Love this one

Thank You Mrs. Ruth

We were best friends and nothing could have come between us, at least that’s what we thought.  We were inseparable. My day would begin with her waking me up and would end with wishing her good night. She wouldn’t go to school, if I didn’t and I would fight with anybody who said anything mean about her. After all, we were best friends. Our families used to stay only 100 meters away and still we became friends only when we met in school. We were from two different cultural back grounds and family values. Our cultures and values were conflicting, but it didn’t matter, because we wanted each other and that’s what mattered. 

She was very different from me. She had long lovely thick black hair and I had a mushroom cut. She was a perfect prim and proper girl and I was a tomboy. Her handwriting was like tulips in a row, all neatly cut and trimmed and mine was like ants attacking a chocolate. I was loud, mischievous and daring. She was quiet and well behaved. We were like angel and devil together. Something impossible, but it happened. Guess, god wanted her to have a few devilish instincts and me a few angelic instincts. That’s why he put this crazy combination of buns, the sweet and fluffy friend of mine and pans-the crazy tom boy together.

One ugly day we had a huge argument over something very small and we were upset with each other. When we reached school, we were told that we are put in different classes. This was like the devil not only scaring us but gobbling us up also and both on the same day.

We sorted out our fight and life continued, but not as smoothly as it used to. Now, it was like the waves in the ocean, up and down, slow and fast, sometimes a high tide and sometimes a low tide. All this happened because we were in two different classes and we had two different friends’ circles and our circles didn’t get along. Trying to get them along was like fitting two pipes of different shapes together. We tried but the circles just didn’t gel. The space between us increased, but the bond deep within remained intact.

One of those days, guess it was high tide and that took a dangerous one.  We had the worst of the arguments, we didn’t speak for days and the days became months. Gosh! I was losing out on the most essential part of my school life. I was going mad and I heard that she was also crying profusely. Wonder, why we didn’t confront each other. In school, we acted happy with our new friends, but back home and during all those times when we were supposed to be together, life was losing its entire color and was becoming the color of our school uniform – GREY.

I became reckless and started arguing with everybody around and I started performing badly at school. Seemed like everything around was so dull and ugly. Luckily, god knew this can’t go on for long, so what if I was a devil; I was his child, a very precious and special one. I guess, that’s why he sent a mother angel-Mrs. Ruth. She was a tall lady with a long face and the first time, I saw her I thought she was the most strict teacher’s in school, I was wrong. She was a blessing; she cared for every single soul in school. She could convert any crying kid into a happy one. She not only thought us the chapters of the book but also thought us chapters of life. Her smile was infectious and it spread really fast. She was like the lamp, which always leads us from darkness to light.

She like everybody else in school had seen me and buns together and also knew that for some reason life was on a very low tide for us. She spoke to us, counseled us, made us realize how important we are to each other and told us all the things which we always knew but wanted to hear. She made us realize that nothing outside us should affect us and what is inside us, is what we are made up off and it was Mrs. Ruth who made us realize that it’s not only the honey bee who needs the flower, but the flower also needs the honeybee. She taught us to be like the duck, which lets the negative things just slip of its back. She made us apologize, she made us realize we needed each other for love, laughter and happiness.  We hugged, we cried, we smiled and we realized that the colour of the school uniform-grey would never be a part of our lives, because together it was meant to be a life full of rainbows.  

I am 27 now and buns is still my best friend. Thank you Mrs. Ruth, for giving a new birth to this friendship of ours. We always will owe it to you. 

Questions.... for which I have no answers

Why is it always when everything is so uncertain that certainty is the need of the hour and
When things are all so smooth, excitement is required?
Why is it that when your loved one is around, there isn’t enough time and
When you are away you have all the time in the world.
Why is life this way …..
Why when marriage seemed the right thing, I loved being alone,
Now when I have a partner, why is marriage a far cry ….
Why is at when we are happy we cry and
Why is it when we are sad we control our tears?

Sound Confusing... But I guess it makes a lot of sense

A Simple Task!

 

Rajan, my spiritual mentor always says “Being a teacher is a responsibility”. A teacher is generally emulated whether the teacher is a good or a bad person because the underlying assumption for the profession is - That a teacher is good and there is always lots to learn from her/him.  Are only teachers emulated?  (Think of all the people you emulate).

Emulation is something, which we may do because of our fascination for the person or we may use the person as an excuse to do what we want to do.

