Friends.....

Well….I admit I’d been away for a whi…le :p
But anyways….I’m back now ….. & this is what brought me back:

Was trying to find one of the very important articles on Comparative Advertising, & this is what I found in the pile:-
An (apparently) useless piece of paper, with some scribbling on it. Whatever had been scribbled in also had a title – Personal Relations
& golly I was pushed back in time…well….some 15 days back when I had just had a silly fight with one of my closest pals :(
Matter? Don’t remember….just that ‘twas too trivial. Anyways, we had different opinions on some matter & were trying to show each other our resp. points of view. While this was continuing for some time….we suddenly entered a cold war kind of situation & yup, that was it. We resumed our resp. works with uncanny walls of ego getting taller & itchier every second. I went up to my pal, offered him a sandwich that I had got for lunch, and said “let’s forget this silly fight” …. pat came the reply “there’s nothing wrong; you’re simply pulling it too long for no reason”…..& though my head said “forget it”, my silly heart couldn’t & kept telling me “settle it or let it sulk at the back of your heads growing heavier n itchier”.

Ah….women! : ….. why can’t we let things be & move on? You know what …… it doesn’t work that way …. If you don’t solve a problem – however puny – it’s sure to stay there …. It definitely can’t solve itself. Well….if you can afford to let it be don’t juggle your head off on it ….. but if the person or matter is important ….. you need to disentangle the whole DAMNED thing ….. phew!
Well this is what I believe, guess this is what most women believe ….. that explains why we’re fussier :p
But that also makes us SMARTER :)

Anyways….I was restless…..I wanted to resolve it & my friend (obviously a male, who couldn’t see the importance and pleasantness of the solved state) chose to mum-up to the matter. So, I chose to vent it out on a piece of paper; & this is what I wrote:

PR
Well, many would believe that some things are best when left unfinished. Hah…..I don’t believe this when the aforesaid “some” crosses all bounds of “some”ness to reach the universal set. Well, I don’t mind quitting a lifeless project halfway or even 99/100th way (for that matter) when I see that ‘twas a mistake to get started on it; but I need to see stout reason why ‘twould not work. & when it comes to PR, when some things have gone wrong, I need to clear up the clutter (however small) before I can rest – at ease.
This silly fight with my dear pal has stretched on to a brawl of words, & before things could be settled, what’s come in the way is our dear set of egos….

I hadn’t finished …when my dear friend came up to me & snatched this paper off me n read it. & here’s what he added
“Fight is over & now we are eating sandwiches. No ego can come between us!! That’s what makes our friendship so strong; & it will only grow stronger!!! AMEN!”

Happy ending! :)

The Silver Gleams of William Shakespeare

"The earth that’s nature’s mother is her tomb;What is her burying grave, that is her womb" …. Father Laurence, 'Romeo & Juliet'.
William Shakespeare, apart from Rabindranath Tagore, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Frost, has been a major philosophic inspiration to my life. Shakespeare saw the beauty of the corollaries and expressed the essence of every feeling or character. Be it virtuous or viced, Shakespeare had the eye to enjoy the beauty of it all.
"from hour to hour we ripe and ripe,then from hour to hour we rot and rot" …. designed to be mouthed by Touchstone, As You Like It: Shakespeare created picturesque characters in his plays, sometimes framed as the court jester Touchstone or at other times as the melancholy Jaques, in ‘As You Like It’, or as the foolish Greek Champion Ajax, in ‘Troilus and Cressida’: characters that spoke the bare essence of life.
“What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me; no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so.” …. spoken by Hamlet, when he is fickled about deciding whether man is noble or evil….is one of my favorites. What inspires me in Shakespeare’s work is his ability to realize the silver lining even behind the darkest of clouds, his ability to make smiles out of the gravest of graves, and his ability to inspire so well through petty fiction. He can mock life and admire it….all at once, and express his gratitude for being what he is even when he is mouthing his inconveniences. Hail thee!

Something in my soul tells me that I am drifting far away from where my aim lies. So far away – that I let myself drift off to virility – where I’m more than the mere me; I’ve free wings n I can soar higher n higher....

An Ode to Researchhood......

Finally I'm through with the hectic compre season, studded with miles 'n' miles of bits to study, n aeons spent in front of subjects I detest muggin'up, but have to....'coz this is what will draw me closer to the ultimate work I've been wanting to do for so long now :)

........... Research ~ on the field, that interests me most .............

