I’m back…!
Don’t know where I begin from… the week’s had long days all week plus a working weekend…!
I read an interesting caption a couple of days before. “The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle.”
Being in sales this really holds very good and all true….!
What I love the most in here is the varied kind of people you get to meet and understand!
While some thoughts really leave an impression on you, some personalities make you numb and dumb and once you leave the site, you’re back to all your senses and curse yourself why could you not speak then all that you think now…! Perhaps this feeling is called esprit d’ escalier in French…! But today am not quite inclined to talk of my meetings, but rather I wanna talk about my newly thought and learnt portfolio strategies..!
A good thing to building your portfolio is to always have insurance to cover your future liabilities. Now there are two ways of looking into it.
1. You take the policies only to mitigate the economic loss that may be caused due to accidental loss of your asset; be it your life or any other belongings, tangible or intangible.! Perhaps the benefit in this strategy is that all the investment decision is left to your discretion and you enter a simple term policy. Also, the premiums would typically be in the range of 15% - 20% of your investible savings.
2. The second way is to look at the policy as an investment avenue where you buy a ULIP and rest assured of good returns over the policy term. The benefit here is that unlike the mutual funds, the charges for fund management are relatively low. The policy being a long term instrument allows a lock in and the investment fetches better return. Almost all policies also allow you to choose the kind of fund you would want to stay invested in i.e. from 100% equities to 100% debt products.
You can also time the purchase of a policy to your benefit…!
Now as you are aware, your premium increases as your age increases. So in case you are uninsured yet, buy it this year, probably just a couple of days before your birthday. Thus, you save the incremental premium which you will be paying on or a day after your birthday. Also, quite a few policies allow you a month’s period to prepay your premium amount due. So suppose you have your next premium due on 10th April 2011, you may prepay the premium in March 2011. How does this prepayment benefit you? Well you see the benefit u/s 80C is available on cash basis. So if you pay your premium in March 2011, you get the benefit in A.Y. 2011 – 12 i.e. in the FY 2010 -2011. Thus, essentially, despite paying a policy premium in April 2010, and investing into PF and other avenues allowed in 80C, if you have not exhausted the limits allowed u/s 80C, you may use this option to prepay and get the benefit in the year of payment.
I met this amazing person a while back who was of the notion that insurance is only for the poor. Perhaps the three realities that govern the need of an insurance are:
Reality 1: uncertainties rule our lives
Reality 2: Family survives on the breadwinner’s income
Reality 3: Human needs change with time
Probably I could relate reality 2 to the person I spoke to. But a market research has revealed that people, including the most elite and affluent, buy insurance primarily for the following reasons:
1. Financial security of the family in case of untimely death
2. Provision for education, marriage, and career of the dependants
3. Post-retirement solutions for self and dependants
4. Redemption of loans
5. Medical expenses in the event of accident, diseases or other disability
So I would not quite agree to the person who believes that insurance is a wasteful instrument. It is an investment today for a better tomorrow. Perhaps people are having some trouble with their general insurances. But that should not have them go faithless over assurance policies for their life and other endowment options. Essentially buying a policy brings in a lot of discipline with regards to your savings as you become conscious that you need to save so as to pay your premium. Helps mobilize a huge amount of savings which then helps economic growth and provides capital to various socially oriented sectors such as:
1. Housing
2. Electricity generation in industrial and rural areas
3. Piped water supply and sewerage systems
4. Road transport development
5. SSIs
There are also ways of making huge amounts of tax free income. Here’s my take:
Like I said before, there should always be some amount of debt in your portfolio of investment. So you can invest in interest yielding instrument such as NCDs and other debt papers in corporate. These yield higher than the conventional FDs and are better suited for a return crazy India. However, the investment amount should only be such that the interest generated per annum is within the tax slab where no tax is levied.
The next step is to look for dividend income and long term capital gains which are exempt u/s 115-O r.w. 10(34) and u/s 112 r.w. 10(38) respectively. Thus you could conveniently enjoy tax free income through capital gains. “Indexation benefit” is another strategy you may look to maximize your long term capital gains. Here’s how it works better… Consider you invest Rs. 100,000 on 30th March 2010 i.e. your investment year is 2009 – 2010. You may invest stay invested in an instrument for 370 days where you would then redeem them on 4th April 2011 i.e. in 2011 – 2012. Now as this qualifies for a long term investment, your cost index will be as on the end of 2009 – 2010; but the sales year index will as at the end of 2011 – 2012. Thus, with just a 370 days investment you get the index benefit of 730 days. Sounds good yeah…! True investment! You can then redeem these and put these into your debt products like we discussed above and get those funds out to stay invested in other long term instruments.
Caution: Above example is on the assumption that you do not have any salary income and only reap gains from your investment. ;P
But give me a chance and we can do some great financial planning for you…
Keep commenting and Keep reading guys… I got lots to share…! :)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Step One to Salesmanship....!
The world is so full of contradictions; it makes me kinda go crazy…!