Anybody could be my teacher, if I am willing to be an active student. My teacher can be the sun from whom I learn the commitment to rise everyday and do my task no matter what, my teacher can be the 80 year old friend who trekked along with me for a full day and taught me that age is no excuse for the spirit of life, my teacher could be my friend who teaches me unconditional love. My teacher can be anybody from whom I learn.

If anybody could be my teacher, am I also a teacher to someone? Then, am I being emulated? If yes, then is it my responsibility also to display behavioral characteristics which would be appreciated if emulated?

I know it’s easier to preach than follow. I agree that in this lovely world of mine, there is a lot being learnt from me without my own conscious self realizing it. When I become a parent, I would be the first teacher of my children. My little prince/princess would learn from every small action I do,  I like most of you want my children to be the best possible human beings , human beings whom the world will be in awe of and this dream of mine would become a reality only if me and mine display our  best possible behavior all the time. Only if we forget our anger, our agitation, our fights and our negativities. This would be a reality only if both of us are ardent advocates of love, peace, joy and positivity.  If only, we throw our negative traits (which the kids would easily pick up) to Jupiter. Wow! Then, I am sure my prince/princess would be no Osama or Hitler but an Obama, a Mother Teresa or just the best possible prince/princess.

When I look at the corporate world around me, I understand that every firm would like to recruit sincere, hardworking and honest people. But, they find very few potential employees with these traits. Some organizations get lucky and get sincere, hardworking and honest employees, but these employees learn from their bosses who expect honesty, that its ok to mis-sell for a big deal, they learn from their bosses who expect hard work, it’s ok to act busy. How can these bosses expect apples from an orange tree?    

I understand anybody can be a teacher. Me, you or your next door neighbor. A branch manager is a teacher to all his employees who learn from him how to be excellent sales person.   An elder sibling is a teacher, when his little brother learns discipline from the Big B , a housewife is a teacher when the neighbor learns from her how to have a beautiful home.  

Everybody is unconsciously teaching something or the other in the world around them. Everybody’s actions getting emulated sometimes by people whom they know and sometimes by somebody whom they may not even be aware of.

Are all of us not teachers? (Pls think, you’re a teacher to at least one person).If yes, then, is it not the responsibility of all of us to live a value based happy life? 

“This world is not ours we have inherited this from our ancestors and borrowed it from the next generation and the best rate of interest which we could give our next generation is a beautiful world”. This gift is possible only if all of us do only one thing – Live a value based happy life

Heal The World, heal the world, and heal the world

Make It A Better Place for You and For Me and

The Entire Human Race. …..

                                 Michael Jackson 

My little brain at some serious work

GAME THEORY – AN APPLICATION IN THE TATA –CORUS DEAL

Game theory attempts to mathematically capture behavior in strategic situations, in which an individual's success in making choices depends on the choices of others.
The deal between India’s Tata Steel and the Anglo- Dutch Corus Steel group which was the 9th largest producer of steel in the world was a strategically planned deal. Tata Group faced cut throat competition from Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) which is a Brazilian company.

A bidding process was involved in the acquisition of the Corus group. The UK takeover panel set up the rules for the bidding. Of the maximum 9 rounds 8 will be for the suitors to table a fixed price bid in cash. In the event of competitive situation continuing a final round would be held to give chance to the bidders to outbid the other within a ceiling that has already been informed to the panel. There has to be a difference of 5 pence for each round of the bid between the two suitors

Before the Game

Tata had two had two options to bid or not to bid and CSN also had the same two options. However, CNS already had a 4 % stake on Corus. For every increase of pence the share price of Corus would increase by $ 4 million and CNS would also have its share.

Dominant Strategies: Tata had a dominant strategy to bid because by bidding Tata will have the advantages of developed markets, new patients, advance R& D of Corus.

CNS’s dominant strategy would also be to bid cos if it competes with Tata on the bidding the share price of Corus would raise and CNS would benefit from the same as it had a 4% stake in Corus.

The Game

On October 5, 2006, Tata Steel confirmed its interest in acquiring Corus. Tata Steel proposed a $7.6 bn bid for Corus at 455 pence a share in cash on October 26, 2006. Brazil’s CSN made an indicative bid of 475 pence a share on November 17, 2006. At this, Tata Steel raised its bid to $9.2 bn at 500 pence per Corus share on December 11, 2006. CSN in response made a formal bid of $9.6 bn at 515 pence a share in cash on the same day. This process of bidding after one and other is an example of sequential games. Sequential games (or dynamic games) are games where later players have some knowledge about earlier actions. This need not be perfect information about every action of earlier players; it might be very little knowledge. In this deal of Corus steel, both Tata Steel and CSN were aware of the bidding prices and each other’s strength in the deal.

