Blog@GraceJunction

The young India is already behaving in a very different way than their parents. They are earning younger, and working in myriad “new age” professions e.g. dance and fitness instructors, radio and TV jockeys, adventure tourism, cooking, grooming, gaming, modeling, acting, counseling besides, of course, retail and IT and other emerging sectors. They are making good money too.

More and more of them are becoming millionaires and the age they reach there is coming down too. The IT sector especially is offering almost double the salary than any other stream and the growth too is about 20% per annum, which is again higher than any other stream. Every mother is now looking for a software professional for her daughter! These class, who were considered to be geeks and nerds and not exactly – the marriage material, are now the most sought after lot. Money, and big money at that, is causing major social and cultural shifts. (more…)

Few men sat together and played with the LIBOR rates in the wake of the US funds crisis and this has allowed in artificial interest rates into the world economy which could have serious ramifications very soon. LIBOR rates are used as benchmark for over 300 trillion USD worth of transactions worldwide!

Few men sit together at the OPEC and decide how much you and I will pay for our petrol or diesel. They decide the production limits of its constituent countries and this gives them large control over the prices of crude. The crude cost per barrel is estimated to be around 15 USD per barrel, that however is now selling at 130 USD per barrel or even more. (more…)

LIFE LESSONS

A church pastor once asked young men in the church to volunteer to sell new bibles in their neighbourhoods and raise some funds for the church. Three of them volunteered. Jack and Paul were professional salesman and so the pastor was glad. But Louis, was only a local farmer and he stammered too! However, not wanting to discourge him, the pastor sent them all off with a stock of bibles.

The following week, Jack proudly reported the sale of 20 bibles and Paul reported the sale of 28! The pastor was really impressed. When it was Louis turn, the pastor asked him, “Could you sell any at all?”. Louis handed him a packet, which the pastor discovered had proceeds of the sale of 320 bibles! (more…)

The human appendix (vermiform appendix), located at the junction of the small and the large intestine in all humans, is considered a vestigial (useful once upon a time but now degenerate and ill formed) organ. It is taught about in schools as a reminder of what used to be an useful organ some time in history in some remote ancestors of the human race.

Some say that the appendix used to be useful in the digestion of leaves and others say it used to be useful in the digestion of raw red meat and when our remote ancestors stopped consuming both these items, the appendix shrunk and has assumed in current shape and size! However both these views are questionable because very few mammals have an appendix at all and in those that do, it bears little ressemblance to the human appendix!

Everyone lives happily with it until it becomes painfully inflamed, when the only treatment is to remove it surgically. Then everyone lives happily without it! So why is it there in the first place? (more…)

Yesterday, I was introduced to this essential protein that I have had in me all my life and knew nothing about! In fact, its there in you, and in everyone who ever lived!

My friend tells me, if we were to make a man with brick and mortar, Laminin, the protein would be the mortar. It is the protein that holds everything in our body together. Really? There is enough and more about Laminin on the internet.

Laminin is a protein found in the “extracellular matrix”, the sheets of protein that form the substrate of all internal organs also called the “basement membrane”. It has four arms that can bind to four other molecules. The three shorter arms are particularly good at binding to other laminin molecules, which is what makes it so great at forming sheets. The long arm is capable of binding to cells, which helps anchor the actual organs to the membrane. (more…)

On my way to work, I have to always pass through a railway crossing (a.k.a. level crossing). Mostly, regardless of the time that I go for work, I encounter a closed gate bringing a sudden stop to my usually fast journey.

When the train is passing by, every one has to stop. Regardless of who is in the vehicle, all have to wait till the train passes. Regardless of what the vehicle is, none of the vehicles is now as important as the train. Though the train maybe carrying only ordinary people, less important than the ones waiting in their cars et cetera, yet the only thing they can do is- to wait. However urgent and important the work on the other side of the gate maybe, the gate will not open. Be it a matter of crores or even a matter of life and death. (more…)

Dear beloved Son,

This is the first day in years that I have spent without listening to your voice. I still remember the first day I saw you besides your mother in the hospital. Oh what joy to have held you in my arms for the first time, my heart was pounding so hard just thinking that I am a proud father and the responsibility that was to follow.

You grew in my arms those first few years and you became the centre of our lives, both of us made all our plans, with ‘you’ as the priority of our lives. Probably we were overwhelmed and did not know how to react and we decided to bring you all the good things in life. We never compromised on anything that was important to you, whether it was your studies or health. We brought home the best that money could buy. (more…)

India. A Monday morning in the May of 2008. It’s his first day at duty and the only thing on his mind is: “to make a difference“. He is determined to be unlike the ones before him. He would be clean, uncorrupted and only stand for the law and the rules. He will enforce it and propagate it. He takes up position at one of the main traffic junctions.

He soon realises that culprits are ‘dime a dozen’. They are everywhere. Most riders are without their helmets. Some drivers do not have seat belts on. Others have dark films on it. Still others have no colors prescribed by the law on the lights, bumpers or the back. Still others have heads tilted while riding and many a drivers are juggling while driving - trying to finish the most important telephone call of their life. Many more are standing in the wrong lanes! God only knows how many of them have licenses. (more…)

Out of the total arrests made in the country, 44.6% belonged to the 18-30 year age group. Many of them are novices and are not hardcore criminals. Most of them engage in crime for easy money, money they use to fulfill the aspirations raised in them by the “glamour” they see around.

The police and experts feel that these should be given “a second chance“, and they are sure that most of them will reform. Well, might be.

Many youngsters are increasingly being attracted to the word ‘hack’. They sleep during the day, chat with the world at night and make money too! Using ‘keywords’ and ‘codes’ and help from others across the world, they hack into servers of multinationals and payment gateways and make money through online fraud. It has changed their social life, made them happening and cool and also equipped them with the right gadgets! Another chance? (more…)

Hey Shridhar!

Sorry I did not get any reply from your personal mail id and did not have any contact numbers to get in touch with you for these last two years. Heard that you are doing well in life, that you joined an IT major and are now settled in the U.S. Ravi gave me the news when I was chatting with him. You are the only guy who has got settled so fast, but you deserve it.

It has been two desperate years for me, hunting jobs and making ends meet has been a Herculean task. Natasha and I soon moved in to another apartment after our graduations, she has landed a job in a bank and I am still languishing in a call centre, the same old routines, only thing that has changed is that now I am a floor manager. The BPO’s have been hit hard with the fall in number of clients due to the American slowdown. Pressures to keep our jobs are increasing and my medical bills are not likely to come down any time soon. (more…)