As my first example in this case I would start wid the most common belief – size does not matter…! Yes, probably it does not when u further quote that “Pen is mightier than a sword” or when u think of the ants on their worldly quest…! One stupid cockroach or that little ugly good for nothing rat can give you a semi heart attack and make u defy gravity in all your might…>! Our very famous “Bhainsa bada ki bheja??” says it all…! :P
I met one of our revered investor where we tried to advise her on buying a certain fund which was suitable for her appetite! She is too old for me to comment on or mock at, which neither is my intention nor my nature, but just to support my argument I bring her in here…! The fund had grown tremendously and was trading at an NAV of c. 190. The female was shocked and was scared to invest into it….! The reason being “abhi toh yeh itna expensive ho gaya hai, wats the use of getting into it now…?? Rs. 190 as against a starting price of Rs. 10 …. Noh noh….. dont try to sell anything to me…!”. But the belief that a lower NAV is cheaper than a higher one is a misconception. Unlike the stock price, which is different from the stock’s intrinsic value, which eventually classifies the stock being cheap or expensive, the Equity funds are purchased or redeemed at NAV (essentially their intrinsic values). Thus what matters next for the fund is the kind of growth it clocks in and not the NAV. An HDFC Top 200 may give you returns of c. 25% despite at Rs. 190, whereas an NFO might end up giving you mere 10% returns despite at Rs. 10. Clearly it is not the size of the NAV that matters but the returns that do…!
Contrariwise, you have situations like a local garage wala offering to acquire Mahindra & Mahindra or an ant trying to wrestle with its best friend, the elephant, when the thought of “Size does not matter” seems to be in serious jeopardy. You would scamper for life if u saw The Hulk (smash it…!) right infront of you in his most violent green streak or if a Godzilla is present in the next lane like it is in the Yankee dodo films….! You surely cannot invest in a PE fund if you’re only worth a couple of Tata Nanos…!
I was reading a couple of articles the other day wherefrom I had to deduce whether India was a worthy investment avenue. The more I read, the more I was vacillating on India as an investment opportunity. There were some who opined that Euro zone sovereign debt crisis was a sure episode. However, this crisis would be good for India as this would cool off the commodity prices, in particular the crude prices which were expected to soar until USD 100 per barrel. Every dollar increase in per barrel price of crude impacts India by USD 800m. Thus crude remaining at 75 – 76 levels would ensure subsidies not going too far, improved BOP and maintenance of deficits. India has merely 4% - 5% dependence on Europe for its exports. Europe also accounts for only as much as 15% of US exports, which again are only a small proportion of total US production where much is domestically consumed. No major impact would be made on India in this case.
Sovereign debt crisis generally long for as many as 6 years to 50 years where by the country is forced to take austerity measures like increase in taxes, cut in public spends, etc. Recovery / public spending begins only after deficits are reduced to a good extent. Interest rates in the zone would be reduced to help flourish the domestic industry which would lead to outflows there. There is intra – euro unrest with blame game going on between member nations who are trying to bust each other to gain more superiority in the zone. Thus, where eurozone is becoming a more weak investment proposition for investors, the affability for emerging nations is increasing which are rather safer and poised for faster growth. And as apparent to all, India and China are the most adored amongst the pack for investment.
That said, there were articles still where by a contrary view was presented that India would surely be hit if Euro zone crisis occurs. Exports to Europe are expected to decline which would lead to dumping in emerging nations such as India, which have a huge consumption. This would hurt the domestic industries and lead to valuation coming off affair bit. Also, corporate in India are jittery to build up fresh capacities as in case the recovery is slow and there is dumping and little consumption, the new capacities will only be a waste of money and resources. Interest rates in Europe are expected to go down as to make European industries grow. This would lead to a weak euro and make exports more competent across the globe, hurting US, Japan and many other developing nations. Credit offtake in India has anyways been low post the 2008 US financial crisis, where India Inc had raked in loads of money and is currently afloat with liquidity. These events would further delay the offtake and affect the banking and financial services space in India.
The debate seems never ending when people pitch for sectors specifically. As a general notion, one would think that in an event of global recession or crisis, tourism industry would be the most vulnerable. However, to sell India we seem to have enough talking points. The theme is “domestic consumption”, a fact that India rides high on. Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), observed that there were a total of 500 million trips in India per year and only 5 million were international, i.e. only 1% was exposed to revenues from random firangs. In a report by World Economic Forum, India is ranked 11th in the Asia Pacific region and 62nd overall, moving up three places on the list of the world's attractive destinations. The report also claimed that the Indian travel and tourism industry ranked 5th in the long-term (10-year) growth and is expected to be the 2nd largest employer in the world by 2019, employing 40,037,000 persons in all. But then came certain numbers, which at least forced me to think on the investment proposition as compared to other sectors.
• The demand for travel and tourism in India is expected to grow by 8.2% between 2010 and 2019 and will place India at the third position in the world
• Capital investment in the sector is expected to grow at 8.8% between 2010 and 2019
• India to get capital investment worth USD 94.5bn by 2019
• India is projected to become the fifth fastest growing business travel destination from 2010-2019 with an estimated real growth rate of 7.6%.
Why would someone really invest in such a sector with such a long gestation period when he might as well get better returns in other sectors in lesser holding period; or probably when he eyes opportunities in other nations with better growth stories. The numbers above are only probabilistic and there is the wolf standing right at the door in case the crisis was to come through globally. You have the food sector in India instead which may perhaps fetch better returns. There is a strong case for gowth in all segments of the industry with probably the highest growth coming through in the dairy products (15% growth projected), fruits and vegetable (20%) and fisheries (20%). The consumption patterns of Indians are very similar to the Europeans. Also Russia is getting modernized as regards its food habits. China is still having a traditional palate. As a result India and Russia provide the best opportunities, within the emerging countries, for investments and developments in the face of Euro crisis. The per capita spending on food in India is 1/6th that of China and 1/16th that of the US. While India’s consumption of grains and cereals is comparable to global levels, an opportunity exists to drive and increase the consumption levels in milk and milk products, and meat and marine products.