After the various bids offered by both Tata steel and CSN , the UK Takeover Panel set January 30, 2007 as the deadline for Tata Steel and CSN to make their revised offers which would be the final offers for the acquisition of the Corus group. This bid like every bid in the real world is a finite, (9 rounds) discrete game that has a finite number of players (Tata Steel & CSN), moves (Bidding), events, outcomes (Acquisition).

After The Victory
We have been discussing the Tata- Corus deal from the angle of the acquisition of Corus. Post acquisition of Corus also explains a few game theory concepts.
The bid of Tata for Corus and Corus accepting the bid is an example of Nash equilibrium, as both Corus and Tata benefited from the deal. As mentioned earlier, Tata will have access to developed markets by this acquisition. It would also have its product mix enhanced with the high value product from Corus and more over it can also have the excellent R& D facilities of Corus. They can break the supply chain and produce parts of it where it makes sense, for Tata steel. It means producing the semi finished goods at locations where it has raw materials support and cost efficiencies and then making the finished products in the market where it gets the value i.e. China, South East Asia and European countries. As Tata is taking over the company the Corus will have better management skills high Value for its shares. A coordinated solution through collaboration has led to the potential for greater gains for both.
To conclude Tata Steel’s acquisition of Corus shows how coordinated strategies can yield greater benefits even in a competitive marketplace. The strategic fit of Corus’s range of high-end products and know-how, and its access to developed markets, combined with Tata’s low-cost access to ore, efficient basic steel production, and its own market access certainly provided a great deal to the steel industry of India and the world at large.
References
1. Tata’s Acquisition of Corus: A Quantum Leap- Rashmi Malapur- Case Study, ICFAI University Press
2. Tata Corus Deal -Explained with Game Theory- Caligula
3. The Economic times- Date November 23, 2006
4. www.rediffnews.com- Date October 20, 2006


p.s- Thanks to my International Business Teacher ( Mrs. Archana Pillai)for this assignment.

At the Moment I knew GOD

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From the time, I have my senses and from the time I have understood the world around me, I always believed that there was God. God initially was in all the pictures and idols at home. He had various shapes and an endless list of names and different responsibilities too. He was there in all those things which had no explanations, I was told I should do it or they exist because of God. 

As I grew up life around me changed and so did I. The first time ever, I remember being amazed, dazzled by Child birth. My sister in law (bhabhi) was pregnant with the first baby of our next generation. There was a lot of excitement in the air and she had all the special treatment in place. Till now, I knew God only the way mom had told me.( too many faces and names). Nothing about that had changed.

Bhabhi delivered a princess on November 10, 2004.She came home with Poorvi (that’s what we call our Princess) on November 11, 2004. I still remember the evening I was sitting with her in the room and staring at Poorvi. I had tears in my eyes; I was going thru a wave of emotions of happiness, gratitude and wonder. That’s when, I asked bhabhi “Isn’t it a wow feeling, a living being has come out from you, there was nothing in there and now there is life, a doll who cries, who smiles, who laughs, and who is more precious than our own lives?” She instantly said, “If you are experiencing all these beautiful feelings, imagine what I as a mother am experiencing”. 

It’s been 6 years and I still wonder what is that gave life to that little one. It can’t be science, because if it was science, then there would be neither empty wombs, nor dead babies being born. It has to be something which actually is unexplainable and this unexplainable phenomenon made me realize “That’s God”. After this moment a lot of things in life made me more inclined to God and this time my God had no name, no face. I could give him the name and the face I wanted to and I could also get as close to him as I wanted.

I was forcefully (only dad can do that) enrolled into a holistic course. When I finished this course, I believed dad does know what’s right for me. In this course, I learnt mediation and it took me closer to the unknown. Closer to God. It helped me discover me and it made me believe that I am indeed a blessing and I am one of god’s favorite child.

Now, I communicate with God, he is my friend.  It’s a beautiful feeling to be able to talk to him.  Sometimes, I wonder if I create these conversations or they actually exist and at these moments I smile and tell myself “Where God is concerned there is always wonder and no wonder this world is so wonderful”. After all its “God’s grace”.

P.S- Thanks to Megha Bajaj (Journalist/author) for the guidance in the process of writing.