Research: What of it?
To me, research starts everyday – in the little queries we have and the endeavours we make to quench them. Sometimes it’s as trivial n playful as wondering why the little bird comes and coo’s at my window sill everyday, or, why those little squirrels chirp so shrill n loud when they’ve managed to lay their puny hands on the best nuts they could spot. See? Research is fun! It’s like looking for the perfect answers to the most interesting questions we could imagine.

Well, the definition of the term research says that it’s a “systematic” endeavour, into satiating some kinda quest for knowledge. Ahh…..now the definition drains out all the fun….Damn!
But whoa…..let not silly dictionaries swivel our foci!

Ever since I got over with the muggin’ portions of our ‘compre’, I, for the first time was granted the official n unofficial luxury of embedding myself full-fledgedly into THE research topic that interests me most [P.S. this condition, in me, had been diagnosed some 7-8 years back, n I am yet to satiate this little inquisitive lump in me that I’d been quelling all this time]. Man….am I happy!

Research is fun n it’s a challenge when you embrace it officially. It’s like getting married to someone you never had known before….n now that it’s official you’d have to strive to make the best out of it. If you succeed, the fruits are all yours n if you don’t…..u’re dead meat! ;)

The fun part of doing research is that u’re workin on a topic that inetersts u most; what’s funner - is that when u’re tryin to quench this interesting interest in u, u find urself getting into some kinda ‘chakra-vyuh’ studded with more interesting stuff. The way out is to stay focused (ofcourse u can designate some of those interesting encounters as ur future quest topics) n to look at the whole thing as some kinda jig-saw puzzle – fit the right pieces together, n EUREKA u have urself enlightened with the solution. Ahh…..now comes the funnest part of researchhood: u’re in a happy trance - completely satisfied - sometimes jeopardized - but that only loops u deeper into resarch - further tanced, it’s some kinda viscous intoxication….marijuana? whatever…..but it’s absolute fun; n the best part is that people don’t shun u for ur intoxication….haha…..they just admire u……Nuts!
Haha……try it folks…..research is the best thing u could do to allay ur wandering intellect, forget ur fears, bid adieu to ur tears, & earn a ransom in pennies n Crowns!

Mother~~~~

She's sensitive, she's beautiful, she's an epitome of grace n passion - her heart the subtlest of God's creations.

She is a believer, her naivette due to her faith on emotions - she makes herself the sacrifice, in pursuit of smiles for her people.

She adds hues to the world; hues that touch n sprinkle on the days n nights - weaving in strings of love, faith, and life all around.

She sacrifices herself for her passions n emotions; her breaths entwined in the smiles of her loved ones, her concerns whirling around the well-being of her dear.

She smiles to herself, when she's struck by our hardness, n forgets it as another naive mistake that we made; never a complaint or frown doth mark her face then.

"Why do you not look after yourself, n care for all that's good just for you?" I ask with surprise.

"That's what I'm doing child" she says.

All of a sudden, I remember the ol' mother in Bhisham Sahni's 'The Boss Comes to Dinner'. I fly back to that tender age of mine n wince at the rememberance of how I had hated the son who had just cared for himself n his own interests! No, his mother had not featured in his list of interests; she was no more than a pest in his posh n aesthetic house; atleast that's what he felt in the story. I never wanted to be like him. Never, ever!

Today, when trying to define grace and feminism, with my new-found passion of creating art on the computer, I drew this beautiful lady. Ahh.....I smiled, she's beautiful! I had imagined that she had caught her sari on something, some prickly bushes? Ahhhh.....she's my Mother, n the bushes - us, clinging on to her, while she walks us ahead to a glorious dawn, compromising the pace of her advancement for the sake of bright tomorrows of her dear ones - us!

Unbelievable, wondrous, mystic, n absurd, or should I call you simply irrational?! Whatever it is, probably I'll never understand completely; but I love you Mom, n will rush to the warmth of your lap as soon as I can!

Water, water, everywhere.......

a spectacle......

A canon-ball sent by the Gods,

Gleaming through the woods divine,

Has landed at my humble door

N' washed my heart with ruthless whine.

"Arise, awake, n off u go"

Whisper my friendly woods to me,

"Don't dare look up at the canon balls,

Or u'll set off in the poetic spree"

"hehe....i say, poet? me?

Have i ever heard you crazier than this?"

And lo-behold, now that I can't stop scribbling,

Lines 2s and 4s meet a rhythmic kiss.

