Think Tank

Study LeaveMy first trimester exams got over yesterday. The exams had started from 17th and youmight wonder how could I consistently write in between the exams? I too must havewondered at some time; but not after I realised:  Everything is possible unless we try to cook excuses.OrEverything is possible until we try to cook excuses.And [...]

Amar Shaheed Bhagat Singh Today is the 100th birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. This day has become more special because 2007 is the centenary year of his birth. From last September 28th, 2006, birth centenary programs of Bhagat Singh had started nationally, not to mention that most of the programs were organized at non-government level. [...]

Faithfulness  Kumar Rahul Tiwary One of my friends told me this real story. His father was posted in a small forest town at that time. One day, while he was passing through a stretch adjacent to the forest, 5-6 wild dangerous looking dogs surrounded him. There was no one else around. Suddenly, a small local dog [...]

I decided to post this message I received, here:  Conventional methods of Charity – helping or harming vanvasis? The volunteers of late Shri J.P. Narayan’s Sarvoday movement used to regularly clean a particular slum area. One day when due to some unavoidable circumstances they were not able to do so, the slum dwellers were angry with [...]

Perseverance  Kumar Rahul Tiwary A wild butterfly has entered my room. It is flying towards the tube light, hitting it and then coming back. It keeps doing this until it falls into some dark and congested place. While she was sitting on a book, I pulled the book and threw her out of the window. After [...]

Celebrations - All Around! One of the first things I noticed in most of the pictures of the winning cricket team that the newspapers came up with this morning was - none of the pictures featured Dhoni in it. (I took a long time to get this one..) You can check out any national newspaper. It [...]

Forbes Asian “Fabulous 50” List - 2007 Great news. A total of 12 Indian companies made it to the third annual Forbes Asia Fabulous 50 List.  The 12 Indian companies in alphabetical order are:  ·        Bharat Heavy Electricals ·        Bharti Airtel ·        Grasim Industries·        HDFC Bank ·        ICICI Bank·        Infosys Technologies·        Larsen & Toubro·        Reliance Industries·        [...]

Aisa Kaliyug?  In our childhood, I got curious when I first learned the Hindi phrase, “Chand ke upar thookna”. What is the meaning of that? The teacher said, “If you spit at the moon, looking above, the spit will fall onto you only”. Yeah, I understood. But how come the Chief Minister of TN doesn’t [...]

Hierarchy of needsMaslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory in psychology that Abraham Maslow proposed in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. Maslow’s theory contended that as humans meet ‘basic needs’, they seek to satisfy successively ‘higher needs’ that occupy a set hierarchy. Maslow’s theory was regarded as an improvement over previous theories [...]

Creative Destruction and Destructive Creativity Kumar Rahul Tiwary These days, I have observed that some young people are very proud of their creativity, which is destructive; in fact one of my friends claimed it as one of his strengths!  I remember this scene from in one B&W Hindi movie:   Johnny Walker and his son used to sell [...]

Yours Humbly Kumar Rahul TiwaryTheodore Roosevelt was the President of US before Mr. Taft. He was extremely popular among masses; even his servants loved him. Two years after Roosevelt retired, he called at the White House one day when the President and Mrs Taft were away. He greeted all the old White House servants by [...]

Toothpaste Market in India Synopsis (part) of our research on toothpaste market in India.  o       Toothpaste market in India is worth Rs 2200 Crore (2006).  o       In India, per capita toothpaste consumption stood at 74g in 2005, which is amongst the lowest in the world, compared to 350g and 300g in Malaysia and Vietnam respectively. [...]

 The whole Mumbai has become saffron. Today, one day after the festival started, I can see children, ladies and men of all ages on the streets, charring their Ganapati Bappa with them for immersion.They are all colored in abeer. They shout:  Ganapati Bappa Morya! Mangal Murthi Morya! Ek Do Teen Chaar, Ganapati ki Jaya-jaya-kaar! There are homes [...]

Divine InterventionsThat day, I came to a conclusion: men look ugly when they cry. This has got nothing to do with male chauvinism. I was watching TV, a news channel to be precise. A man was shown weeping. He was claiming injustice, in between, when he was not weeping. But his expectation for justice was [...]

Nervous Govt now chants ‘Ram naam’ [Link]  A deeply embarrassed government has decided to withdraw from its affidavit in the Ram Setu case the portion which said there is no historical and scientific evidence to establish the existence of Lord Ram or other characters of the Ramayana. The government will file a supplementary affidavit in [...]

Blasphemy, oh yes!The controversy: Quoting TOI: “In the midst of a political controversy over the Sethusamudram project, the Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that there was no historical evidence to establish the existence of Lord Rama or the other characters in Ramayana.” Opposition BJP blasted the Congress-led UPA government, accusing it of “blasphemy”. [...]

Behind a Successful NameKnow how the names of your favourite companies came into being.  Kumar Rahul Tiwary Apple Computers: Apple was founder Steve Jobs’ favourite fruit. He was three months late in filing a name for his business. So he threatened to name the company “Apple” if other colleagues don’t come up with a better name. [...]

To my teacher Mrs. Seema Khanvilkar  Dear Madam,  That our last class in business communications is over, the Mondays without your classes would be strange. Today, while going through the newspaper, I got to read an article which made me remember you. Asked if he found captaining Indian cricket team a burden in such a [...]

Rich India - Poor IndiaKumar Rahul Tiwary  Many a times, we come across arguments India is a poor country. And then some others debate that she is not. Thanks to the World Bank, there is a clear classification of countries based on their per capita incomes.  Category                                                 Per-Capita Income Low income countries                           /=$ 11,116 (Rs 4,55,756)  So [...]

Reality or Dream Kumar Rahul Tiwary He got up at 6. In fact, he was forced to wake up because of a pain in his stomach. He could see around him. Mother had just returned after bringing drinking water. Sister was packing father’s tiffin.  Four hours later…. “Thank you sir”, he rushed out of the office. These [...]