No country is better positioned to take advantage of the demographic dividend than India. In 2020, the average age of India will be only 29 years, compared with 37 in China and the US, 45 in the European countries and 48 in Japan. Moreover, 70% of Indians will be of working age in 2025 compared to 61% now. The high percentage of youth is expected to drive demand for tertiary processed foods due to their preference for such products and their propensity to buy new products. The urban population too is forecasted to be 30% of the total population by 2012 compared to 29% in 2008 indicating renewed food habits and more demand for processed food.
Phhhew…. That’s a lot said and thought. Guess with even a bit more you would pounce back with vengeance. But do keep reading and commenting and lemme know if you come across more interesting stuff as food for thought…! :)
When life gives you lemons… cut them into halves and sell each of them in a new package…. LOL!.... probably with different perspectives….! :P
As my first example in this case I would start wid the most common belief – size does not matter…! Yes, probably it does not when u further quote that “Pen is mightier than a sword” or when u think of the ants on their worldly quest…! One stupid cockroach or that little ugly good for nothing rat can give you a semi heart attack and make u defy gravity in all your might…>! Our very famous “Bhainsa bada ki bheja??” says it all…! :P
I met one of our revered investor where we tried to advise her on buying a certain fund which was suitable for her appetite! She is too old for me to comment on or mock at, which neither is my intention nor my nature, but just to support my argument I bring her in here…! The fund had grown tremendously and was trading at an NAV of c. 190. The female was shocked and was scared to invest into it….! The reason being “abhi toh yeh itna expensive ho gaya hai, wats the use of getting into it now…?? Rs. 190 as against a starting price of Rs. 10 …. Noh noh….. dont try to sell anything to me…!”. But the belief that a lower NAV is cheaper than a higher one is a misconception. Unlike the stock price, which is different from the stock’s intrinsic value, which eventually classifies the stock being cheap or expensive, the Equity funds are purchased or redeemed at NAV (essentially their intrinsic values). Thus what matters next for the fund is the kind of growth it clocks in and not the NAV. An HDFC Top 200 may give you returns of c. 25% despite at Rs. 190, whereas an NFO might end up giving you mere 10% returns despite at Rs. 10. Clearly it is not the size of the NAV that matters but the returns that do…!
Contrariwise, you have situations like a local garage wala offering to acquire Mahindra & Mahindra or an ant trying to wrestle with its best friend, the elephant, when the thought of “Size does not matter” seems to be in serious jeopardy. You would scamper for life if u saw The Hulk (smash it…!) right infront of you in his most violent green streak or if a Godzilla is present in the next lane like it is in the Yankee dodo films….! You surely cannot invest in a PE fund if you’re only worth a couple of Tata Nanos…!
I was reading a couple of articles the other day wherefrom I had to deduce whether India was a worthy investment avenue. The more I read, the more I was vacillating on India as an investment opportunity. There were some who opined that Euro zone sovereign debt crisis was a sure episode. However, this crisis would be good for India as this would cool off the commodity prices, in particular the crude prices which were expected to soar until USD 100 per barrel. Every dollar increase in per barrel price of crude impacts India by USD 800m. Thus crude remaining at 75 – 76 levels would ensure subsidies not going too far, improved BOP and maintenance of deficits. India has merely 4% - 5% dependence on Europe for its exports. Europe also accounts for only as much as 15% of US exports, which again are only a small proportion of total US production where much is domestically consumed. No major impact would be made on India in this case.
Sovereign debt crisis generally long for as many as 6 years to 50 years where by the country is forced to take austerity measures like increase in taxes, cut in public spends, etc. Recovery / public spending begins only after deficits are reduced to a good extent. Interest rates in the zone would be reduced to help flourish the domestic industry which would lead to outflows there. There is intra – euro unrest with blame game going on between member nations who are trying to bust each other to gain more superiority in the zone. Thus, where eurozone is becoming a more weak investment proposition for investors, the affability for emerging nations is increasing which are rather safer and poised for faster growth. And as apparent to all, India and China are the most adored amongst the pack for investment.
That said, there were articles still where by a contrary view was presented that India would surely be hit if Euro zone crisis occurs. Exports to Europe are expected to decline which would lead to dumping in emerging nations such as India, which have a huge consumption. This would hurt the domestic industries and lead to valuation coming off affair bit. Also, corporate in India are jittery to build up fresh capacities as in case the recovery is slow and there is dumping and little consumption, the new capacities will only be a waste of money and resources. Interest rates in Europe are expected to go down as to make European industries grow. This would lead to a weak euro and make exports more competent across the globe, hurting US, Japan and many other developing nations. Credit offtake in India has anyways been low post the 2008 US financial crisis, where India Inc had raked in loads of money and is currently afloat with liquidity. These events would further delay the offtake and affect the banking and financial services space in India.
The debate seems never ending when people pitch for sectors specifically. As a general notion, one would think that in an event of global recession or crisis, tourism industry would be the most vulnerable. However, to sell India we seem to have enough talking points. The theme is “domestic consumption”, a fact that India rides high on. Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), observed that there were a total of 500 million trips in India per year and only 5 million were international, i.e. only 1% was exposed to revenues from random firangs. In a report by World Economic Forum, India is ranked 11th in the Asia Pacific region and 62nd overall, moving up three places on the list of the world's attractive destinations. The report also claimed that the Indian travel and tourism industry ranked 5th in the long-term (10-year) growth and is expected to be the 2nd largest employer in the world by 2019, employing 40,037,000 persons in all. But then came certain numbers, which at least forced me to think on the investment proposition as compared to other sectors.