Awash.....................

It has finally started raining here in Ahmedabad.
Phew.....what a relief!

The balcony to my room overlooks this beautiful tree-couple ~ KrishnaChuda n RadhaChuda ~ nature's own replicas of the passionate lord-lovers ~ Sri Krishna n Sri Radha.

Decorating my little balcony everyday, as if it were a lush palanquin, these two trees have become real dear to me now. They lend me support when I'm depressed, share my smiles when I'm happy, pose for me whenever I'm haunted by the pangs of my little camera, and bless me all the time. I must be having almost hundred beautiful snaps of them.....dressed in the lovely hues of the different seasons.

This.... is the season of the 'Showers'. The lords are awash with glittering droplets of water, and they look beautiful.

KrishnaChuda.........this is what we Bengalis call the Gulmohar (delonix regia). Well....KrishnaChuda would literally mean dark-topped.... or does it have something to do with Lord Krishna's head-decor? Krishna, mostly sported this beautiful little crown, adorned with the top of a peacock's feather: well....that makes sense.....KrishnaChuda (as the name of the flower is) must be meaning this ornate band on Lord Krishna's forehead.

More often than not, this tree is seen alongside another beautiful tree RadhaChuda (again a bengali nomenclature), and the two trees are imagined together as Cupid's hit on the lords - Radha 'n' Krishna. 'RadhaChuda', also known as the 'Golden Shower' tree has smaller and subtler flowers, and it looks beautiful mostly when coupled with the KrishnaChuda. Ahhhh.....the wonderous art of Nature! Many beautiful streets in Kolkata are flanked by these beautiful fiery lovers and it's a splendor when the lush Bengali breeze lulls the blossoms off their branches, into unision, to the ground beneath the huge trunks.

My room feels so Bengali (or should I say bangali?) under the splendor of these two new friends of mine ~ n they've been pamperng me with these beautiful gifts everyday. Waking up, every morning, to a beautiful spread of petals greeting my room, only to end the day with sweet goodnight kisses with yet another bevy of lush blossoms.....boy, am I pampered?

Being a Good Girl …………

“…..all the things I deserve for being such a good girl”

What are the “things” that I’d deserve if I be a good girl? Well, God’s must’ve been crazy to have said that we should work without expecting results! How can one work without looking up to a goal of achieving something?
Hmmm…….. yeah, now that I’m desperately trying to get over my short-temperedness and habits of being clingy to and fussy ‘bout any issue, I really want to know how my world would look after (if ever) I achieve it :)
The work sounds simple, but take it from me, this whole exercise is proving to be very painful and grilling. There are moments when I have to fight with myself to stop myself from reacting to some situation: situations that pop in big, small, and, on most occasions, unprecedented. Anyways, letting bygones be bygones, all I have to concentrate on , apart of course from compre preps, is my temperament.
Haha…….. as Jiah Khan had punctuated vigorously, the classy ‘Nishabd’, with her casual “Take Light”, I literally want to implement this in my life.
Phew…………..

On Ken Follet's “Jackdaws”

Diana was too grand to do the menial war work that most women were offered. “Well, I’m here to propose something more interesting.” ……“Flick, darling, don’t tell me you’re involved in cloak-and-dagger stuff.”

In Jackdaws (JD), Ken Follet (KF) created an outstanding World War II thriller, resplendent with drama, action, emotion, and a patriotic passion among its ubiquitous and stirring fem fatales. JD, a historical novel, is the story of how an “all-female” special operations team planned and executed the destruction of a Gestapo communications centre in France, right on the eve of D-Day.

The title of the novel is actually the code name of the small all women squad, created and run under the supervision of Felicity Clairet, alias Flick, a British army Major. Though a fiction, JD mimics the true story of fifty women spies who were sent to France on a very similar mission. Flick, on lines akin, has imaged very closely the real life of Pearl Witherington. With Flick KF has sketched a hero; let me cite one of the triumphs of Flick over her strongest enemies, when she had succeeded in deceiving him aptly: “The infuriating possibility had already begun to dawn on Dieter. He knew from bitter experience that Flick Clairet was a master of deception. Had she fooled him again?”

