obtuse angle

Parents' Answering Machine : Good Morning ! At present, we are not at home, but please leave your message after you hear the beep.... Beeeeppp... If you are one of our children, dial 1 and then select the option from 1 to 5 in order of 'birth arrival' so we know who it is. If you need us to stay with your children, press 2. If you want to borrow the car, press 3. If you want us to wash your clothes and do iron, press 4. If you want the grandchildren to sleep here tonight, press 5. If you want us to pick up the kids at school, press 6. If you want us to prepare a meal for Sunday or to have it delivered to your home, press 7. If you want to come to eat here, press 8. If you need money, press 9. If you are going to invite us to dinner or take us to the theater, start talking..., we are listening! May be this is written in a lighter vein. But, this is sadly true! In this fast-paced world, there is no time for anyone to look after their parents. Can we blame ...

Do we have to celebrate women? YES. A definite and firm YES. There are countless reasons. They endure pangs of pain throughout their life. Despite all the pain they encounter and surmount, they achieve great heights, in all walks of life. Can anyone point out any activity where the women lack? I certainly do not think there is any. They are mentally tougher than than the toughest of men, for sure. There are several stories depicting the success of a single mother in bringing up her children. They have the grit and determination to shatter all odds in life and attain lofty heights. The man in such situations will break down, in most of the cases. The woman's single minded devotion and unwavering vision often see to it that her children are catapulted to superior positions in life. If I start enumerating the women achievers right from the medieval times, the list will be endless. So, I do not venture out to do that. We all know. Cite any field of activity. The women have achiev...

Onion - Rs.14.95/kg; Tomato - Rs. 9.95/kg;  Kashmir Apple - Rs. 99.95/kg. When we enter a Mall or a Super Market or any grocery mart for that matter, we can see the above type of pricing for almost all products. When you buy just a kg of onion and pay Rs. 15, are you going to get back Rs. 05 (5 paise) as the balance change? NO. Then why price it as Rs. 14.95 instead of the honest price of Rs. 15/kg? This is what is universally known as 'psychological pricing'. This is designed to play on your emotion rather than rational thinking. It aims to make you (the customer) believe that the actual pricing is lower than what you rationally think it is! To attract the customer. Today, this type of pricing is prevalent in most of the products across all product-mix. Though most of us realize the fact, we still fall for it. It is proved by a statistical study. That is why traders still continue to do the pricing thus. Our mind perceives the 'first left digit' as the price point. ...

It is said that 'those who fail to plan, plan to fail'. So, it seems that it is essential for everyone to plan things ahead. Even for mundane things, we need to make a plan. Planning for anything to do is mandatory now. Okay, you have made your plan, alright! But when it is executed, do you think everything goes as per your plan 'verbatim'? Invariably 'a BIG NO'. Because the happenings around you, do not depend on your plan. You do not have any control over what happens around you, which affects your plan, most of the time. Then, why to plan, at all? If you do not plan at all, the things that happen could be even more disastrous; that is why. When you plan, you would at least know where you have failed in your plan and what has not happened according to your plan. You have some guidelines to do a course correction. But if you do not have any plan for that matter, you are more than sure to fail 99% of the time. Some people get terribly upset, the moment the...

A recent statute passed in Indian Parliament grants 10% reservation for the 'Economically Weaker' section. The eligibility criterion is that the total income of the family should be below Rs. 8 lakhs in a year. A person states thus: His father is earning around Rs. 70 lakhs in a year. His mother is a home-maker (no income!). Suppose his parents get a divorce, and this guy lives with his mother (with no plausible income), will he be eligible for a medical seat under the reservation quota? That is the question posed to a consultant. 'Yes', is the answer. And if the alimony his mother gets in a year should be less than Rs. 8 lakhs. The idea is that, after he gets the medical seat, his parents will re-marry. The 'divorce and re-marriage' idea is only to thwart the statute provision. What a shameful idea! Whatever be any legislation to help those who really need it, there are people to subvert and take undue advantage of it. They bend any rule to their advantage. ...

Mahatma Gandhi's famous quote : A customer is the most important visitor on our premises; He is not dependent on us, we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption on our work, he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider on our business, he is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him, he is doing us a favor, by giving us an opportunity to do so. It is the day of consumers. Consumerism has increased several folds in the recent years. That is because of the larger (ever-increasing) population, which has got a lot of disposable income. Even the people in the low-income group have the financial capability to afford house-hold items (white goods) which were once thought to be fit to be in rich homes only. The recently coined adage says, 'supply creates demand'. You make things available (abundantly) in the market and the people grab them (irrespective of whether they have a real need or not!). A coconut shell (which is thrown away, after using the kerne...