• The demand for travel and tourism in India is expected to grow by 8.2% between 2010 and 2019 and will place India at the third position in the world
• Capital investment in the sector is expected to grow at 8.8% between 2010 and 2019
• India to get capital investment worth USD 94.5bn by 2019
• India is projected to become the fifth fastest growing business travel destination from 2010-2019 with an estimated real growth rate of 7.6%.
Why would someone really invest in such a sector with such a long gestation period when he might as well get better returns in other sectors in lesser holding period; or probably when he eyes opportunities in other nations with better growth stories. The numbers above are only probabilistic and there is the wolf standing right at the door in case the crisis was to come through globally. You have the food sector in India instead which may perhaps fetch better returns. There is a strong case for gowth in all segments of the industry with probably the highest growth coming through in the dairy products (15% growth projected), fruits and vegetable (20%) and fisheries (20%). The consumption patterns of Indians are very similar to the Europeans. Also Russia is getting modernized as regards its food habits. China is still having a traditional palate. As a result India and Russia provide the best opportunities, within the emerging countries, for investments and developments in the face of Euro crisis. The per capita spending on food in India is 1/6th that of China and 1/16th that of the US. While India’s consumption of grains and cereals is comparable to global levels, an opportunity exists to drive and increase the consumption levels in milk and milk products, and meat and marine products.
No country is better positioned to take advantage of the demographic dividend than India. In 2020, the average age of India will be only 29 years, compared with 37 in China and the US, 45 in the European countries and 48 in Japan. Moreover, 70% of Indians will be of working age in 2025 compared to 61% now. The high percentage of youth is expected to drive demand for tertiary processed foods due to their preference for such products and their propensity to buy new products. The urban population too is forecasted to be 30% of the total population by 2012 compared to 29% in 2008 indicating renewed food habits and more demand for processed food.
Phhhew…. That’s a lot said and thought. Guess with even a bit more you would pounce back with vengeance. But do keep reading and commenting and lemme know if you come across more interesting stuff as food for thought…! :)
When life gives you lemons… cut them into halves and sell each of them in a new package…. LOL!.... probably with different perspectives….! :P
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
The Politician
Hey wats up..!
I was sitting wid my grandpa (nanaji) a few months back when he narrated me three stories filled with gyaanbaazi… The stories were interesting…. so I just thought of sharing them with you…though I have knit them in a common thread...! And here’s my take on it…
I found a protagonist for my stories in a Politician... quite an apt guy to learn from… you see at times people who do bundles of wrong things provide regular lessons for others through their own disgraces..! Yes, I cannot vouch if a nonchalant would really learn from them…. But I find them interestin enough..! :D
Strange as it seems but our ‘babus’ do have a lot of work… probably more bureaucratic n procedural than thoughtful n change oriented. Nevertheless I would go with the ‘assumption’ that our politician was a rather workaholic and true to his work…! He had loads of work.. one which would hardly ever end despite him working 24x7 and with all his sincerity. He was tired and thought of getting a helping hand… someone who could be as loyal and efficient as himself. He could not compromise on his search for the right guy as that would cost the state and lead to a mess of the situation which, in turn, would lead to more work for the politician…! Thus, apart from his work, he would spend hours finding the right subordinate for himself…! Until finally one day, he came across one.
Just the kinds he would want to hire…trustworthy, efficient, knowledgeable, and most importantly a workaholic and enthusiastic for his work. The subordinate, however, had a condition before he could work for the politician. He said he would kill the politician the day he did not get work from the latter. The politician was taken aback at this condition. Nonetheless he thought, with so much work that he had, a situation like in the condition would hardly ever arise... at least not until he assumed the responsibility …! So he accepted the condition and hired the guy.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into a year now. The guy would work as hard as the politician had hoped for. Efficient to the core and loyal at the heart. He gave no chance of complaints nor ever did too many mistakes. The politician was happy until he realized one day that the work he had was diminishing and would possibly not remain to be delegated to the guy. He remembered the terms the guy had set as a pre-condition to joining... that he would kill the politician if he did not assign work to him. The politician was scared and could think of nothing to save himself. Finally the day came when he actually had nothing to delegate for the following few days. He ran for his life. He reached a sage who he knew would have some solution for this.
When the sage heard his problem, he said “As the guy is your subordinate and would do what you tell him to, it is you who should be able to control him. His pre-conditions should not affect your composure and peace. The next time you think you are running out of work to assign to him, ask him to write ‘Ram’ on the walls of your office. The day the walls get covered by the name, tell him to wash the walls and continue to write the name until he had work from you. Let him do this repeatedly every time you lacked work for him. This would keep him busy and you at ease.”
In reality, you can probably relate the politician to being yourself and the guy / subordinate to be your mind. The pre-conditions would be the same as your mind imposes on you. If you cannot keep it busy, it will keep you restless. An empty mind is the devils workshop. But the devil needs to be tamed. Perhaps that’s where you need to empower yourself to overcome your mind. Keep yourself busy with something lest you rust your brains and let it home a million miseries for yourself.