There is more to Follet’s mesmerizing string of characters in this novel than just Flick and her viscous and strongest German rival Major Dieter Franck. Her bevy of jackdaws were 1) Honourable Diana Colefield, the baron’s sister and a ‘crackshot’, 2) Gerhard alias Greta, the lesbian telephone engineer in the team, charged to tell them exactly where to place the chargers so as to cripple the exchange, 3) Geraldine “Jelly” Knight, the explosives expert, and 4) Ruby Romain, known as a ‘violent prisoner’ and a ruthless killer, was also an able soldier and an adorable wit. Flick’s squad was trained for the purpose in a jiffy of two days and they mastered shots and parachutes all at once.

Women had contributed immensely and with all their might in the war effort and KF has succeeded in establishing this fact par excellence in this creation, which I would not hesitate to designate as a literary masterpiece. “She was alert, her heart pounding, her muscles tensed for action, but in her brain the blood flowed like ice water.” The precise and picturesque narrative style and the fictional backdrop created by the author have borne consistently the added passion and suspense, which demarcates this piece from any other war document.

Gosh...it happens again....

girls......sigh.....
sometimes it really makes me sick when girls behave real uncanny
1st 'twas Irene...abhi Poo!
gawd.....they'll throw themselves unto the "guy of their dreams"...the guy who's happy being by himself, innocient n carefree.......n when they fall back on her the typical girl chooses to play "oh i'm sooo confused!" CRAP!
yaar.....just make up ur mind!
The apple when up on the tree looks so delicious n alluring, n when u've got it in ur hands.....u'd wince n ho n hum n seem reluctant to take the bite....."i'm not sure i want it" .... gawd....for heavens sake make up ur mind b4 u've severed the apple from its branch!
I really am feeling sorry for Manu, but it aint his fault.....n 'm not saying this coz he's my friend, n Poo's just a second tier acquaintance......why cudn't she make up her silly mind b4 twirling him into her greasy smses n her "affectionate" (apparently) loud houghts?
Yeah...prevention is preferred over cure......but I really hate her.
arghhhhh.....I don't wanna sound so negative on my blog atleast.....
well ...i'll definitely jot in something better n more cheerful next time
Promise :) !

An Ode to Scarlett O'Hara....My Hero

Scarlett O’Hara….the name deemed so scandalous, is my icon …. the woman that I have idolized, ever since I read her. To me, she is pristine – no less than Melly, and I perceive she was more…..Scarlett was no hypocrite!
Society worshipped women so timid, that they’d smell into salts of feminism and let the world take its toll on her mates and siblings. Hail the virtuous….virtue defined in measures of her ability to hide behind the veils when world’s starved for her valor; so were the definitions of aristocratic fem.

Scarlett, chose to step out of the “bounds” defined for her by the society, and said what she felt was right. Never hesitating to speak out the truth, she chose to admit her love for Ashley Wilkes; this is what I consider as virtue. Scarlett chose the less-trodden path, and hence was shunned. It was only Melanie, who, although considered virtuous by the society, could see what the real Scarlett was. Melly saw Scarlett the way I see her….brave, honest, and choosing to twist truth only to save Tara and her folks.

However, Scarlett could rarely realize the virtues that she possessed; she yearned to be like her mother ‘Ellen’, as graceful and pristine. One of her greatest fears was that “mother would be turning in her grave if she knows that I’ve done….”. Scarlett was a child at heart, young and restless, willing to take the reins of her life in her own hands, going to the greatest extents to keep her people protected under her beautiful wings, so lush and caring, yet so strong. She never wanted to go back to those dreadful days of poverty, without a morsel to feed the hundred mouths that gazed up to her, seeking support. She toiled in the fields, under the glaring sun, until her hands were so rough that Rhett could feel the scars when he touched her palms, once so beautiful and delicate. Talking of Scarlett how can I ever miss out on her beauty? With beautiful eyes of emerald, n an angelic face bordered by her wavy red locks, every feature spelt a mesmerizing mix of a grit of steel, sharp wit, and amazing grace. To me she’s been the most beautiful dame literature has ever defined. ‘Feline’ is what her beauty has been described as, sharp, charming, and beautiful. Scarlett O’Hara, to me, she’ll always be a beaut ideal. The perfect portrait a litterateur could ever paint; a portrait, parts of which I’d want to imbibe.

Hail thee....Scarlett!

Stranger than I thought 'twould be ....

