February 18, 2008

US Heading 4 a Recession?

For the past couple of weeks the word 'recession' is the most widely used word amongst the desis out here which includes poor souls like me!!I have been reading a lot on recession and related matters as I thought it would be better I face the consequences in the true spirit.Personaly I got the feel of it after our career fairs where the recruiters themselves told the international students about their difficulty in sponsoring our Visa with the recession coming up.Its a huge blow to people like me as I'll be graduating in the peak of recession.
The chances of the US avoiding a recession appear to be growing dimmer by the day, and any contraction in the economy will likely last longer and be more severe than other downturns in the past 20 years.
As I am specializing in construction management I tried to narrow down my readings to the construction and related field.It is the biggest housing slump in the last four or five decades: every housing indicator is in free fall, including now housing prices.Recent reports have shown the housing market slump and rising defaults in the mortgage market are now taking their toll on job growth and on the manufacturing and services sector.
This december when I was in Las Vegas my sister who works with a real estate company was telling me that one of the worst effected areas was Las Vegas.Gaming revenues suffered their steepest-ever drop — a scare that led casinos to lower room rates to drum up business. New casinos such as the Hard Rock struggled with financing, and three other casinos filed for bankruptcy.Begged for donations to stay afloat, the unemployment rate rose, the governor laid off state workers and housing construction stalled.

May be all this is a hoax.May be not!But there are some indicators which are flashing red.Unemployment is up, consumer spending is down, the housing market has slipped into recession, and the stock market is lurching back and forth like an overloaded washing machine. All of this could have been foreseen by anyone with minimal critical thinking skills and a healthy dose of skepticism of government.

Indian IT Industry seems to be all set to receive the tornado by laying off and cutting down salaries.May be Indian companies are smarter by taking the prevention pill so early.
Lets watch where this fall of the great economy is gonna take us all.May be its too early to pack my bags back home,Its quite ironic ,but still I would end this post with a malayalam cliche 'Papi chennadam pathalam'

February 13, 2008

V Day!!

Another Feb 14!!Thank god I dont have a boy friend..Else will have to use my creditcard for another expensive stuff.The only good thing about being in love is getting some gifts on such special days .Yea rite, I am too materialistic.To be frank I just LOVE getting gifts.like my 'committed, friends say 'Grapes are sour'.. Anyways just coz I write a lot on love and related stuff,it would be a dishonour to my blog,if I dont post something on Valentines day..So Happy Valentines day to all of you..And here is a small gift to all the single ppl..:P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBFnJX0p_Tc
Have a great day

