What is happiness?

To understand happiness we first need to differentiate between contentment, joy and happiness.

What is contentment?

It is essentially the fulfillment of a need. I need food i have a pizza thus i feel contented. I need a car i buy one and i feel contented. Fulfilling our mental & physical urges is contentment.

What is joy?

We experience joy when we overcome a challenge, cross a hurdle. For example i need a car so i work to get a fat bonus and on getting it i have fulfilled a challenge which makes me feel joyful because i am contented. I come first in class or i claim a 5 wicket haul, these things are hurdles surmounted by us which makes us feel joyful.

Going by what i said above then what is happiness. Based on the above two definitions what we all perceive happiness to be is essentially not happiness at all. Then what is it??

Happiness

We feel happiness when we create meaning. In other words when we contribute something to the world that not only creates meaning for us but also for the world then we truly experience happiness. For example lets take dancing. If one knows lets say a particular form of dance and shares it with another person who is thrilled to learn it. This creates meaning for the student but it brings happiness to the teacher. Graham bell invented the phone and created value for the world. It did bring him joy because he was successful in making his invention viable but more than anything it made him happy because he created value for the world.

So is happiness fleeting or permanant?

Happiness is fleeting if meaning created is only for oneself. It is permanent if it is created for the masses.

Why is this so??

I will prove this fact by a simple question that you have to answer honestly. What makes you most happy to see yourself smiling or a total stranger smiling because you made his life slightly better?

I will end this with something very basic that quantifies happiness

Happiness = Wanting what you have / Having what you want

Kindly share your thoughts on the above piece...Thank you

Should the Euro be broken?

First a $100 billion bailout of Greece followed by $85 billion bailout of Ireland. Can the ESM (European stability mechanism) breathe a sigh of releif? Going by the scheme of things this is just the beginning as bond yields spreads of countries like Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy continue to diverge away from the German bund yield. So as the EU works towards a solution to stall the domino effect a question does rise in one's mind. What if the euro is broken?

My analysis of this problem goes as follows:

For starters there are basically 2 parties involved the Thirfty & the profligates. Quite obviously the Germany, Austria & Netherland fall into the category of the thrifty while the debt stricken economies of the EU fall under the profligates.

So what are the benefits for both these parties involved in case they do decided to break up the euro?

The Profligates

Pros: Well they get to devalue their currency thereby boosting their exports & reducing employement as the wage rate would fall at par with the likes of 3rd world countries. This would augur well for them in the long term as it would boost economic growth.

Cons: There would be an immediate flight of capital from the country. Restrictions imposed by the government to restrict this flow would hamper the credibility of the country as a hub for investment. Thus in the short term they are looking at a severe capital crunch

On the whole unless the government figures out a way to cover the capital crunch the profligates would not benefit from breaking up the euro

The Thrifty

Pros: They would be freed of handing over aid to the profligates. They would independent monetary policy control.

Cons: Firstly there would be an immediate flood of capital in the country. This would either result in close to 0 or even negative yields. Secondly the currency would appreciate drastically thus impacts exports. This would reduce the amount of industrial activity in the country and add the impending unemployed. Apart from that the value of the assets invested in the profligates would drastically go down thus creating losses for the thrity.

Thus this move would not only dent the economic health of the thrifty in the short term & long term but also impact create a liquidity problem for them

I have yet not considered the impact/cost of switching currencies. Despite that the idea seems like a bad for both the parties. What is your opinion??

The Au & Ag Connect

Gold ( Au ) & Silver ( Ag ) have dazzled the world for generations. It not just their sparkle that makes them valueable but many other intrinsic properties that gives them the tag of 'Precious Metals'. With the interest rates hitting ground bottom in the United States and currencies across the planet appreciating against the dollar, the world looks upon these precious metals for respite against an uncertain reserve currency.

In the short run the valuations of gold and silver are quite independent from one another but as we take a few steps back and analyze their relatonship over a longer period of time we would observe that there is definate relationship between the two.

Over the long run gold and silver maintain a 1:16 price ratio just like in the current context. TO explain the phenomena- various countries have started converting their dollar reserves into gold thereby reducing the supply of gold which ultimately lead to a increase in the price of gold but as price went up demand for silver also increased but since the supply of silver was more or less constant thus this also resulted in the escalation of silver prices.

This seems like the likely reason for seeing the resurgence of the age old 1:16 ratio.

