Blog@GraceJunction

The newspapers were covered with spine chilling images and reports of the city’s riots and happenings, however another caption that’s been flashed thru the journals was “End of Season Sale, upto -70 % off”. This I guess must have brought a smile on the readers face as they can now buy their favorite brands at such a discounted price.

I believe the end of season sales is the time when the product pricing hits reality. It’s the time when all the glam and glitter of the brand, the brand value, the snob and air around the products hit reality and the prices reflect the actual worth of the products.

Ain’t it true? There is always a time in life when the season ends and things hit reality. The products which were being displayed on real-life like mannequins, the classy jingles, the promises/claims which make it highly desirable and instill a vacuum in our lives, adorned and kept under the glamorous lights within matter of seconds fall down in value. The price tags are cancelled now, the discounts highlight on them. (more…)

If a stranger asks for direction in most places of Gujarat, India, he is likely to encounter some strange words, especially English words. Two of these words strangely occur together-‘Round Circle’. I mean, what’s a ‘Round Circle’!? People here, usually use it to define a Round-about ahead on the road! But isn’t it a almost redundant usage of words. A circle is round and a round can be defined as a circle! However, be it right or wrong, it does serve the purpose. People won’t remain lost on the roads in Gujarat.

Now I was reminded of this odd usage when I read about the ‘Tobias’ family in the USA. For Keith and Tracy Tobias, the parents of three teenagers in La Quinta, California, turning an old workshop behind their house into a movie theater for their children was an obvious move. In fact, the couple’s reasons had to do with more than their love of fun. The Tobiases were looking for a way to keep their children at home! For parents determined to stay on top of their children’s social lives, a rec room, fitted out with a movie theater, a Ping-Pong table and a video game area, seemed an ideal solution. (more…)

Hey hello Mr. Blog Reader. I am the brain of Mr.Hyde Junior! Thinking? Wondering? Trying to figure out? Leave all that hard work to me. Relax and just listen carefully to all that I have to say and things will be clear. And yes, don’t try to make an impression. It will not help. Just plainly simply listen now, period.

I am one of the most important parts of any human being’s body but when I get a wicked heart to scheme, I become the most powerful tool of the modern man! Yes I depend on the heart for oxygen, you see!

But let me tell you what I did to Mr. Hyde Junior. His mother was devout, God loving lady. Her parents brought her up in the fear of God and she slowly became a beautiful young woman in the eyes of the Creator. All the people around adored her, Miss.Wisdom as she was always called by her parents then one day went off to study at the IIM. (more…)

7 July 2008,

KORAMANGALA, BANGALORE, 6:30 a.m. :

Why are you scared buddy? I am not a stranger but you have known me better than anybody around you. The only difference being that I chose to remain inside of you and talked to you in whispers and sometimes groanings. Pardon me that I am scaring you today. It was getting suffocating inside.

I know, you are having the empty feeling today and don’t know how to respond to me, your inner man. But I am here today to join you on your day as a friend. Did you see the newspapers today? Look at all those beautiful girls on the supplement, I have been drooling on them since morning. They sure have given me a kick start to the day. Hope to catch up with all those news and photos of Footballers wives once I reach office with you. Well today I am not going to let you enjoy them all alone! Heeeeeee Heeeeeee! (more…)

A recent survey done in Britain found that two thirds of adults believe that the moral values of young people have declined considerably since the time when they were young. According to most of them, the rise of the celebrity culture and weakening family bonds are undermining traditional moral values among young people! Who is to blame? Are these adults listening to their own conclusions? Or its everybody else that is wrong!

We cannot do much about the celebrity culture, can we? But weakening family bonds? But it seems, the society is not too eager to do much on that front either! Bonding with kids means investment. Investing time and also infusing values.

It’s a very bad world out there. It’s pretty much difficult to barely survive! When do we find time and opportunity to care about values, much less, pass it on to the kids! Who has time to intervene in the kids’ lives and help them navigate the challenges of modern day life? They will find their way. (more…)

Recently I was passing by a transport godown near our factory. I passed by that part of their godown where they were taking in the goods. It was a fairly big door they had there. But a little outside the door they had “Size Restriction Bars” (I don’t know what else to call it). It’s a steel structure made with heavy channels (often rails), with two vertical bars and one horizontal bar (a shape similar to the greek alphabet “Pi”).

Though the door was bigger, all the goods that could go inside had to pass through this “Size Restriction Bars” and only then the transporters could “book in” the goods for transit to other places. Probably the size restriction was keeping in mind the size of the truck container or it was a size restriction put on that particular godown. Whatever it was, the message was very clear: If you have dimensions that cannot meet our standards, go away.

The heavy steel bars made sure that this standard set by the company management would not give into pushing by mere mortals, perhaps not even a heavy truck!! The decision was final and binding on all, even if it was the biggest player in our industrial estate! (more…)

“Life-On your Terms”. This is the quote I came across on the cover page of an investment review magazine of one of the biggest banks in the country; for some reasons I’ll keep it unnamed.

The magazine is a research magazine which shows the past performance of all the investment products available in the market. In short the magazine is giving us data to analyze and understand where to put our money so that we can make more money and when we have more money we can live our “Life on our Terms”.

But can we really live “life on our terms”?

If i see it from the material perspective may be “yes”. You see people around us taking control of their life: deciding what to eat, drink, when to drink and with whom to live, what brand, and even pre marital, post marital relations et cetera. These are components that people consider when defining “life on their terms”, doing what they want and when they want without strings and without any moral standards. (more…)