Lets move on with our politician though. Having settled the issues with his subordinate, he was indeed peaceful. By now, he had also completed his tenure in the role he had assumed. Having worked diligently all through, he decided to go on a trip to get closer to nature. He decided he would climb a mountain as he always wanted to. Being inexperienced in the same, he requested a monk to guide him his way up to the peak of the mountain. The monk agreed to help him and got along with him. They began their journey and reached a level where the mountain became steeper and more difficult to climb.
The 'politician' that our protagonist is, he decided he would walk straight with his nose parallel to the ground. He had a reputation in the society and held his nose up in dignity. In due course though, he found it extremely difficult to walk any further while the monk kept climbing in a glib fashion, quite unaffected by the slope or the terrain. The politician finally could not walk when he turned to the monk for help. The monk did nothing but say a few words “When you have to climb the mountain and reach its peak, it is necessary to you bend low and walk”.
What the monk hinted at is quite true even when you need to tread your way up in the organizational hierarchy. You need to be humble and modest and part ways with your pride. You need to respect your seniors and care for your juniors. You cannot be a conceited moron with your nose held high in the sky. Be polite and stop giving yourself too much air. Dharti pe reh…! :D You will realize it’s much easier to move ahead and gets you more companions than awry looks and wry smiles every time you pass by.
The politician took the point made by the monk and moved ahead. They reached the top as the politician always wanted to. He was successful and happy. He was at the peak of the mountain, a place where none of his lame companions would ever make it. He was delighted and looked at the monk quite thankfully. The monk gave him a smile back, moved a step towards him and said “You were quite obedient as yet. You’ve got what you want and I guess u should enjoy your stint at the peak. Why don’t you take a look down from here, close your eyes for minute and then think how it feels to be at the peak”. The politician did so and felt extremely proud he had reached there. It was refreshing and self satisfying. At that moment the monk said “If you were given a choice to be one the three – the peak of a mountain, the plateau down there or the pond as we saw at the ground level when we began, which one would you prefer to be?”
The politician looked at him and instantly replied “I would love to be the peak. It stands tall at a height where one needs to make a lot of efforts to reach. One needs to look up to it to even admire it or talk to him while the peak just looks down at every thing on earth. Why, what would be your choice, wouldn’t you choose to be the same?”
The monk said “No. I would prefer to be the pond. You see, when it rains, the peak only drools down the water onto the plateau. It cannot contain the water or enjoy it. It is tall and has no vegetation. It does not need the water. The peak is of no use to a lay man.
The plateau too, will hold water just as much as it can. It will get flooded in due course and throw the water down. It only helps itself and the little vegetation that it has. It is of no use to a lay man again. But the pond down there is where water stores itself. The pond will take what he gets from nature itself as well as what the peak and plateau could not hold. It collects the water and allows a lay man to use it. He helps more lives than the plateau or the peak. He is more accessible than the other two. The hubris of the peak or the defiant plateau are of little use to the society. I would rather be the pond”
Point well taken…! Knowledge for a person is something he needs to share. You would be of no use to the society if you simply sit on piles of information or having reached high with the use of it but unwilling to disseminating it rightfully. Self pride, with the stature you have received owing to your knowledge and capability, will be short lived if you cannot care for the society and look down to it from your height.
These attributes I just narrated were probably small things, but do make a good difference in moulding you in a better person. I guess I have disseminated enough gyaan… aaj ke liye itna ‘pravachan’ kaafi hai... I’d rather buzz off from here now then being killed by you for having killed your time with another hell of a torture…! :P
But hey keep commenting and keep reading…! :D
I was sitting wid my grandpa (nanaji) a few months back when he narrated me three stories filled with gyaanbaazi… The stories were interesting…. so I just thought of sharing them with you…though I have knit them in a common thread...! And here’s my take on it…
I found a protagonist for my stories in a Politician... quite an apt guy to learn from… you see at times people who do bundles of wrong things provide regular lessons for others through their own disgraces..! Yes, I cannot vouch if a nonchalant would really learn from them…. But I find them interestin enough..! :D
Strange as it seems but our ‘babus’ do have a lot of work… probably more bureaucratic n procedural than thoughtful n change oriented. Nevertheless I would go with the ‘assumption’ that our politician was a rather workaholic and true to his work…! He had loads of work.. one which would hardly ever end despite him working 24x7 and with all his sincerity. He was tired and thought of getting a helping hand… someone who could be as loyal and efficient as himself. He could not compromise on his search for the right guy as that would cost the state and lead to a mess of the situation which, in turn, would lead to more work for the politician…! Thus, apart from his work, he would spend hours finding the right subordinate for himself…! Until finally one day, he came across one.
Just the kinds he would want to hire…trustworthy, efficient, knowledgeable, and most importantly a workaholic and enthusiastic for his work. The subordinate, however, had a condition before he could work for the politician. He said he would kill the politician the day he did not get work from the latter. The politician was taken aback at this condition. Nonetheless he thought, with so much work that he had, a situation like in the condition would hardly ever arise... at least not until he assumed the responsibility …! So he accepted the condition and hired the guy.
Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into a year now. The guy would work as hard as the politician had hoped for. Efficient to the core and loyal at the heart. He gave no chance of complaints nor ever did too many mistakes. The politician was happy until he realized one day that the work he had was diminishing and would possibly not remain to be delegated to the guy. He remembered the terms the guy had set as a pre-condition to joining... that he would kill the politician if he did not assign work to him. The politician was scared and could think of nothing to save himself. Finally the day came when he actually had nothing to delegate for the following few days. He ran for his life. He reached a sage who he knew would have some solution for this.