Blue Ocean strategy

" Blue Ocean Strategy" sounds like a scoba diving or a fishing strategy to catch a big fish in competitive waters, doesn't it! Well, that was the first thought that crossed my mind when i first came across the term.
My curiosity to turn my belief into fact motivated me to search through reams of data in the biggest repository of the world- The internet. Much to my surpirse the blue ocean strategy has nothing to do with the art of fishing but instead it is about how companies devise strategies to fish for new and increased number of customers.
The blue ocean strategy came into being because most industry players continue to fight for a all already overcrowded market by persistently creating a comparative advantage largely by reducing the price of the product. This results in fierce competition between the players thereby leading to bloody battles between thereby giving rise to a Red ocean which is actually all around us. For example the mobile market in India is a pertinent example that fits the bill.
Then came two professors from Insead who shed light on a radical new concept that we have practiced throughout history but never spared a thought- The Blue Ocean Strategy. The essence of the Blue Ocean strategy lies in Value Innovation. Blue Ocean Strategy is about making the competition irrelevant by developing a new market altogeather. For example when Henry Ford launche the Model T there only other affordable mode of transport was the horse drawn carriage. Similarly when IBM came out with the first computer it created a new market altogeather.
Blue Ocean Strategy is the driving force behind the innovation campaigns being launched in various companies. Sticking to the mobile sector itself, various companies such as airtel, vodafone etc. are trying to come up with that one VAS for rural India that would change the basic purpose of having a mobile in India.
Many R&D centers are working round the clock to devise a new base element for the semiconductor industry, something much better than the currently in use MOSFET's . Such a startegy which would to such a an innovation of giant proportions would rightly be qunatified as a blue Ocean Strategy.

