Tooting One's Horn...and Oldies are NOT goldies...

The students who went  on a trip to India with me in January  made a great presentation recently on their experiences. Their audio-visual extravaganza showed the temples, the cities, firms like Infosys, the people, and many other aspects of Indian life. But the most eye-catching part was a clip taken as we were waiting for our bus outside Chennai airport.  A huge mass of vehicles navigating around each other in a narrow road, and every driver leaning on the horn- an aural assault on the tympanum coupled with a visually moving picture. This was one aspect of India that stuck with me as well- the permanent use of the horn, and the various ring tones that go with the horn. Today, I read an interesting piece in FT on this topic- Engineer makes big noise....In India, one of the most used components of any motor vehicle is the horn. Drivers navigating livestock, pedestrians, animal-drawn carts and motor vehicles lean heavily on their horns to express frustration, if not to clear a path. Trucks are emblazoned with the slogan “horn please”. Responsible for much of India’s distinctive road noise is Roots Industries, a small private company that is also the country’s biggest hornmaker. It was founded in 1970 by K. Ramasamy, a US-trained automotive engineer, now 60, who has been obsessed with auto horns since his childhood in an affluent land-owning family near the southern town of Coimbatore.....

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Not to be outdone by Obama, Japan's PM  Taro Aso "unveiled a record 15.4 trillion yen ($153 billion) stimulus package to help revive an economy headed toward the worst recession since World War II." Looks like money does grow on trees, whether they are bonsai, Japanese maple or American maple.

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Story does not get old...Job market is especially cruel for older workers..Their savings in shambles from the economic downturn, jobless seniors are dusting off their briefcases and trying to head back to work. Many, like Jim Mitchell, a 63-year-old former sales executive, are finding a merciless job market where decades of experience aren't necessarily an asset.