My earliest memories of the Olympics are that of Carl Lewis running away with 4 Golds at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. And then attempting the same in the 1988 Seoul Games – till being stunned by Ben Johnson in the 100 m finals. Eventually, after 3 days, he got that too – due to, … Read more
I read a book titled “Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking” over the weekend. It is about the unconscious, intuitive power of our mind in making decisions in a flash. Something that can work both ways – good and bad – depending on the situation; and how to harness its power, as well as … Read more
Where does misuse of power and position end and where does corruption begin? Consider the following examples from the private sector: – The boss likes office parties and asks his favorite ‘compliant’ subordinate to pay the party bill and claim reimbursement, as the boss is the only approving authority. – The boss ‘negotiates’ with the … Read more
Oct 09, 2012 “I sometimes feel that the West Indies is every non-West Indian cricket fan’s favourite team after their own country.” Jigneshbhai made that remark as we were having our coffee. Swami was enthused with this cricketing remark. “Actually you might be right” he said. “If one were to ask cricket fans from different … Read more
“Remember many years back when you lived in Mumbai, there was an advertisement by ‘Baba Bengali’ stuck in the local train compartments?” Jigneshbhai asked Swami yesterday when we had our coffee. Swami broke into a smile, evidently remembering it clearly. “Yeah – it used to have claims like ‘solve all your problems in 11 days’ … Read more
“Aisa to Aadmi Life mein Doich time bhaagta hai. Olympic ka race ho, yaa Police ka case ho. Tum kisliye bhaagta hai bhai?” asked Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’. I felt like asking this to a friend of mine who I met a few days back. Despite the fact that he worked in the … Read more
“Do you remember that fishing rod ad where a serious looking businessman, who has almost given up on finding any fish, is sitting holding his rod patiently, and then a local fisherman comes, applies 4 drops of Fevikwik and runs away with the fish?” asked Jigneshbhai, as we were sipping our weekend coffee. Both Swami … Read more
“India can learn a lot from its first superstar” said Jigneshbhai while sipping his coffee. “It has been over a month since Rajesh Khanna died, but I am still not able to get over it.” I was not a big Rajesh Khanna fan, more of a Bachchan fan so to speak. But my broker friend … Read more
A predominant economist from the early 20th century credited with shaping modern economic theory, now called ‘Keynesian theory’, John Maynard Keynes was a British economist and thinker who wrote a number of influential books and essays such as ‘The Economic Consequences of the Peace’, ‘The End of Laissez-faire’ and ‘The General Theory of Employment, Interest … Read more