When the sage heard his problem, he said “As the guy is your subordinate and would do what you tell him to, it is you who should be able to control him. His pre-conditions should not affect your composure and peace. The next time you think you are running out of work to assign to him, ask him to write ‘Ram’ on the walls of your office. The day the walls get covered by the name, tell him to wash the walls and continue to write the name until he had work from you. Let him do this repeatedly every time you lacked work for him. This would keep him busy and you at ease.”
In reality, you can probably relate the politician to being yourself and the guy / subordinate to be your mind. The pre-conditions would be the same as your mind imposes on you. If you cannot keep it busy, it will keep you restless. An empty mind is the devils workshop. But the devil needs to be tamed. Perhaps that’s where you need to empower yourself to overcome your mind. Keep yourself busy with something lest you rust your brains and let it home a million miseries for yourself.
Lets move on with our politician though. Having settled the issues with his subordinate, he was indeed peaceful. By now, he had also completed his tenure in the role he had assumed. Having worked diligently all through, he decided to go on a trip to get closer to nature. He decided he would climb a mountain as he always wanted to. Being inexperienced in the same, he requested a monk to guide him his way up to the peak of the mountain. The monk agreed to help him and got along with him. They began their journey and reached a level where the mountain became steeper and more difficult to climb.
The 'politician' that our protagonist is, he decided he would walk straight with his nose parallel to the ground. He had a reputation in the society and held his nose up in dignity. In due course though, he found it extremely difficult to walk any further while the monk kept climbing in a glib fashion, quite unaffected by the slope or the terrain. The politician finally could not walk when he turned to the monk for help. The monk did nothing but say a few words “When you have to climb the mountain and reach its peak, it is necessary to you bend low and walk”.
What the monk hinted at is quite true even when you need to tread your way up in the organizational hierarchy. You need to be humble and modest and part ways with your pride. You need to respect your seniors and care for your juniors. You cannot be a conceited moron with your nose held high in the sky. Be polite and stop giving yourself too much air. Dharti pe reh…! :D You will realize it’s much easier to move ahead and gets you more companions than awry looks and wry smiles every time you pass by.
The politician took the point made by the monk and moved ahead. They reached the top as the politician always wanted to. He was successful and happy. He was at the peak of the mountain, a place where none of his lame companions would ever make it. He was delighted and looked at the monk quite thankfully. The monk gave him a smile back, moved a step towards him and said “You were quite obedient as yet. You’ve got what you want and I guess u should enjoy your stint at the peak. Why don’t you take a look down from here, close your eyes for minute and then think how it feels to be at the peak”. The politician did so and felt extremely proud he had reached there. It was refreshing and self satisfying. At that moment the monk said “If you were given a choice to be one the three – the peak of a mountain, the plateau down there or the pond as we saw at the ground level when we began, which one would you prefer to be?”
The politician looked at him and instantly replied “I would love to be the peak. It stands tall at a height where one needs to make a lot of efforts to reach. One needs to look up to it to even admire it or talk to him while the peak just looks down at every thing on earth. Why, what would be your choice, wouldn’t you choose to be the same?”
The monk said “No. I would prefer to be the pond. You see, when it rains, the peak only drools down the water onto the plateau. It cannot contain the water or enjoy it. It is tall and has no vegetation. It does not need the water. The peak is of no use to a lay man.
The plateau too, will hold water just as much as it can. It will get flooded in due course and throw the water down. It only helps itself and the little vegetation that it has. It is of no use to a lay man again. But the pond down there is where water stores itself. The pond will take what he gets from nature itself as well as what the peak and plateau could not hold. It collects the water and allows a lay man to use it. He helps more lives than the plateau or the peak. He is more accessible than the other two. The hubris of the peak or the defiant plateau are of little use to the society. I would rather be the pond”
Point well taken…! Knowledge for a person is something he needs to share. You would be of no use to the society if you simply sit on piles of information or having reached high with the use of it but unwilling to disseminating it rightfully. Self pride, with the stature you have received owing to your knowledge and capability, will be short lived if you cannot care for the society and look down to it from your height.
These attributes I just narrated were probably small things, but do make a good difference in moulding you in a better person. I guess I have disseminated enough gyaan… aaj ke liye itna ‘pravachan’ kaafi hai... I’d rather buzz off from here now then being killed by you for having killed your time with another hell of a torture…! :P
But hey keep commenting and keep reading…! :D
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Whats up...! Long Time....!
Howdieeee…… something I learnt from my guru in NYC…!
But its been two months n m feeling the need to vent it out…. Long time I wrote… n long time u read… :P
These past two months have been quite eventful… some good… some bad... some evil…
I finally gave my Level 2 in CFA…wouldn’t talk a bit about the papers or my expectations here… anticipating in volatile markets may be injurious to investments….! :D
I went for a walk last evening… the same time that I used to go a few months back….! Things had changed quite a bit…! M not quite referring to the infrastructure or the cleanliness in particular.. but the people whom I would normally see around were quite different…. It somehow seems after sometime that u belong to that place cause you can identify with the people around you. You may not necessarily talk to them or even know them…. But faces cannot be forgotten easily… one tends to connect well with them….!
