Showing posts with label Storm in a tea cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Storm in a tea cup. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The "Grass eaters"

The word "Recession" has been doing the rounds in every possible piece of land inhabited by humans across the globe. A couple of years back, you would have your first interaction with this word only from your boring economics professor during college. This same economic terminology today is fathomed in a much more pristine manner even by a juvenile whose birthday presents are not that grandiose anymore just gives an idea of the fury of this wildfire called slowdown. As even the mighty countries grope in the dark to tackle this problem, a score of other problems stemming due to recession are cropping up. While most of them are of grave concern to us, there is this "freak" one which can break any one into a slight chuckle at least:). Believe it or not, recession is bringing the next stage of evolution in men and I solely mean males here. The evolutionary process has already begun in Japan. These new breed of men (Dont't think can refer them as men for too long) are called "Grass eaters".
Japanese males are now being classified as being flesh eaters or grass eaters. The flesh eater, now being seen as something passe, is the stereotypical Japanese executive who works hard and plays hard. His main focus is his company, which will take care of him for life. When not slaving away for the firm, his interests are golf, watches, cars, and a good night out on the town. Enter the grass-eater : A 20-30 year-old Japanese male who lives with his mother, is uninterested in women, is de-motivated at work, and is an herbivore. Yes, that's right, he eats grass, but not bush. We are talking about the young men of Japan. When most of the people of their age are supposed to be basking at the glorious period of manhood, here are a bunch of disgruntled men who have lost all intrest in life and women!. In Japan, sex is translated as 'relationship in flesh,'" Takuro Morinago, who coined the term said, "so I named those boys 'herbivorous boys' since they are not interested in flesh." The situation here though is far worse than lack of libido. These herbivores are gradually becoming effeminate or to put it plainly, becoming women. They spend on make-ups, beauty products and various unmentionables. They even answer the natures call seated! To think that economic aspects can bring about such drastic effects on the biological aspects of these men is simply beyond anyones wildest imagination.
Japan , even though being a developed nation, has to deal with a strange problem of falling population. A large chunk of their population belong to the oldies group with little or no hope of sustaining population growth. The young men are mostly career oriented,so much so that they don't indulge in women at all during their early career phase. Perhaps, the root of the problem of these grass eaters lies here. They dreamed of careers which were as rewarding as the generation before them. The broken pieces of dreams built have wounded them badly now. They are totally disenchanted and feel cheated with their country's economy. Disappointed enough to even loose your manhood? So, can a threat to a countries economic progress actually be a threat to the race of its men? Well, the sliding sales of contraceptives in Japan surely makes a point.

This event can be easily disregarded as territorial and isolated, but its causes cannot be. Just to ring few alarm bells, contraceptive sales in India have dropped in 2008-09 after very long time. Someday, economic stimulus package would include Viagra at 50% discount:)

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Where is the spirit of Celebration yaaar?


i finaaly get to write about something which has left me confused occasionally and disgusted mostly after dealing with the 100th solicitation by mail or pop-up for the " Cheapest, most romantic Valentine gifts and ideas"!. Damn!, these internet search engines have become smarter but let me tell you that the lowest priced gift was around thousand bucks! The Price you have to pay to love your dear ones is getting dearer and dearer...........

Picture this- i need to get an expert financial planner to plan in advance for ... not insurance , education, marriage and all du-uh!, but for valentines day, Mothers day, Sisters Day, Teachers Day, Father Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Romeo met Juliet For the first time Day, Romeo forgot to call up juliet Day, Friendship Day, Haloweeen, Presidents Day,.................. the list is very very long. Honouring these God sent loving souls is very much appreciable but using it burn gaping holes in someones wallet isnt sweet. Before you get an impression that this view is coming from someone who is a leader of the cheap and miser group, let me clarify that the issue which i will bring up is not anywhere close to money.Being a MBA in Finance, i just can imagine a handful of noblest gesture done today without gain/ulterior motives.Since its Valentine's Day i would use it as the red carpet to arrive at the Grand entrance to my topic.

Valentine's Day besides being the day for bringing smiles to all girl friends and tears to their boyfriends, it also setss the cash registers ringing across the world.Please Go through this link to see the magnitude of business done on valentines day.


This day is abused so outrightly in this world that i would end up loosing my beloved if make her feel special everyday of the year but valentines day!. The "Single and Virgin" stigma attached only to America started spreading its fangs to all parts of the world. It has come to such a sad state that i have heard very few in my lifetime someone saying" i love someone".......... all i hear is" i have a Boyfriend/Galfriend". it is hep to be hitched and laid rather than to be loved. So, we have everyone celebrating love every year, with no more love gained..... or worse lot lost. Apart from commercial viability, do we really value these special relationshipss and days we celebrate?. No one can do justice to a mother, sister, friend or even your country by remembering them for a day, then why do we fall into the nets trapped by people with vested intrests. it has been an on going debate to know "if Business and Ethics can go hand in hand" and however hard people try its is a saddening fact that one hand twists the other at some point of time. But the cost being paid to sustain business of "caring about others" is not something worth for. the number of age old homeless people, divorce cases happeneing, violence in states,.......... the numbers are not dwindling at all. its growing at an alarming rate.We as Soul-less creatures being totally oblivious to anything which doesnt bother us intend to snuggle in our cocoon of bliss till eternity to make us feel better.

The recent event happenings in Mumbai has put the entire city in shame. we boast of Unity in Diversity,religious tolerance , and lots more but r cowered down by a few handful people. Is this the Spirit of MUM-bai????? is it what we boast about being Indian. i feel less guility of not making a voters id card till now......... it is high time that we try, to understand , to introspect, to value and to live each and every occasion of our life, Maybe,someday the spirit of celebrations would be revived and every day would be a celebration