Exchange Rate Economy..

There are economies** around the world which are product based. And there are economies which are services based. A good number of economies combine these two. But there are a few other which think they fall under the second category but are in fact, due to the lack of any particular word, "Exchange Rate Driven".

Our economy (I exclusively mean the IT sector), at the best of times, can be classified as an exchange rate driven economy. We think we provide services, but the only thing we ever provide to any country is cheap labour. The only reason we became the back offices is due to the cheap labour. And this "cheap labour" is a direct result of the exchange rate. Back in the late 90s and early years of 21st century, the USD vs INR was a healthy 47-50. Now due to various factors (those are a topic of their own), the rate is somewhere around 40ish.
Optimistic punters (well.. it depends where you stand on the issue) believe and hope that the rate will go back to being around 43-45 sometime soon. The pessimistic ones say it will go down to around 35-39. Whatever and whoever might win, it is us, the Indians who lose big time. The fact that our salaries, bonuses, way of life is dependent on something as finicky as the exchange rate is what pisses me off!!
If you were to ask me, if I am happy with the way our INR is rising vis-a-vis the USD, I would say that I couldn't have asked for more. I would like the INR to go to around the 30 mark. Will that screw our big IT companies? Oh Yeah. It will screw them BIG TIME!!! Then why am I happy?

There is a small story I would like to narrate. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, after our 1974 nuclear explosion, America had issued a lot of sanctions due to which we were not able to procure (read buy) treating heavy water technology from outside (one of the many technologies that were banned from being sold to us). Our engineers had to work on their own to produce it. The result? We now have the cheapest and equally working heavy water treatment technology that was indigenously developed. In fact, it is so advanced that we could, if wanted produce it in assembly line(http://www.hindu.com/seta/2007/04/19/stories/2007041900331700.htm)!!!

Coming back to our scenario, we have one of the world's largest IT talent. One of the world's brightest engineers and brains.. but to what effect?? All we are doing is, at the end of the day, cheap labour. And we will be facing this shitty scenario as long as we are dependent on the exchange rate for our survival.
If the USD goes down even further, there are plenty of reasons and chances that it will, it will trigger a recession in our IT industry. I have enough trust in my fellow countrymen (and women for that matter) that we will then work towards being a product based industry. Like Google, Adobe, MSFT, SUN, Oracle etc to name a few. Yes, we do have the talent to work and produce the finest products, what is lacking is the passion and the "need". This USD crisis will give us the "need"!!!
And oneday, hopefully in the near future we will probably see Infosys OS or TCS Search or Satyam DB!!!!

**Here by economy I mean the economy related exclusively to the IT (Information Technology) industry.

Indian Calender across the ages

I list here calender from the starting of time or the start according to Sanathana Dharma (aka Hindu) to the present year.
Lord Narayana brought forth the four-faced Brahma, the Creator. His age is 100 years. His span is 31104000 crores of human years. Now the first half has passed. We are now in the second half. In the second half Brahma passed the age of 17 Gati 42 Vighatis 3 minutes 19 Lavas 18 Trutis 94 Samprathi. If it is converted into solar years it comes to 1,55,52,195,83 solar years. In this, we are in Swetha Varaha Kalpa (the age of White Boar). 6 Manus passed. We are in the 7th Manvanthara that of Vaivaswatha Manu. In this Manvanthara 27 Maha Yugas have passed. Each Maha Yuga is of 4320000 years. In this Krita Yuga is of 1728000 years duration. Treta Yuga 1296000, Dwapara of 864000 and Kali 432000. Now, from creation onwards the years gone by are 193, 58, 85, 089 and

5107 of Kaliyuga or

1927 of Salivahana or

2063 of Vikrama Saka or

2007 of Gregarian calendar of A.D.

The present year is called Vyaya.

Astrology is one of the six Angas of Veda. It takes the place of eye. Those who wish to have a path through Veda have to see through Astrology.

The Hindu Division of Time :

Siddhanthas are the divisions of Astrology which lead the way.

Jataka leads the journey through life by giving the way into past, present and future.

Muhoortha indicates the appropriate time and place to begin things. Siddhanta is astronomical calculation, the flesh and blood of Jataka and Muhurta.

