Monday, August 25, 2008

WITnessed : Shaadi dot com!

Over lunch...

Abhay : My parents have already started looking for girls to get me married. You don't know how much pressure they're putting already!
Pratik : lol... You have a Shaadi.com profile and all!?
Neha : Some of my friends actually made a fake profile in college... and gosh we were flooded with mails!
Makku : Flooded with M-A-I-Ls or M-A-L-Es?
(hahahaha)
Pratik : M-A-I-Ls from M-A-L-Es...

Quick Links :
Erm... What exactly is "WITnessed"?
The full WITnessed series...

Friday, August 22, 2008

Pratik's Quality Principle...

"Never ever compromise on quality, even especially when
stuff is free or really cheap!"

...cos almost always, the free/cheap stuff is worth every penny you paid for it (not much)... and it will cost you more!

Storage cost...
Keeping it will cost you time and space...
eg. Say you buy a pair of pants on sale, and don't like them... They take up space in your wardrobe for years!
Image cost...
Everything that you own/use says something about you...
That cheap travel bag you bought is going to look cheap, making you look and feel cheap.
Fixing it cost...
Often, cheap stuff doesn't work, or you realise its not good enough to use.
Then, you need to fix it. Call the electrician, be at home for 2 hours while he tries to fix your "super cheap" cooler.
Getting rid of it cost...
When cheap stuff doesn't work or is too lame to keep, you (hopefully) finally cut your losses & get rid of it... This renders the time, money and energy you spent on the item a total waste, and it takes some more time and energy in disposing it off!
Standards cost...
Lower quality stuff just has this effect of lowering your standards... which might infect your other stuff too!
Mood cost...
Crappy stuff is very often annoying to use... and that can't be good for your mood!

Exceptions :
When you really like the cheap thing, and its part of the appeal...
eg. When you buy those funky Osho chappals... they're cheap, but they're cool... and you don't expect them to last too long...

Benefits :
Quality stuff lasts longer, is better to use, and in the long term works out more cost effective than buying cheap stuff! Good stuff feels good. : )

Disclaimer :
This principle applies when...
1. You're time is more valuable to you than some saved money
2. You can afford high quality
3. You appreciate high quality

Examples...
When I was in college, I used to buy tons of clothes in sales and on discount... I was "building up my wardrobe"...
eg. I dint have any collared t shirts... so I'd buy 4 of them at a sale, and be stuck wearing ill fitting collared t shirts for the next few months...
Grrr! If only I'd have taken my time to find 2 nice t shirts I really liked that fit well, it would have been a MUCH better use of my money and energy.

It applies to food as well.. We have free snacks at work every evening, and most evenings its something utterly untasty and totally unhealthy...
But still, since its there... for free... I'm like what the heck... and then after I eat the oil soaked pakora's and my stomachs all acidy, I wish I woulda followed my Quality Principle!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Pratik's Principles...

There are a number of principles that I have picked up...

Some came as common sense...
Some came from others' mistakes and advice...
Some others came through personal mistakes experience...
And then there are some that took several rounds of "experience" before they seeped through my skull...

"Pratik's Principle's" is a series where I'll record some of them... (the ones that can be made public..; ) )
For the benefit of mankind... and also cos I like giving gyaan... but mainly so that I become famous like good ol' Murphy and Pareto.
; )

Saturday, August 16, 2008

WITnessed : Going red...

Random office conversations...

Udayan : (says something about communism)
Abhay : I doubt you'll find any communist types here in Microsoft... If you do find one then he'd be a hypocrite... But then again... that is to be expected!
Mubin : Now, now! Don't say such things... Udayan might just go "red"... (red is the colour of communism)

(round of laughter and Udayan goes a little red)

Abhay : There are "supposed communists" everywhere! Even in the US...
Mubin : The only communist in the US is Santa Claus...
Pratik : huh!?
Mubin : He's the only one who wears red... And gives stuff to everyone for free!

(All of us burst out laughin... including Udayan)

Quick Links :
Erm... What exactly is "WITnessed"?
The full WITnessed series...