Why the worst may be over in the worldwide Financial Crisis!?!
Yesterday I was in the middle of conducting a training programme on creativity for a group of Singaporeans when I got a call from my mom who lives in Gurgaon near Delhi. Of course, my mobile was in the silent mode during the session and I got to know about the call during the tea break.
I detected a sense of urgency in her tone as I returned her call. She specifically wanted to discuss matters resulting from the current financial crisis.
The conversation went something like this.
Mom: Have you heard that some big bank called Lehman brothers has crashed and another one Merrill Lynch has got sold?
Me: Of course, I know mom!
Mom: I am worried about my fixed deposits with ICICI and HDFC banks.
Me: Why are you worried?
Mom: All my friends and neighbors say that they are going to crash and we need to get our money out quickly.
(All her friends are home makers like her, mostly in their forties and fifties.)
Me: So if you take the money out of these banks, where will you put it?
Mom: Let’s put it in the State Bank of India. Everyone says it is safer as it is a government bank.
Me: Have your friends done it already?
Mom: Some have done it and some are in the process of doing so.
The conversation went on in the same vein. The banks may or may not crash on their own. But if venerable ladies of Gurgaon have pressed the panic button, they sure will.
The herd instinct is capable of accomplishing anything. If people don’t buy petrol for a few days in India and China, the oil prices will crash. If the import of gold is stopped for a week in India, the gold prices will crash all over the world.
If my mom withdraws money from her banks along with her friends, the banks will crash as some kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
The bottom line is that sheer panic has gripped people on the streets. Why else are people like my mom discussing the failure of Lehman and the prospects of ICICI bank instead of discussing the latest episode of daily soap “Radha ki Betiyaan”?
But then the current panic could also be a positive sign. As we know from history, when there is panic on the streets, it is usually a time when the worst has passed. Or has it?
Shalu Wasu is a Singapore-based creativity consultant and trainer. His next creativity workshop ‘Success though creativity and innovation’ is on the 30th and 31st October at NUS Extension, Singapore. To find out more, click here.
You will like these as well!
|
Featured Tickles  Heal Your Relationships to Heal YourselfIt has been rightly said that this world is a mirror. It reflects back our inner/true reality to us. As within, so without. Everything in our life; our job, our economic condition, our dwellings, and the people in our life reflect one or the other aspect of our reality. Isn’t this a beautiful arra The Power of UnlearningAs I picked up the vacuum machine and started vacuuming the carpet in my living room, a sense of dissatisfaction loomed over me. It had been just about a year since I bought this vacuum cleaner and it was already low in its efficiency. The buzzing sound of the motor from that machine sounded healthy 15 elephant tethers that stop you from being creative!The problem is never how to get new, innovative thoughts into your mind, but how to get old ones out. Every mind is a building filled with archaic furniture. Clean out a corner of your mind and creativity will instantly fill it. - Dee Hock When still a baby, the elephant is tethered by a very thick Smoking a cigarette is like talking to your mother-in-law because...Once upon a time, many years ago, in prehistoric times, at a time when there were no cities, no buildings and perhaps even no villages, there was a hunter. He had had a successful day and was walking through a forest back to his tribe. He had slung a deer across his shoulder with some homemade rope Here Is Your D-I-Y Kit For A Leading Edge LifeManagement gurus and their disciples, thinkers, strategists and business process re-engineers have been busy propelling the modern world into not only coping with, but also keeping in step with the rapid changes of an ever shrinking, increasingly competitive and exhaustingly demanding global market. I Wish I Were A GoldfishI am told that a goldfish cannot remember anything beyond a 3 minute time frame. One of my favorite pastimes is to sit and watch our goldfish swim around lazily and rising up only to gobble at the food before going back to their contented existence. Their swimming around actually reminds me of chil The Fine Art of Persuasive Communication!There are many areas to look at in communication: a message is communicated through visual, vocal and verbal means. From that, comes the importance of body language, how we present ourselves, and so on. The visual and vocal elements are indeed very important to effective communication, but we will Teaching the teacherThe arbiter of knowledge and skills, the teacher, is a revered figure around the world. In India, the teacher is known as the guru, the wise one who can be trusted to lead the knowledge-blind and shine the light of competence and skills in the darkness of ignorance and incompetence. Over time it ha How To Nurture A Successful RelationshipHave you ever wondered how certain couples were able to stay together for many years? What are they doing right? What are the factors that contribute to the success of healthy, long term relationships? There are a few fundamental components that will improve your chances of having a successful relat Waves Of InspirationI stay in the coastal city of Chennai and one of my favorite pastimes is to explore the coastline that borders one side of the city. Starting from the crowded marina and Eliot’s Beach to the less crowded and secluded ones that dot the East Coast Road (or ECR as it is called), I have always found How To Be Depressed"Depression was, indeed, the hand of a friend trying to press me down to the ground on which it was safe to stand--the ground of my own truth, my own nature with its complex mix of limits and gifts, liabilities and assets, darkness and light." Parker Palmer I've never been through pregnancy depress Make an ass of yourself but do not let the world know...Many a time we are swept by that overwhelming feeling to bare all. Not to be mistaken with confession which is done after ensuring that there is nothing further to lose on account of reputation. I am referring to pure tear jerker stuff. Born out of righteous indignation. Or plain stupidity. The form Time management with the monksOne mile south of Georgia O'Keefe's beloved Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, thirteen miles down a cliff-hugging dirt road in the heart of Chama Canyon, you will find Christ In The Desert. The Benedictine Monastery is cloister to about twenty monks. I'd fantasized about retreating to the remote monastery Forcing yourself to get up early in the morning is pointless!A google search on early rising gives 1,500,000 results. Amazon has 6699 books on getting up early. Countless self-development ‘gurus’ have written books and articles that extol the benefits of getting up before your friendly neighbourhood rooster does. They have together compiled a list of 10 5 Reasons Why I Got Off My Tail And Found A New Passion!I've taken some time this month to clean out my Gmail inbox, the main goal being to have a completely empty inbox. I went through each email one by one, until I got to the very last entry. It was labeled "journal" and dated 12/14/06. I knew it was there for me to print and tape into my actual jour If Excellence Is Your Ideal Everything Else Will Fall Into PlaceA young man went to Gautama Buddha and sought the Master’s guidance on how to achieve Enlightenment. The conversation, which in my opinion must be required reading for anyone, went roughly as follows: Young Man (YM): Master, how long will it take for me to achieve enlightenment? Gautama Buddha ( |
Loading ...
Twitter 
Facebook
Subscribe
Shalu Dear,
Love the things you are doing
Goriya