The first paragraph on Macroeconomics by Gregory Mankiw starts:

When you finish school and start looking for a full-time job, your experience will, to a large extent, be shaped by prevailing economic conditions. In some years, firms throughout the economy are expanding their production of goods and services, employment is rising, and jobs are easy to find. In other years, firms are cutting back production, employment is declining, and finding a good job takes a long time. Not surprisingly, any college graduate would rather enter the labor force in a year of economic expansion than in a year of economic contraction.

With RBI reining growth estimates -- so much so for the placement season this year!!

Anyway, in another interesting read the authors predict that the reason China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh (inspite of having 43% of global population) won only 6% of the Sydney Olympic Medals has a strong corelation to the fact that the these 4 countries contribute 5% of the Global GDP.
Times have changed: India alone contributes about 2.15% of Global GDP (World Bank 2007 est.), will we win the ~18 medals expected of us?!

I will miss ...

• Waking up with Sangram
• Going to classes with Boss
• Chattering with Ankit
• Lukkha with Chingi / Jhantu
• Sardar ka drama
• Cheema ke Fundae
• Mohta ka kyun
• Bhotica ki cheenkh

As classes start tomorrow, I am at a never before loss of comprehension here. Life might move on, but a part of me is left behind forever....

One Vote!

For all the Pre-JEE single-mindedness; 13th May 2004 is vividly etched in my memory.

Walking down from StarCity Theatre (not that I was watching a movie, thats just where my class was), I passed the returning office of Mumbai Central LokSabha Constituency - Ruparel College. The buzz of LokSabha results was everywhere & by the time, I reached home - I was happy that it was to be the last election I wouldn't vote in.
It wasn't to be. I didn't vote in the Corporation Elections & find all the roads digged up for no apparent reason. No direct implication here but it was high time, ''One Vote Doesn't Count" refrain to stop!

The past 4 years have given me & hordes of students ample reason to cheer and boo the Government of India - be it the YFE Movement regarding reservations in IITs, the recent faculty reservations in IITs, indiscriminate opening of IITs themselves or (on the other side) bold steps to further the cause of (what I believe is) a good Nuclear agreement, a bursting economy that is dishing out some meaty stuff, pretty peaceful & secular 4 years, an aviation sector, a telecom boom, & so on ...

While, all these issues primarily concern the urban middle class - thats the only set of people I expect to be reading this and most unfortunately, thats the set of people I expect to be only reading this. Blogging, lakeside chatter is all good but its high time we take up the only constitutional right that we have - Vote!

Consider this -
Thane is the second largest LS constituency in the country but had a 40.53% voter turnout. Thats like bottom-20 (excluding J & K) among the 543 LS Seats. (Source: Election Commission - LS 2004 - report). If it wasn't good enough, in the 2008 by-polls the turnout was estimated at 26%.
The turnout was equally bad for most other urban centers of this country - Mumbai South (44.2%), Nagpur(48.59%), Pune (47.82%), New Delhi(44.59%), Bangalore(54.26, 49.42%), Madras(45%,47%,49%).
As a result, it is possible to win a LS seat when less than 1 in 4 of the electorate supports your candidature. No wonder we think that the government barely listens to us.

Whatever be your personal agenda - coming LS elections are a good way to get started! But since, we might have them anytime from October 2008 to May 2009, atleast get your self registered as a voter. All it requires is to have a permanent home - I guess we all manage that.

For Maharashtra - This is a good way. Fill out the details & a postman will come to your doorstep to get your signature. [Honestly, I don't know how successfully does this translate into getting your name onto the voters' list - but lets have a little faith.]
Other states would have something similar is my guess.
Whoever reads this, do take this effort for your own self & then for the nation. Do urge others to register as voters asap, the government takes a while :P to get things done.

With my DDP written, I seriously plan to follow up on ways of getting oneself registered & will post back - but in a democracy everyone needs to pitch in. If you know something / someone that can help, do mail me.

A few Links in public interest:
1. http://mumbaicity.gov.in/htmldocs/elintro.htm
2. http://www.agnimumbai.org/ew1.asp

Monsoon Primer

Once a season, rains decides that the city should have a day in. July was ushered with one such.
Its been raining like, well, Bombay - for the past 10 hours or so. (I was warmly tucked in for the 1st 6, though). So after two cups of Coffee, one Bhutta & plenty of getting wet - heres what I did :).

Take a square bit of paper & fold it into a quarter. Well, simple enough.


Take the end with 4 leaves and fold 1 of them to a side and 3 to the other to get something as seen in the second image!


Open up the central region of the design to get a diamond with vertical creases as seen in the next image. Pull the creases to have a boat - that does floats!


Well, while what I might have heaped on you might be KG stuff, its good to practice ones' skills once in a while :P & make your own boat. Once that is done; its great joy to watch your creations go down the drain!:D