1) The AC at DOMS
2) The yes sir, 5 minute sir, please sir man of Tifanys
3) Poonam Badam Milk
4) DC++
5) Bandwidth on weekends (through illegal proxy settings)
6) The constant cribbing of my friends
7) The crazy monkeys
8 ) Midnight Counter-strike

and what I won’t
1) The extreme heat of the city
2) The mess food
3) Examination grades
4) The hostel loo
5) MBA bull****
6) The cribbing of the rickshaw drivers
7) The (pathetically slow) hostel net

As long as there are more things to miss, there’s always a reason to go back to IIT. Btw what will you miss?

This incident took place when I was travelling from Chennai to Mumbai by train. A vendor was selling an assortment of food items including potato wafers, chips and other eatables. As is the style in Indian trains, he was continuously shouting out what he was selling. This mainly included, “Wafers… kurkure…”.

But as soon as he came near our berth, where four of us guys were sitting, he immediately started shouting out “…cigarettes, gutkha, Manikchand…” How’s that for effective customer segmentation? Not that we bought anything from him, but on average this strategy would definitely help him garner more sales. Who says you need an MBA from a B-school to be an effective seller?

One of my favourite ads is the Priceless series by Mastercard. This is where they list down a few expenses and then as the punchline, deliver something which cannot be measured in money. It conjures up a beautiful combination of pride and emotion for the viewer. Here’s my own version of the ad if ever the Indian Railways decided to follow that format..

Read more…

Though the diagram more or less explains it, here’s the gist of it.

1) Start by discussing the problem, maybe by repeating the definition.
2) Try to link it to the Supply and Demand concept.
3) For added effect, link it to an existing economic issue, like the sub-prime crisis or the P-Notes issue.

The interviewer is likely to be impressed! While you’re digesting this, read the previous post as well.

If the sub-prime crisis has given anything to the junta in general, it is a no-holds-barred excuse to attribute anything and everything to the crisis. Even though the topic is now stale and the interest of the people is moving on to newer issues like the never ending bull run in the Indian stock market or the Sethusamudram project, sub-prime has become a common term in our vocabulary.

The appreciating rupee? Because of sub-prime.
Rising interest rates? Because of sub-prime.
Falling interest rates? Because of sub-prime.

Even in the classroom, we find the sub-prime crisis rising up now and again in all subjects ranging from Economics to Operations Research and Organizational Behaviour. Every Tom, Dick and Harry has now become an expert in sub-prime. Its high time when I’m waiting for the following scenario

While at the local snack parlour,
Me: Why have you increased the price of bread omelette?
Gurunath stores: Saar, sub-prime. Hens tensed up. Supply of eggs low. So omelette now more expensive.

Prime excuse of sub-prime
Professor: Why didn’t you come to class yesterday?
Me: Sir, I was affected by an acute attack of sub-prime.

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