My grandmom passed away a few days back.. on 1 June… n it was painful…. I lived with her for 25 years n a sudden realization that her room is empty and will remain so for the rest of my life left me numb…! Whats worse… I had to go for her cremation. For some reason I am a bit of a thanatophobic, I am scared of looking or thinking about death. And there it was my grandmom lying on the ground. The whole process was depressing and it hits you on the heart. We had to move her to the crematory.. on the way we had a whole lotsa people trying to give her a shoulder… she was known to all in the vicinity and every single person had come down to pay her homage. When we reached the ground… there was already a fire place set up for her. We laid her with a stone on our heart and logs of sandal wood around her body. And finally… for the last bit of the ceremony... we had to pour ghee on her to set her ablaze. Aah…! That was too much for me...I could not tolerate that scene n stepped back in a sec… I was in a trance… perturbed and agitated… how could one be bold enough to burn someone one loved and lived with all through ones existence…! I felt the pinch quite strongly but my eyes could not succumb to tears. We stood by and watched. For a while I did interact with people around as they were relatives or neighbors. But on my way back home I was reminiscing the harsh moments just gone by. Man…!
With such events you probably feel more strongly for people you relate to in the present. Be it friends or neighbors or most importantly your family… you empathize the pain of losing any one of them and recoil to your guard against loneliness and a life without `em… oh… its painful…! You wanna reach out to all your dear ones and make sure they’re safe. They are your happiness…! They are who make you..! they are you..! you cannot lose yourself…!
In Mahabharat when Yudhisthir meets Yaksha at the enchated pool, one of the questions he answers very wisely which I always recall very distinctly is:
Yaksha asked: Who enjoys happiness contentment and tranquillity? What is wonder? What is 'path'? What is conversation?
Yudhisthir replied: Happiness: A man who is not burdened by debts enjoys happiness contentment and tranquility. Even if he eats cheap foods after five or six days he remains happy contented and tranquil. WONDER: Everyday people are going to the abode of 'Yama' (dying), but the remaining people still have desire to live. This is the greatest wonder. PATH: Following the way shown by great people is path, because one does not reach anywhere by logic and debate. Also because there are many 'Shrutis', numerous opinions of sages and the element of religion being engulfed. CONVERSATON: The lord of death by stirring with a big spoon (months & seasons) in the stew pan which is like the great attachment and churning it by the fire (Sun), in the fuel (day & night), is conversation.
But life moves on… and so should we… :)
Talking about my thanatophobia… I would like to inform you guys that despite it being so.. I love action movies. That’s cause they're unnatural n m so fine wid that superfluous killing and murders and conspiracies n stuff… If you are a great fan of these Chinese movies the way I am.. you will realize they are way more bundle than our Bollywod flicks and people get alive more often than in our saas bahu shows…! I mean in one scene you have a flying jackass kicking the hell out of our hero.. n in just few scenes later u realize the hero is back.. n back with vengeance n more skills than ever to give back the moron a lesson of his life…! Wat a fight…! The miscreant flies from west end to reach the east n the Hero begins from south n collides with him midway and the turbulence can be felt by all around on the ground..! LOL! I wonder if Rajni would get a complex here..!
I was watching this movie a day back called the Golden Compass.. Its got Nicole Kidman in it as the antagonist n a child actress who is the protagonist. Somehow this kid called “Ms. Lyra” seems to be normal and yet abnormally filled wid super powers of seeing through an “Alteir..Altheistom… Alietosmeters…” (I forgot the name of the instrument.. it was basically used to "measure truth" with three needles in it to frame a question and needed brain power to look through the watch in it to know the truth of the stuff… man that was super strange.. :D)… Now basically there are all these tribesmen who want this instrument n remain in the awe of it cause it reveals a lot…but the problem with all these men is that a) hardly any one knew where it was.. b) when they did get it through the kid, only one knew the method of using it but could not ultimately use it cause of the block in his head…! Eventually the kid asks them to hand it her n teach her the method of using it… she masters it n keeps the Alte.. Alto.. Althei.. damn.. the ”instrument“ (better) with her. yeah..!
There is also a real stupid scene where Ms. Lyra is asked by a mascot to approach a Warrior Ice Bear to accomplish her I didn’t understand mission… Now this bear has a name too which was more complex to pronounce than to pronounce “pnuemonultramicrospoicsilicovolcanoconiosis” (Aaaaaa….LOL!) The bear speaks in super fluent English n is abandoned in the streets there cause he lost in a single war against another Ice Bear… He is a paid worker in the streets (the pay was some barrels of whisky to let him sleep.. :| ) He is lying there cause he was tricked off his armour and he has decided that he will be there only until he hadn’t found his armour (although I failed to understand when he ever invested the time in finding it n where did he ever go to find it). Now when the girl comes face to face with this fact.. she quickly looks into the “instrument” and tells him that his armour was lying in a museum two street across the lane... a fact hearing which the Ice Bear scampers to get it n comes out screaming n ferocious with his armour…! Then he signs a verbal contract with the star child to give her company until he dies or until she accomplishes in her he didn’t knew mission, whichever was earlier…! The girl smiles and feels victorious…! LOL! WTF…!
Life is crazy man…! Anyways… Do keep reading and commenting.. I got a lots to share..! :D
But its been two months n m feeling the need to vent it out…. Long time I wrote… n long time u read… :P
These past two months have been quite eventful… some good… some bad... some evil…
I finally gave my Level 2 in CFA…wouldn’t talk a bit about the papers or my expectations here… anticipating in volatile markets may be injurious to investments….! :D
I went for a walk last evening… the same time that I used to go a few months back….! Things had changed quite a bit…! M not quite referring to the infrastructure or the cleanliness in particular.. but the people whom I would normally see around were quite different…. It somehow seems after sometime that u belong to that place cause you can identify with the people around you. You may not necessarily talk to them or even know them…. But faces cannot be forgotten easily… one tends to connect well with them….!