The learned and wise divide this sea of time into six divisions of (I )Year, (II) Ayana, (III) Ritu, (IV) Maasa, (V) Paksham, and (VI) day.

I. Years are again of 5 types. Lunar, Solar, Savana, Nakshtra, Baarhaspatya.

1. Lunar year : Starts with 1st day after new moon in the chaitra maasa. It has 12 months.

i. Chaitra – in which month on fullmoon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Chitra.

ii. Vaisakha – in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Visakha.

iii. Jyestha - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Jyestha

iv. Ashaada - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Purvashaada or Uttarashaada

v. Sravana - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Sravan

vi. Bhadrapada in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Purvabhaadra or Uttarabhaadra

vii. Asvayuja - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Aswini

viii. Kaarteeka - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Krittika

ix. Margasira - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Mrigasira

x. Pushya - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Pushyami

xi. Maagha - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Magha

xii. . Phaalghuna - in which month on full moon day, Moon is in the lunar mansion Purva Phalghuni or Uttara Phalguni.

Lunar year has 354 days.

There are sixty lunar years per cycle

The years are named :-

1.Prabhava 2.Vibhava 3.Sukla 4.Pramoda 5.Prajapati 6.Angirasa 7.Sreemukha 8.Bhaava 9.Yuva 10.Dhaata 11.Eswara 12.Bahudhanya 13.Pramadhi 14.Vikrama 15.Vrusha 16.Chitra Bhanu 17.Subhaanu 18.Taarana 19.Parthiva 20.Vyaya 21.Sarvajit 22.Sarvadhari 23.Virodhi 24.Vikruti 25.Khara 26.Nandana 27.Vijaya 28.Jaya 29.Manmadha 30.Durmukha 31.Hevilamba 32.Vilamba 33.Vikaari 34.Saarvari 35.Plava 36.Subhakritu 37.Shobhakrithu 38.Krodhi 39.Viswavasu 40.Parabhava 41.Plavanga 42.Keelaka 43.Sowmya 44.Sadhaarana 45.Virodhakrit 46.Paridhavi 47.Pramaadee 48.Ananda 49.Rakshasa 50.Anala 51.Pingala 52.Kaalayukta 53.Siddhardhi 54.Rowdri 55.Durmati 56.Dundhubi 57.Rudhirodgari 58.Rakthakshi 59.Krodhana 60. Kshaya.

2. SOLAR YEAR : This is calculated according to the sun’s entry in the 12 signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. This year consists of 365 days.

3. SAAVANA YEAR : This consists of 30 days each for month and 12 months a year, thereby, giving us 360 days for an year. This year is taken into consideration when Yugas and Manvantharas are calculated.

4. NAAKSHATRA YEAR : The year has 12 months. Each month has 27 days roughly, according to the motion of Moon through each Nakshatra. The year has 324 days.

5. BAARHASPATYA YEAR : The year is calculated according to the motion of planet Jupiter through each sign. It has 361 days.

II. Ayanas are two :-

1. Dakshinayana : The path of sun from 0 degrees Cancer to 30 degrees Sagittarius. In this period sun will be south of the equatorin the southern latitudes.

2. Uttarayana : The 6 months period starts with the Sun’s entry into 0’degrees Capricorn to 30’degrees Gemini. The sun will be in northern latitudes and hence north of equator.

III. Ritus are of two types

1. Solar : 1. Sun’s passage through two signs each approximately

Through Aries & Taurus – Vasanta

Through Gemini & Cancer – Greeshma

Through Leo & Virgo – Varsha

Through Libra & Scorpio – Sarad

Through Sagittarius & Capricorn – Hemanta

Through Aquarius & Pisces – Sisira

2. Lunar : Two months each starting from the month of Chaitra – 6 seasons.

IV. Months are of 4 kinds :

1. Lunar Month : Starts with new moon

2. They are named Chaitra etc.,

(Note : In some parts of Bharat the month is also calculated from full moon)

2. Solar Month : Starts with Aries.

3. Savana : Thirty days each.

4. Naakshatra : Moon’s passage through each Nakshatra gives the month of 27 days.

V. Paksha :

Suklapaksha : Starts with 1st day after New moon and ends with full Moon.