Right now I'm in the mids't of doing nothing, when I need to do so much. Have read very little since evening, thank heavens that I had a class in the morn. Came back, slept for a decent 2 hours, went to the library to study, studied a bit, but was almost groggy with slumber again......hence, not ignoring the signs of nature, came back to my room n slept again. This time for an hour or so. Woke up, went with my pals to CT to have dinner....n an ughhhhhh.....the curd-rice that I had ordered was omg so yukk.. Hence, had a small glass of fresh orange juice n returned. Hey, Manu has finally proposed Poo.....wow....i'm feeling so happy for him. I knew this was destined....but he wud never agree.....silly.... :)

they'll make a cute pair n I'll pray that they stay happy 4ever.

Dunno wats happening between me n my best pals....things seem a little messy.....with a lot of careful exchange of words....punctuated generously with explanations for every deed done n every statement made. I want things to be absolutely natural between us.....no formality, no fear of saying the wrong things,....just plain natural selves....completely at ease..sharing every thought with each other....the woes n the fantasies, the smiles n the tears, the sweet dreams n the passions...everything....like real soul-mates. I have to be a better person to achieve this state.....really....I need to control my anger n need to stop being so fussy.

ah.....hope the good lord helps me in this.....he's been helping me a lot....a little more God! Please!

hehe....as if God's reading this.....probably nobody is.....but this e-diary is fun :)

signing off ~~

Separation...again

It's senti time at IIMA!
Palz....bucklin'up.... to make n endeavour into the "real world"
Ahh....nostalgia....that's what's coming in now.
Shrouding my days n nites n telling me....."they're going to go". Away into the world of their own, where i'll probably even forget half their faces and 3/4th of their names.
Huh....so that's life....."move ahead" they say! Ahead? Well yeah.....that I would, but....why does this painful string of severance come in so often?
It started back in '96, after ICSE, when all of us....after 12 beautiful n chirpy years of togetherness, felt the fangs of this painful string, cutting us off our sweet ties. "we'd keep in touch....letters, emails.....we promised, never willing to believe....that not seeing each other everyday....would make a difference. Yeah we're still in touch....Dubai, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, n Ahmedabad.....that's how we're spread....me n my best pals from school. N we've lost track of one of us....the sweet girl, who got me a flower everyday :) n I, oh so enjoyed the pampering!
1998....College days....came up..with a new color of 'freedom', n we spent 3 years, planning for the future n studying hard....to reach those golden skies of our dreams. Sharing tiffins, bunking the boring sessions of some profs ;p
....n running off to the theatres, peek-a-boo.....Anaconda, Titanic, Men in Black :)
Well..My best pal from college is in Singapore now, married...n yeah "busy" :(
"Busy" is what I was too...when she was getting married, n I wasn't there by her...when she was throwing in tantrums just to convince me into being there during the ceremony. Assignments & End terms.....how could I ever be there? Promises, that I might have made, took the rear seat, n I didn't join her. I'm sorry Rosy....I love u!
2001....University of Burdwan..7 pals....clinging together! I miss them all....I miss those pamperings....I miss those fleeting hours by the 'jheel' (lake) by the canteen! When after those two years of togetherness, the fangs of separation were digging in again.... making our hearts bleed..like never before, we supported each other n said...."we'll keep in touch". Yeah...in touch..we are....never seeing each other.....can't make time, out of our "busy" schedules, for getting together....to chat as we used to - to be there, just to be together! Mumbai, Kolkata, Durgapur, Asansol, Israel, Ranchi, Ahmedabad.....is how we got spread this time.
Yeah, yeah, I'm sad.....two years ain't a long time, to get clingy with pals, that's what Sheru says.... n "sob, sob" he goes....
We have a senti NB.... to let out the gushes of our emotions, during the testing times of separation, which pop up, oh so often!
FPM: Am I luckier than my PGP peers, for being able to stay here for more than just 2 years, or is it otherwise; 'coz I'll watch them fleet-off..n be here....feeling the fangs more than I could bear? Well....I'll let time do the trick....n yeah..I'll be an optimist again ~ promising and believing , once again, that we'd be in touch!

