Now I do read financial and economic news, especially because 0ver 10 years ago i used to cover the stock market, economic news & even did stories on the interest rates. That apart, initially i could not differentiate between the Blue chip & other companies…that understanding was as good as my understanding of ‘windows’ & dos when it first was launched.

According to my sister i was total embarrassment to her IT super speciality types…because when I first heard of ‘windows & dos’ i thought doors & windows open and some software comes out of it.. now i am a creative, communication person, although highly logical…but that is so different from IT which is unnecessarily complicated and sorry for me these IT types are as good as bank clerks or tech up loaders…similarly was my understanding of the stock market..i never understood why any company was called ‘blue chip’ company. Chip i always associated with software chips, blue…i thought was to do with blue collared workers. Now that too baffles me, why certain types of workers, managers basically humans were called blue-collared…i know there is colloquialism, but it need not stretch to such an extent.

Coming to the modern economic news – the banks in India were working well, till some dumb white fellows asked us to roll back on nationalism on every front..everything got privatised. Privatisation means NO public service or welfare. This is true, because if you see how the power companies world over have taken consumers for a ride with the pricing of per unit, rates & their total lack of public commitment, this should have given an indicator to the bloody Americans that privatisation has simply NOT worked. Yet, they went ahead & introduced privatisation of banking processes.

So NO people interaction, NO people giving or taking slips, cheques…now over a period of time this whole complicated process got majorly marred by vested interests, greedy officials, so now we landed with major economic recession. In the midst of this recession, me with 21 other fellows got selected for the international rotary course for peace & conflict resolution. I was constantly plagued by only one question that my friends & well wishers had, “How has your office given you permission? What about your job? etc, etc” Their concern was basically how would i survive this job during recession times.

Everyday i saw on Al Jazeera (My sensible window to the world it was), how older & more experienced professionals were being asked to sit at home, losing jobs & facing the worst time of their lives. I do not need to see recession for that, i have experienced it few years ago, for sticking my neck for myself & standing up to my own rights.

On this note, our office i am told was sacking people. I got emails from certain friends who confessed they were asked to put in their papers. The whole sacking was done decently & sensitively, but the persons were asked to leave. Then came the news of pay cuts. Which again has been done with caution & thoughtfulness…they have tried to save our cash component, etc. I am sure no person likes to tell another person to sit at home or tell staff that their pay is being cut. I have no problems to the latter, because if cutting my pay can save jobs i am absolutely satisfied about. Yes, because i also strongly believe if my job has to go it will, if it has to survive it will…but i have also realised a few complications that are beyond my understanding. Like why windows was called as windows for a bloody software programme…

The complications are as follows – the restaurants have NOT increased prices, but they drastically cut down on the portions they serve. They have NOT reduced prices, like our salaries, but you get to eat less. Imagine, as it is we earn lesser now we get to eat lesser…this equation i have NOT understood.

Then some products their prices keep mounting -like the darn Apple products! How their prices have increased when stupid ones like me go to buy them on zero EMI instalments??? I wonder.. they are still bloody expensive…

NO utility has reduced its fares because there is recession. If there is No or lesser money around every sector is affected, the diesel, petrol, CNG rates haven’t fallen. A a result the bus & cab fares haven’t decreased. So we as consumers continue to spend as much or more than what we have been till now, except the value for what i get in return seems to be decreasing.

Now i thought is a good time the stupid governments announce that the interest rates will increase, so the savings will at least double or become one and a half times…no but we don’t get such bonanzas. Our tipping by the way has NOT decreased. If the portions have decreased, salaries have decreased, we continue to be weighed down by the social responsibility & guilt for paying less tips. But how does NO other person get weighed down by the cut in my salary. My working hours have not decreased, the pressures have not decreased, rather they have doubled. My work load has been modified & more has been added. More output is expected…

so the law of economics do not work in our favour, but they work for in those above and below my category. I n all this some bloody evil-minded person stole my expensive Ipod (of 8gb memory), that too a piece i bought on zero EMI on instalments…I’m supposed to forgive that person for his/her misdeed & pray i am able to afford it again?? I cursed the person & said that the person should & will incur 5 & a half times my loss for causing me such immense grief.

I have now given my status line as, “pay cuts, hot weather, no houses at cheap rates, bad candidates, NO better opps & people stealing my Ipod…yet i am told be +, this too shall pass….” i mean i really should be given a meddle for being positive, optimistic & surreal hopeful!