Krishna Paksha : Starts with 1st day after full moon and ends with new moon.

VI DAY : Consists of 60 Ghatis. It starts with sunrise and ends with sun set.

So these are the six types of divisions of time according to the wise.

Panchangam has five parts :-

1. Tithi 2. Vaara (day) 3. Nakshatra 4. Yoga 5. Karana.

1. Tithi : Tithi is the arc between Sun and Moon. There are 15 Tithis. 1.Pratipat or Padyami 2.Vidiya or Dvitiya 3.Tadiya or Tritiya 4.Chaviti or Chaturdhi 5.Panchami 6.Shasti 7.Sapthami 8.Ashtami 9.Navami 10.Dasami 11.Ekadasi 12.Dwadasi 13.Thrayodasi 14.Chaturdasi 15.Newmoon or full moon.

2. VAARA (Days) are seven. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

3. Nakshatras are 27. Each has 13 degrees 20' arc starting with 0 degrees Aries. They are Aswini, Bharani, Krittika, Rohini, Mrigasira, Ardra, Punarvasu, Pushyami, Aslesha, Magha, Poorva Phalguni, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Swathi, Visakha, Anuradha, Jyesta, Moola, Poorvashada, Uttarashada (Abhijit), Sravana, Dhanistha, Satabhisa, Poorvabhadra, Uttarabhadra and Revathi.

4. YOGAS are 27.

1. Vishkambam 2. Preeti 3. Ayushman 4. Soubhagyam 5. Shobanam 6. Atigandam 7. Sukarma 8. Dhriti 9. Sthoolam 10. Gandam 11. Vriddhi 12. Dhrivam 13. Vyaghatam 14. Harshanam 15. Vajram 16. Siddhi 17. Vyatipat 18. Variyaan 19. Parigha 20. Sivam 21.Siddham 22. Sadhyam 23. Subham 24. Subhram 25. Brahma 26. Aindram 27. Vaidhruti.

5. Karanas are eleven. They are:

1. Bava 2. Balava 3. Koulava 4. Taitula 5. Garaji 6. Vaniji 7. Bhadra 8. Shakuni 9. Chatuspaat 10. Naagava 11.Kinstaghnam.

Special Note :

Earth revolves round the Sun in an year. Apparently Sun seems to move around the zodiac around earth in 360 days. This is made up of 12 Months. Now,

432000 years Kali Yuga

864000 years Dwapara

1296000 years Tretayuga

1728000 years Kritayuga

4320000 years Mahayuga

71 Mahayugas = Manvantara

14 Manvantaras – 1 day of Brahma

= 4320000000 years.

The night of Brahma again 4320000000 years. Such 360 days is one year for Brahma. The age of Brahma is 100 years = 311040000000000 human years.

The present Brahma is the 7th, the six Brahmas Manasa, Chakshusa, Vachika, Sravan, Nasika and Anda Brahmas passed their span.

The present Brahma is Lotus born. The present Brahma has passed 50 years of his age. This is his 51st year first day and in the first day 5 hours 28 minutes and 48 second have passed. Now we are in the 49th second.

In this Swayambhuva, Swarochisha, Uttama Tamasa, Raiwata and Chakshusha Manus ruled over 71 Maha Yugas each. Now the 7th Manu Vaivaswatha is ruling.

In this Vaivaswatha Manvantharam out of 71 Mahayugas 27 Mahayugas have passed. In the 28th Mahayuga, Kaliyuga is passing through. In this Vyaya is 5107th year of the present Kaliyuga.

How Old is the World?

As already mentioned above, 6 Manvantaras have elapsed before the Deluge or the beginning of the Vaivasvata Manvantara. That means 1,84,03,20,000 years ( 6 x 71 x 43,20,000) have been completed before the Deluge and 12,05,33,104 years after the flood. Thus from the beginning of the Kalpa, or the present creation, 196,08,53,104 years have passed - which therefore, is the age of the world.

Einstien had calculated the age of Universe (later confirmed by Nasa using Hubble telescope to being the upper limit) as 20 billion years, whereas the Hindu calculation date it as 19.6 billion years.