Downfall of the 200+ years old Barings Bank~Holla ‘Rogue Trader’: A Narrative

Nick Leeson and Barings Brothers & Co. Ltd, which was the prime target of Nick’s fraudulent financial trading activities, together procured a loss of £830mn over a span of two and a half years, ending February 26, 1995. After Mrs. Thatcher deregulated the London financial market in FY1986, the strong line dividing the English banks and stock traders was dissolved. FY1987 saw the oldest British merchant bank ‘Barings’ diversify into the securities market. Nick, with an ambition of becoming an established stock trader, joined the bank as a clerk in FY1989, and soon became one of the good performers in the field of book-keeping. He was soon recognized and deported to Jakarta, to regulate Barings’ financial operations in the city. Nick had very well realized that Barings’ was thriving on its strong brand identity, of being a ‘discrete and safe bank’ and also of being the coveted banker for the ‘crème’ of the British society. The operations, both front and back office’ were extremely poorly maintained, and Barings used outdated methods and software for running its operations. On reaching Jakarta, he sensed one of the main weaknesses of Barings. It had a very poor system of tracking down and appropriating its accounts receivables.
Recognizing Nick’s commendable performance in Jakarta, Barings, in March 1992, posted him as ‘trader-cum-head of securities operations’ at Barings Securities Ltd., Singapore. Moreover, there was no one officially responsible to monitor his activities in Singapore.

[Note: He was empowered to control both sides of his trading operations at Singapore]

Nick went to work at SIMEx, where his main task was to trade in futures, which functioned mainly on speculations. Futures, being a very new market component, nick hired new traders and linemen to assist him in managing Barings’ financial endeavor. With high market fluctuations in summer’92, Nick’s men made a few mistakes, which lead to a lumpsum operational loss at BSL. To cover it all up, nick opened a secret a/c (named five-eights, 88888), with a different software, than those used at Barings. He then approached Barings’ HQ at London, and asked for capital, to fund his futures trading with BSL clients, that did not really exist. Hence, funds required for margin payments were easily procured from the HQ, based on stories of fake clients. In the meantime, Barings Securities Ltd. was taken over by Barings Brothers and Co., followed by a culture transformation at BSL from low to high control by the upper level executives. By July’93, Nick had wiped out all the losses at a/c88888, but he chose to continue his secret operations to earn more money. He started roping in more clients with the aid of cut-price deals that showed handsome profits on paper, while stacking up the losses of Barings, via ‘88888’. Ron Baker, the newly appointed Head of Financial Products Group at Barings, noticed but ignored Nick’s growing profit records. In FY1993, Nick’s losses had climbed up to £94mn. The discrepancy between Nick’s demand figures and the clients’ repayment ones were noticed by both Ron and Barings’ treasurer.

Internal auditors were set to investigate the situation at Singapore, but they, without checking the official sources for the transaction tracks of Nick, returned with praises for his performances. However, they were worried about his dual role as performer and reviewer of the same set of operations running at Singapore; but they chose to keep mum.

By end of FY’94, an equivalent of 3/4th (£300mn) of Barings’ capital, had been used for funding Nick’s operations, and Nick had successfully weaned in Barings’ executives into believing that he had cooked up £28mn as profits from one year operations of a low risk trading zone, viz. futures.
To make up for his surmounting losses, Nick, observing the politically and economically stable Japanese market, chose to trade in its Nikkei Index. Unfortunately for him and Barings, January 1995 saw the devastating Kobe earthquake, on the following day of which, the Nikkei Index crashed by 1000 points. In an attempt to hold the market up alone, Nick bought 1000s of Nikkei’s stakes, which pushed Barings into a final debt of more than £1bn. The markets kept crashing and Nick kept showing his fake profits to the HQ. However, in January 1995, the Bank observed a figure of £50mn as losses from Nick’s operations. On enquiry, Nick provided a fake (but easily detectable) proof that the money had been forwarded to another bank. As usual, the officials looked through the faults and Nick was saved for some more time. On February 17, 1995, a clerk at Barings noticed the discrepancies at Nick’s account, and finally Nick was chased and arrested in March 1995. However, Barings collapsed due to its huge obligations, mainly in the plummeting Nikkei stocks, and it was sold out to the Dutch bank ING for £1.