February 8, 2008

A Suitable Boy

I would like to start this post with a a disclaimer.Whatever I write are some issues faced by a few people in my species and I am NOT a Feminist!!All the characters in this post are purely fictitious,any resemblence to any person dead or alive is an unavoidable fact!!
Thanks to Vikram Seth for this title and inspiring me to write this post..
I have noticed a strange kind of mania amongst the parents of 22 year old girls and certain frustrating phobia with the 22 turned unfortunate souls.Here is a case study that describes the sequence of events in the life two 22 year old females (Species:Homo Sapiens)
lets call them Miss Hasbeen and Miss Wannabe.For my convenience I would like to call them Ms H and Ms W.
Part 1
March 2007
A month before the final exams,Ms H was busy on phone with her latest boyfriend...Somebody on a call waiting,it was from her home.she wondered why would her Mom call her so late in the night.Yes that was about the mania which has kick started at her home this semester.Her Parents want her to give them a final decision on the the list of guys they emailed to her the other night and her boyfriend wants HER to finish off HIS assignment which is due the next day.She stood there confused.Her cell was showing low battery and her charger was not working,giving few excuses she cut the line and rushed to Ms W's room to get the charger.
Staring at the fully charged cell and refreshing her Yahoo mailbox every 10 seconds desperately waiting for her MS admits there was our Ms W hoping a new place would bring her new oppurtunities[Romantic.Sheesh..A full stop to her singlehood]
Part -2
March 2008
Gtalk Conversation
Ms W:Hey howz it going?Are you over him?
Ms H:Yes dear.Very Much.Biggest mistake of my life
Ms W:Oh cmon,u guys were perfect
Ms H:No way.He was too immature for me
Ms W:Heard you were in Bombay last week to meet someone ;)
Ms H:Oh yea forgot to tell you.Parents are hell-bent on marrying me off before next june
Ms W:So howz the guy?You liked him??
Ms H:No he looks yucky.Kinda bald..But then I met another guy in Chennai last week.I liked him.He is tall,fair,handsome and his Dad owns a software company.He just finished his MBA
Ms W:Wow,But u always used to say u never liked tall and fair poeple
Ms H:Cmon,thats because my ex boyfriend was short and dark.Anyways whassup with you.Howz it there.You found someone??
Ms W:No Yaar,Not yet.Trying hard on Bharat Matrimony.com.I am getting scared.All of you will marry soon ..:(
Ms H:Idiot.You are in land of oppurtunities,try Americans na
Ms W:I cant understand their accent and My English is not good
Ms H:oh yea thats true..But what about your family??
Ms W:Seems My horoscope has some major issues.I'll have to wait for Mars to come near venus.Only then I'll find my guy it seems.Thats what my aunty scraped me in orkut yesterday.
Ms H:Oh thats sad..Did u see Ms P's marriage snaps??She is in US doing her MS..
Ms W:Really?I thought she wanted to do MBA,What happened to her CAT plans?
Ms H:She dropped it coz her husband is an IIM Graduate
Ms W:Thats kool..Did I tell you that I met Ms R's fiancee's parents in NY??
Ms H: Wtf?No way ..she cant have a fiancee,she said she will not marry
Ms W:Seems her grandmom was sick and she wanted to see her grandchildren.So it was a quick decision
Ms H:Nice,Anyways make sure u hook up with some greencard holder,so u wont have problems with your visa later
Ms W:Yea I know.I have highlighted that in Shaadi.com and Bharat Matrimony.ONLY Green card Holders.
Ms H:Hey gtg..Chennai Guy on phone..Have to discuss about finacial matters u know..
Ms W:Oh sure carry on..Let me know what happens..takecare
Ms H:You too..

Well 'THE END' is yet to come...

Special Thanks to Riddhi Doshi

February 5, 2008

An Ode to Google AdSense

I am a big fan of Pschycedelic Rock.Sounds weird???Well there are days when my existence floats on certain repeated tracks from my Ipod[My roomies find my choice of songs a bit odd and crappy,So I am denied the pleasure of listening to my favourite numbers from my laptop].Flying high,I always end up writing a post in this public forum to mark those 'Dark Days'..
My incessant complains about not getting an assistantship and the twists and turns in my life,I always end up with the so called dark side writing.But one day my roomie came up with an idea of cashing my emotions to few dollars in my bank account.She was the one to introduce me to google adsense..It appeared harmless and I thought why not??Let a few ads come in my post..:P. So we decided to join Google adsense.Never knew it was a devil in disguise...
One of my friends.who happens to be a blogger too,gave me some shocking information.Seems, putting up adsense is a big crime for an International student.For a moment I missed a heartbeat.!!!This Country is weird,they have a long list of clauses to deport F1 people like me.Can you believe that letting some ads in my personal site and earning a quarter dollar could be reason to deport me back.Yes!!!:(.Like I mentioned in some my previous posts,you have to filter even the air you breathe here,what if some American sue me for taking his part of air??..I want to go back..Sit in an autorickshaw and roam around,see some people breaking the rules,getting away with a wink.Enjoy the pleasure of being in MY Country..be a proud Indian.
I am not an ideologist,at this very moment I sincerely believe 'Rules are meant to Broken'..
ps:I no longer have google adsense and I havent spell checked..:P