Yin - Yang

Taking a look at one of the main aspects of Taoism, the principle of yin-yang and relating it to our very own Hindu mythology, here’s an interesting analogy:

The yin and yang represent all the opposite principles one finds in the universe. Under yang are the principles of maleness, the sun, creation, heat, light, Heaven, dominance, and so on, and under yin are the principles of femaleness, the moon, completion, cold, darkness, material forms, submission, and so on. Each of these opposites produce the other: Heaven creates the ideas of things under yang, the earth produces their material forms under yin, and vice versa; creation occurs under the principle of yang, the completion of the created thing occurs under yin, and vice versa, and so on. This production of yin from yang and yang from yin occurs cyclically and constantly, so that no one principle continually dominates the other or determines the other. Since no one principle dominates eternally, that means that all conditions are subject to change into their opposites

This cyclical nature of yin and yang, the opposing forces of change in the universe, mean several things. First, that all phenomena change into their opposites in an eternal cycle of reversal. Second, since the one principle produces the other, all phenomena have within them the seeds of their opposite state, that is, sickness has the seeds of health, health contains the seeds of sickness, wealth contains the seeds of poverty, etc. This is called "presence in absence."

Although it is correct to see yin as feminine and yang as masculine, everything in the world is really a mixture of the two, which means that female beings may actually be mostly yang and male beings may actually be mostly yin. Because of that, things that we might expect to be female or male because they clearly represent yin or yang, may turn out to be the opposite instead.

According to scientists in every man there is a woman and in every woman there is a man... that’s why a few men are feministic and a few women are tomboyish. Looking from a metaphysical plane, this life is an eternal struggle to reach the state of equilibrium between the two. And when you reach the equilibrium between both man(yin) and woman(yang) inside you...That’s when you become equal to God. This is the state of Ardhanarishwara. The true balance of yin-yang. The balance between the forces of nature. The state which everyone of us tries to reach, knowingly or unknowingly.

karma and newton's 3rd law

I have been trying to state that Vedic/Hindu Philosophy has enormous logic associated with it. Like the Newton's 3 rd law, Every Action has equal and opposite Reaction, which has striking similarity, or rather it summarizes the Karma philosophy.
To get a feel of what I am trying to say, lets start with a premise that 'reaction' need not always be the negative of 'action'. It can be an extension of 'action'. What I mean is reaction is not the opposite (in the sense that + is the opposite of -). Reaction is an umbrella term we use to denote the result of our actions, if the actions good then the reaction would be good too... and if the actions bad, the reaction is going to be bad too.. For example, lets see the following scenarios, like if you hit someone, (that's the action), your hand gets pain too (reaction) but if you kiss someone (action), your senses respond in a positive way (reaction).
The scenarios stated above are in terms of the physical attributes of action-reaction pair. If we rise above the physical attributes of action and reaction and go a bit above the pain-pleasure field, you would see the following:
If you hit someone, (action), the person hits you back (reaction) And so... the reaction is NOT the opposite of action, its the RESULT of the action that's Karma philosophy... and that's the 3rd law too!!

Is it so hard to be a Human ???

A friend of mine came to the US last month on H1. His wife is now 6th month pregnant. And when he asked his employer for medical insurace, they said it was not possible to insurce both of them and offerd medical insurance only for this guy and that too after he gets a job and gets his first month salary. I mean, how mean can any person get. If nothing else, at least can't he think in terms of basic human values. 'mAnavatvam'... it looks like a sadistic pleasure of that employer.
Coming to think of it, I have come across employers who hold back all the rights of the consultants and I have come across who treat their consultants very well. I am not trying to show a stereo type employer. But c'mon.. at least in this trying circumstances, you should try to help the people whose blood you are so keen on sucking out. After all its the consultants who get their a** whipped our working day in and day out .. I know that employer is as important, holding your H1 but.. its when these kind of things happen that it reduces my trust on humans. No one would ask for help if he can help himself.
Is it our tendency to offer help to persons who dont need it ? just to make us feel satisfied that we did offer to help?? is it so hard to help a person in his most helpless state?? is it really so hard to being a social animal.. a human???