*The italicized fragments in the summary are the highlighted faults in Barings’ operational system, which finally lead it to its downfall.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a) How did Leeson get the necessary cash to fund the margin calls on account 88888? Nick, during his tenure at Jakarta, had been the amused observer of the perforations in Barings’ operational systems. Barings’ was very poor in tracking down and appropriating its accounts receivables, from its clients. Nick used this loophole in the system, and asked for money from Barings HQ, London, to fund his forged a/c ‘88888’ operations of covering losses and showing fake profits from non-existing clientele.
Moreover, at Barings, the senior management was not involved in sanctioning funds (however phenomenal) to its operators. This was another loophole in the system, which Nick had harped on. b) What internal control failures contributed to the collapse? The main problems in the internal control system at Barings, in spite of its cultural transformation into a hierarchically controlled organization, were as follows:
1. Nick Leeson had been posted as the ‘prime trader-cum-head of securities operations’ at Barings Securities Ltd., Singapore. Moreover, there was no one officially responsible to monitor his activities, and Nick scythed down the advantages of controlling both sides of his operations, viz. trading and respective evaluations. Being practically answerable to no one for his activities, Nick effectively manipulated his forged deals.
2. Moreover, Barings had a very outdated operational system, which further eased Nick’s endeavors. His ‘88888’ account remained a well guarded secret, although it contained visible and obvious evidences of his secrecies.
3. The internal performance tracking system, viz. the audit committee, failed to pry into the operational conditions at BSL, in spite of everything being clear and evident. They skipped the act of studying the records, one of the most important tasks of auditing. They also ignored the observation that Nick was practically answerable to no one for his activities, and he was his own performance evaluator.
4. Finally, one of the prime reasons of Barings’ failure was that, the management at the central level was inapt, as far as the securities business was concerned. The prime fault was perhaps the practice that the top management level was held by family members, irrespective of the extents of their business understandings. This perhaps explains how in spite of the management at Barings being controlled by ‘highly experienced bankers’, everyone failed to understand the basics of the business.
c) What information was available to senior executives, prior to collapse that indicated problems at BFS? Why it was not acted upon?

The senior executives at Barings had knowledge of the following details at BSL, Singapore:
1. Nick had possessions of a huge part of the company’s capital, and his demands were rising with every passing day. Even after surpassing their overdrafts limit at Citibank, mostly due to Nick’s activities, the top management chose to let Nick have his way, expecting more profits from his end.
2. The profit figure recorded under Nick’s operations was considered by a majority of the other traders as ‘impossible’ with respect to his operational zone of low risk trades.
3. Ron Baker, the Head of the Financial Products’ Group, and Terry Halls, Chief Treasurer, were aware of the fact that the most of the clients reported by Nick were not paying their dues.

In spite of being aware of most of the discrepancies in the Singaporean records, the management chose not to act mainly because they had started trusting Nick’s capabilities as a clever and highly skilled securities tradesman. They themselves were unaware of the basics of the business apparently run by Nick, and hence chose not to interfere in his operations. They were highly enticed by the dreams that Nick’s operations were potent for earning enormous profits for Barings and hence consequential bonuses for its personnel, especially, the management. Finally and most importantly, no one was officially entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring Nick’s activities, and hence, no one bothered to probe further into enquiring into Nick’s fishy dealings.
d) What information was available to lower level executives? Why it was not acted upon? The treasurers at Barings, who primarily dealt with Nick, were aware that Nick was using the same alibi to extract money by hundreds and thousands of pounds everyday, from the company. There was a reported clientele maintained by Nick, but most of them never paid their dues. The auditors, were aware of the ambiguity in the definition of Nick’s dual roles, as ‘chief trader’ and complementary ‘book-keeper’ at BSL, Singapore; but they were enthralled and probably enticed by the bonus prospects due to Nick’s activities, and hence, chose to hail Nick rather than report the observations to the authorities. The other traders at Barings had raised the issue that an annual profit figure of £28mn was impossible to be achieved from such a low risk transaction activity, as the futures market. However, their objections were overruled by the management, probably due to the latter’s blind faith in Nick as a highly skilled trader and resultant bonus earner for them. e) Could the various regulatory agencies (internal and external) have uncovered the Leeson's unauthorized activities prior to collapse? If so, why did they fail? Nick’s activities were not well-guarded and could have easily been traced, had the regulatory agencies been a little more careful in their operations. The first problem lay in the definition of Nick’s roles; a clear segregation of complementary roles is extremely necessary for unambiguous and fool-proof organizational functioning. Secondly, the performance tracking mechanism was extremely deregulated, although the company held tall claims of being centrally controlled. Nick was practically not answerable for his activities to any of his immediate authorities.Thirdly, had there been a practice at Barings, of tracking down discrepancies in records, like the reasons behind piling client-dues, Nick would not have been successful in his eventful ‘88888’ account’s operations.Fourthly, the auditing mechanism has to be fool-proof to keep the financial records intact and accountable upto meticulous details. This was not the case at Barings, and hence, Nick had his way. Finally, unlike at Barings, there should be a risk-management department or official, to take care that the concerned company does not surpass the safety limits of operation.

