minds to getting something done, they will; even if it involves staying up post their working hours. Hail Politics and Self - Interest! I guess it's pretty apparent by now what this writeup is going to be about. But no. I won't bore you with that anymore. Instead, I'll include a few links to help you catch up:

The idea was very simple. 11 SMEs from various industries. 20 minutes to explain their business , growth, financials and expansion plans. No Q&A session.  Audience: Interested investors & Me Location: National Stock Exchange, BKC Off late, I've started venturing into a lot of new things. One of them includes visiting places/sessions/seminars/events to see what new is out there (even if that means I have to go alone). About a week ago, my father noticed an SME (small to medium enterprises) stars meet event opening on the Alpha Ideas blog page. Now I work Monday to Friday, so sacrificing my Saturday morning sleep, I must admit, wasn't something I was looking forward to. However......

What is Boomer? Boomer  is an informal term for  baby boomer , a person born during the baby boom (sharp increase in birthrates) after World War II. This generation generally includes anyone born in the US between 1946–65, a time of great economic prosperity. What is Ok Boomer? Ok Boomer  is a viral internet slang phrase used, often in a humorous or ironic manner, to call out or dismiss out-of-touch or close-minded opinions associated with the baby  boomer  generation and older people more generally.

Today's papers were filled with the Ayodhya Verdict. The decision made put a final end to a dispute which has been going on for the last 5 centuries.  One of the points put forward by one of the parties was to be compensated for the losses which they bore due to past regimes. Mentioned below is an excerpt from the verdict which rules out against the demand:  PS - The excerpt has been taken taken from the TOI writeup (dated 10th November 2019).

India is a culturally diverse country. Which means it is home to people who belong to different faiths and follow different practices.  Now, it is no hidden secret that a majority of Hindus and Muslims have not got along well in the past (and maybe in the present too). There have been instances when difference in opinions and understanding (or obsession) of religions has taken a bad turn. In such a situation, it is very important to have a body in the country who thinks rationally and makes their decisions based on facts and evidences rather than being swayed but religious sentiments.  Enter the Indian Judiciary.  The Ayodhya Verdict panel - (L to R) - Justice Ashok Bhushan, Justice S A Bobde, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi (centre), Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice S Abdul Nazeer.  Now, a lot of citizens may not agree to this, but in these past years, our judges of the Supreme and High Courts have taken quite bold decisions. How much diff...

The Ayodhya Dispute: It is a political, historical and socio-religious debate, centered on a plot of land in the city of  Ayodhya ,  Uttar Pradesh  from 1528 to 2019. The issues revolves around the control of a site traditionally regarded among Hindus to be the birthplace of the Hindu deity  Ram , the history and location of the  Babri Masjid  at the site, and whether a previous Hindu temple was demolished or modified in order to make place for and create the mosque. This mosque was subsequently  destroyed during a political rally  which turned into a riot on 6 December 1992. 5 centuries of dispute.  5 Suits. 26 Points. 533 Exhibits. 88 Witnesses and 41 Days of Hearing later........ The Ayodhya Verdict: The Supreme Court ordered the land to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple. It also ordered the government to give an alternate 5 acres of land to the Sunni Waqf Board for the purpose of building a mosqu...

Ever wondered why people almost always lose money in a Casino (except for the few times when luck works in their favour and they leave richer than when they first entered)? Well, for starters, the House always wins because they rig the game. How?

Trade expectancy is the calculation that shows what the typical profit is for each trade that is placed. If it's a negative, the strategy is a loser. Here is an easy way to understand it with a simple example. Firstly, the calculation combines how many trades are typically won with the average loss on losers and the average gain on winners. Say for example, you buy a stock at Rs.100, your stop loss/risk for the trade is 10 points (you will sell when the price falls to Rs. 90) and your target is 20 points from you purchase price ( i.e, Rs. 120).

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd. is a home finance company which has caught itself up in a problem they did not see coming. So what's all the fuss about? This is what normally  happens : You put your hard earned money in a low risk debt instrument (usually marketed by a mutual fund)  and forget about it for sometime because you know (or atleast you think you do) your money isn't going anywhere. DHFL comes and borrows money from a debt mutual fund for its HF loans. This keeps on happening periodically and the general understanding is that the company will repay your MF in regular intervals of time. End of story. This is what has happened :

Cross default is a provision in a bond indenture or loan agreement that puts a borrower in default if the borrower defaults on another obligation. Simply put, if you take a housing loan from Bank A repayable yearly for 5 years at a fixed interest rate, you are liable to pay the installments at the end of the year. However, if you have also taken some other kinds of loans, say for example, car loan from Bank B, and end up defaulting on that, Bank A will ask you to pay the rest of your amount immediately instead of waiting for the loan term to end. So, a default on one loan becomes a trigger factor for the repayment of the other loans that you have taken. Why? The answer is a question. What guarantee does Bank A have of you paying up their money and not running away when you are struggling to pay up to Bank B right now? Better to get paid now rather than wait and cry later on. Cut your losses short.

The thought of vacations sometimes is a lot more fun than the actual vacation for some people. Summer holidays can get quite boring if you don't have anything on your calendar. At that time, you'll remember just how much you miss college. But the hols (that's a word from the very popular child detective series "The Famous Five" ) can also be a very good time to brush up on some reading and help widen your perspective and understand of the world while you become a couch potato (atleast that way, you win one time). I've compiled a list of books that have the power of getting you hooked on and for sometime (even if just for a few hours a day) giving you the opportunity of living the lives of the characters in the books. Afterall they do say,  "A normal person lives only One Life, but a reader lives a thousand in a lifetime".  Jeffery Archer Books: Clifton Chronicles Mightier than the Sword Sins of a Father  Personal Favorites: Be C...