An awesome expereince

The adventure that iam going to talk about has all the ingredients of a blockbuster bollywood movie- it has action, drama, romance, emotion, laughter and 9 highly trained stunt men & women. It all starts of with an ullu ( OWL for all you angrez ) which used to take a nap till 3.30 am in the morning but then one fine day the ullu finally met his match. There was a new ullu in town, he was a person who got up at 3am in the morning and lived in gurgaon & as everybody now knows that there is no match for this person as he is "THE ULLU".
After conquering the throne of THE ULLU, this person picked up his fellow stunt men & women and embarked on a NEVER ENDING journey. Much to their surprise, they all didn't know that one among them had been endowed with special powers from the " Puncture Devta". Just to keep the identity of the person anonymous let us call him PRASHANT. Prashant didnot dissapoint any tyre and showered his blessings on all the tyres he came into close contact with. Just to help everybody understand the real magnitude of his power let us start of from PUNTURE 1: We started our journey with a round of
antakshari; JUST TO BREAK THE ICE but the ice just didn't seem to break. 3 members of the stunt crew thought of making a career out of singing for bhojpuri films- again maintaining absolute anonymity let us call them TANYA, NIDHI & ANKIT. These three musketeers were so
deeply engrossed in making a career in bhojpuri films because "Kal Freescale ho na ho" that all the other members said "Hum bhi kisi se kam nahin". They also wanted to be a part of bhojpuri films, again maintaining absolute anonymity let us call them SHAWETA, MISHIKA, DIBAKAR, SUSHIL & THE ULLU but poor Prashant felt left out. Prashant had to have his way so he focused all his energy on the tyre closest to him, in this case the right tyre and we arrived at the first puncture site. What a strategic location it was ! It was close to a temple, a perfect place for Prashant to refill his powers for future usage. Apart from taking a few snaps and having a few jalebi's, Ankit was rather eager to showcase a different bodypart in each and every picture. Sorry ! I cannot show you those pictures as they have been 'A' rated.
After replacing the tyre we sang our way to Krishna dhaba, puncture repair site 1, where we all had breakfast and shared the ONLY lassi/diluted dahi that was ordered. All this was not good enough for Prashant so he chose another strategic location as puncture site 2. Puncture site 2 was accompanied by a picturesque view of a 'Khet' ( Farm for all you angrez) which unusually, everybody wanted to visit,
perhaps they were expecting to see something that would arouse their senses. For this they had to climb a small mound which they eventually did but on not finding the sight they were searching for, they started pelting stones at a poor old tree. I would like to bring to notice that Prashant threw the stone the farthest so that perhaps that says a lot about his desperation to find the sight he was searching for. Ultimately, everybody took a few snaps and continued singing their way to Rishikesh but Prashant was still NOT SATISFIED. Puncture site 2 had such a deep impact on some of the crew members that at puncture repair site 2 they started playing 'Kick anything that comes in your way' which in this case was the leg of another person chasing the empty bottle. An old lady was sitting nearby & after seeing the antics enfold in front of her she was convinced that this group was nuts and hence even mustered the courage to ask for a lift. Sanity did eventually prevail and we continued on our journey. Antakshiri took a new turn towards sad songs, bhakti, bhajans, patriotic songs which Prashant could not handle. He finally unleashed his wrath and what the world witnessed will be remembered for a long time to come. It rained on the front seat of the car which is exactly where I was seated & if that was not all, he came up with a brilliant idea of doing away with the concept of cars running on wheels entirely. He mustered all the power he could get from puncture devta and tore the left tyre apart. Sushil saw this as an excellent opportunity to go for an evening walk to the camp itself & Shweta on the other hand kept boosting the confidence of the crew members by saying that even if they go over board it would not be a problem as her friend will pick them up in Roorkee. Eventually, we all hired a new taxi and finally reached the camp.
What happened next was simply amazing. Despite having traveled for nearly 12 hours we all had the energy to immediate change & start playing volleyball. Despite my persistent efforts to organize my team, Prashant kept serving the ball all over the place and Sushil just kept chasing the ball. We all then had lunch which Sushil enjoyed to the fullest (because rajma was served). After lunch we headed
towards the stream by the river where we had loads of fun which can only be depicted through pictures. As we returned from the stream all drenched in water the entire camp stared at us as if we were survivors from the Ganges. After changing we all assembled near the bon fire for yet another round of antakshiri with another family. Prashant's eyes locked with the eyes of another beauty ( ANKHON ANKHON MEIN ISHARE HO RAHE THE) in the opposition team which was largely reflected in his participation (for further details contact Prashant). Apart from that Mishika and Shweta lent some valuable words of wisdom to their juniors and Miss Photogenic displayed her hidden talent with an absolutely beautiful set of lines.( Singing, dancing, dialogue delivery etc., Bhojpuri film directors watch out, here comes Tanya). Nidhi, a former ram lila mandli alumnii, on the other hand had become famous with her modern hooting tactics.( khach khachar khachar khachar.....) The night ended with a spine chilling story by yours truly. During the night an unknown entity entered Shweta and Mishika's tent. This truly startled Mishika & Shweta but they did not buckle and used their power-packed words ( 'Chi-Chi Chi-Chi Chi-Chi') to drive away the entity which eventually turned out to be a toad.
Next morning as Dibakar walked out of his tent he noticed that the camp had vanished & that he was the only person around. Much to his surprise he realized that even Prashant had some sense, which was actually an eye opener for him. We all woke up to a morning like none that we had seen before. What followed was a trek of roughly 7 Kms. Dibakar's wait had finally ended. He mustered all the culture ingrained in him and chanelled it towards every Uncle or Aunty who crossed his tracks. After an ardous but exciting trek it was time for breakfast and my oppurtunity to crack everybody's eggs open.
Stop laughing! I actually cracked everybody's eggs. Later on we headed towards the most memorable ride of our lives i.e ganga rafting and in the meantime Shweta kept boosting our confidence by saying that her friend will pick us up in roorkee in case we go over board. Since the instructor was also from a ram lila mandli , so he gave nidhi a run for her money by his ultra-modern hooting tactics ( Yo baby, Yo baby, Yo baby yo). Next up was cliff jumping and 9 stunt men & women displayed thier true colours especially THE ULLU. Just because he knew how to swim, he took advantage of the situation to save a rather beautiful girl, hoping to win her heart by saving her life but the she was so frustrated by his pathetic attempt that she infact tried to drown him and the remains of that incident can be seen on the right hand of THE ULLU. Ankit and Sushil were all trying to do something in the water but since i was not there and the spectators just couldn't watch that sight so i can't say what actually happened between them.
Next up was body surfing which was nothing short of simply amazing. When we were finally out of the ganges, all drenched in water, the ullu and prashant decided to walk to the cab but the rest of the stunt crew followed suit. The sweltering heat made the entire crew dance which made such a deep impact on the minds of the crew that the auto walla community will narrate the story for generations to come of how Tanya, the leader of the pack, almost convinced an auto walla to drop her for free.
By that time Ankit's makeup had been washed away so it was makeup time for him and for the first time in my life i saw the entire cosmetic industry coming out of one red bag ( products: emami fair & handsome, lakme mosturiser, nivea, ponds, axe & the list goes on). We all finally changed but since nobody said anything about Ankit's mascara so this time Ankit felt dissatisfied. He felt so unhappy that he bought a little penguin for himself but much to his dissapointment the group snatched the Penguin away from him & named her SWATI. In the meantime we all had lunch in the most expensive dhaba of the world and continued on our journey back to home. An hour later Ankit unleashed his lethal weapon- the NUMERO UNO cards that his father had handed over to him when he was 3 which he was going to handover to his children when they will be 3. ( I mean the age of his children and not the number of them). Oh! How can i forget. Prashant was still not satisfied and he again unleashed his wrath on the tyre closest to him on the left hand side of the car which where he was also sitting. Sushil had still not recovered from the impact the expedition had on his mind since he thought that we had crossed muzzafarpur 2 hours back.
We all had the most amazing omlette in muzzafarpur and continued on our journey towards home talking about everything from delhi, gurgaon,nish...website, new zealand and many more.

Welcome

Iam Manu.
I passed out of Delhi college of engineering in 2008 and am currentlly working in freescale semiconductors as a design engineer.
Iam a die hard cricket fan and infact also represented delhi state under 14. Apart from that i have also worked with the Times of India for short period but it was an awesome ride.
To be continued ........