Semiotics: The Book that I loved reading

Book: Semiotics, Marketing, and Communication: Beneath the Signs, the Strategies

Semiotics, as christened by Pierce, appeals to marketeers in areas involving more ‘more intelligibility’, ‘more pertinence’, and ‘more differentiation’. The author designates ‘languages’ as the primary field of investigation for ‘semiotics’ as a subject. The thrust of semiotics lies in outlining the definition of conditions concerning the ‘production’ and ‘apprehension’ of ‘meaning’. As per the ‘Immanence Principle’, semiotics can be designated as a discipline pertaining to ‘form’.

‘Signs’, as described by the author, is a concoction of various ‘dimensions’ and ‘substances’. Signs are relatively interchangeable and derive value through the context of their occurrence. In semiotics, signs are but a set of superficial entities, which play in underlying significations. Marketeers are more interested in the generative approach of semiotics vis-à-vis the corresponding trajectory of signification. By ‘trajectory’, the author interprets the time, over which the meaning of an ‘expression’, after being manifested gains the stature of ‘signification’.

The author also probes into the role of semiotics in the exploration and exploitation of the concept of ‘clarity’. Clarity, characterized by spatial, temporal, intellectual, or all of these three dimensions, is continuous with significant and strategically allocated discontinuities. The author suggests a contour or delimitation of ‘clarity’ vis-à-vis its articulated design. The concept can take up the form of a narrative schema, with the inherent parameter of interpretation difficulties with respect to: 1) the production and apprehension of the intended meaning, 2) acceptance by the desired subject(s), and 3) success in establishing contractual relations between two subjects.

The elaboration on the ‘Classicisms of Clarity’ differentiates communication in terms of ‘Classical’ versus ‘Baroque’ modes of expression. The dimensions of expressiveness are compared as being:
1) Linear vs. Pictorial
2) Planar vs. defined over Depth
3) In a Closed vs. Open form
4) Multiplicity vs. Unity oriented
5) Clear vs. Obscure
The ‘Classical’ mode takes up the entire depth and space in a single breath, as if it were ‘a unique reality’, leaving very little scope for the ‘third dimension’ of the imagination of the beholder. It outlines clearly and exactly the elements which the communicator intends to attach to the formal totality of the ‘expression’.

Symbolic systems are defined as bi-planar languages, whose two planes, viz. expression and content, are in total conformity with each other. The author defines ‘semi-symbolic systems’ as the ones where there exist other relations between the two aforesaid planes, i.e. where one-to-one correspondence is missing. From this emanate the concerning dimensions of ‘euphoria’/ ‘dysphoria’, as well as ‘Thymia’. The author also elaborates on the twelve dimensions forming the framework for the analysis of advertisements.

The author further develops the structure of the ‘semiotic square’, a schematic representation of the interactive entities constituting any given semantic category. Developing from Hjelmslev’s thesis, semiotics is defined as the study of ‘a system of relations’, and not one of signs. Taking into consideration all the existent differences among relations, the semiotics square has the dimensions of ‘differences or ‘contradictory terms’ defined by an ‘operation of negotiations’, vis-à-vis an operation of ‘assertions’, inherent in the same set of relations. The square is laid out on an edifice of logico-semantic relations, over which all the inherent themes, images, concepts, and expressions are ‘positioned’, to provide ‘meaning’ to the ‘conceptual universe’ being depicted.

Hence, in the book, the author integrates all the dimensions of language and the related styles of expression, and formats the role of semiotics in understanding the implications of the different structures so formed. Semiotics, as a field of study, has immense implication, especially for marketeers and communication personnel, as it paves the understanding pathway to expressions and their deliverable intensions.

To WHOM it may concern

Why do I have to hear.. the wails n the cries?
Why do I have to read..those headlines in piles?
Why do I have to choke at the bombed smoky skies?
Don't you feel, you should have an answer, to all of my whys?

Yeah! I feel that'll suffice, 'coz you'll have nothing to say;
There can be no alibi to the killings of this day!

Some order and a shot..is not how gr8 leaders fought!

Step out on the field;
Feel your spine getting chilled;
n that fear of getting 'rself killed
will stop you 'fore your next order spilled.

Feel for the dying, wail o'er the loss!
Can you ever Make a life?
Think! Before you snatch one: with a Trigger n a Toss!