My grandmom passed away a few days back.. on 1 June… n it was painful…. I lived with her for 25 years n a sudden realization that her room is empty and will remain so for the rest of my life left me numb…! Whats worse… I had to go for her cremation. For some reason I am a bit of a thanatophobic, I am scared of looking or thinking about death. And there it was my grandmom lying on the ground. The whole process was depressing and it hits you on the heart. We had to move her to the crematory.. on the way we had a whole lotsa people trying to give her a shoulder… she was known to all in the vicinity and every single person had come down to pay her homage. When we reached the ground… there was already a fire place set up for her. We laid her with a stone on our heart and logs of sandal wood around her body. And finally… for the last bit of the ceremony... we had to pour ghee on her to set her ablaze. Aah…! That was too much for me...I could not tolerate that scene n stepped back in a sec… I was in a trance… perturbed and agitated… how could one be bold enough to burn someone one loved and lived with all through ones existence…! I felt the pinch quite strongly but my eyes could not succumb to tears. We stood by and watched. For a while I did interact with people around as they were relatives or neighbors. But on my way back home I was reminiscing the harsh moments just gone by. Man…!
With such events you probably feel more strongly for people you relate to in the present. Be it friends or neighbors or most importantly your family… you empathize the pain of losing any one of them and recoil to your guard against loneliness and a life without `em… oh… its painful…! You wanna reach out to all your dear ones and make sure they’re safe. They are your happiness…! They are who make you..! they are you..! you cannot lose yourself…!
In Mahabharat when Yudhisthir meets Yaksha at the enchated pool, one of the questions he answers very wisely which I always recall very distinctly is:
Yaksha asked: Who enjoys happiness contentment and tranquillity? What is wonder? What is 'path'? What is conversation?
Yudhisthir replied: Happiness: A man who is not burdened by debts enjoys happiness contentment and tranquility. Even if he eats cheap foods after five or six days he remains happy contented and tranquil. WONDER: Everyday people are going to the abode of 'Yama' (dying), but the remaining people still have desire to live. This is the greatest wonder. PATH: Following the way shown by great people is path, because one does not reach anywhere by logic and debate. Also because there are many 'Shrutis', numerous opinions of sages and the element of religion being engulfed. CONVERSATON: The lord of death by stirring with a big spoon (months & seasons) in the stew pan which is like the great attachment and churning it by the fire (Sun), in the fuel (day & night), is conversation.
But life moves on… and so should we… :)
Talking about my thanatophobia… I would like to inform you guys that despite it being so.. I love action movies. That’s cause they're unnatural n m so fine wid that superfluous killing and murders and conspiracies n stuff… If you are a great fan of these Chinese movies the way I am.. you will realize they are way more bundle than our Bollywod flicks and people get alive more often than in our saas bahu shows…! I mean in one scene you have a flying jackass kicking the hell out of our hero.. n in just few scenes later u realize the hero is back.. n back with vengeance n more skills than ever to give back the moron a lesson of his life…! Wat a fight…! The miscreant flies from west end to reach the east n the Hero begins from south n collides with him midway and the turbulence can be felt by all around on the ground..! LOL! I wonder if Rajni would get a complex here..!
I was watching this movie a day back called the Golden Compass.. Its got Nicole Kidman in it as the antagonist n a child actress who is the protagonist. Somehow this kid called “Ms. Lyra” seems to be normal and yet abnormally filled wid super powers of seeing through an “Alteir..Altheistom… Alietosmeters…” (I forgot the name of the instrument.. it was basically used to "measure truth" with three needles in it to frame a question and needed brain power to look through the watch in it to know the truth of the stuff… man that was super strange.. :D)… Now basically there are all these tribesmen who want this instrument n remain in the awe of it cause it reveals a lot…but the problem with all these men is that a) hardly any one knew where it was.. b) when they did get it through the kid, only one knew the method of using it but could not ultimately use it cause of the block in his head…! Eventually the kid asks them to hand it her n teach her the method of using it… she masters it n keeps the Alte.. Alto.. Althei.. damn.. the ”instrument“ (better) with her. yeah..!
There is also a real stupid scene where Ms. Lyra is asked by a mascot to approach a Warrior Ice Bear to accomplish her I didn’t understand mission… Now this bear has a name too which was more complex to pronounce than to pronounce “pnuemonultramicrospoicsilicovolcanoconiosis” (Aaaaaa….LOL!) The bear speaks in super fluent English n is abandoned in the streets there cause he lost in a single war against another Ice Bear… He is a paid worker in the streets (the pay was some barrels of whisky to let him sleep.. :| ) He is lying there cause he was tricked off his armour and he has decided that he will be there only until he hadn’t found his armour (although I failed to understand when he ever invested the time in finding it n where did he ever go to find it). Now when the girl comes face to face with this fact.. she quickly looks into the “instrument” and tells him that his armour was lying in a museum two street across the lane... a fact hearing which the Ice Bear scampers to get it n comes out screaming n ferocious with his armour…! Then he signs a verbal contract with the star child to give her company until he dies or until she accomplishes in her he didn’t knew mission, whichever was earlier…! The girl smiles and feels victorious…! LOL! WTF…!
Life is crazy man…! Anyways… Do keep reading and commenting.. I got a lots to share..! :D
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
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