Damned Lies and Statistics, remarked Mark Twain. I am reminded of that when I get to see the Inflation figures released by the Govt of India.

The Govt says that it is taking all efforts to prevent India from slipping into Deflation. Steps taken by the Govt apart, let us first analyze, How real is the threat of India slipping into deflation in the first place? If Roger Federer were to lose to the 500th ranked player in a Grand Slam tournament, then yeah India too would slip into deflation.

There are strong reasons for me saying this, New found optimism coupled with Reduction in Production of Crude has meant that Crude Oil is on the rise again as a consequence of which Fuel prices back home have been hiked. Fears about the Monsoon has meant that prices of Groceries and Vegetables which were already high have risen further and I would say it is almost getting out of ordinary people like me.

To put it across more clearly, a middle class family which was managing its show with 5,ooo INR would now require around 6,500 to 7,000 INR to sustain the same standard of living and here we have the Government speaking about Deflation and steps to propel the Economy.

Now you call that deflation???

Seems like the Govt has got some special parameters on which it measures Inflation. It would be great if they can furnish those parameters so that the common people like me can actually understand what does the Govt mean when they use the terms "Inflation" and "Deflation".

How do you feel when you are made to wait at the Traffic Signal? How do you feel when you find that the train you board is delayed by some hours? In short, How does it feel to wait and wait knowing that you really cannot do anything to make the situation any better? Terrible isn't it?

I can still remember the picture that existed 6 months back, anyone and everyone i spoke to was predicting doomsday and was skeptical, apprehensive, disgusted with the markets and were not interested to really Invest or show any great Interest in it.

The recent remarks of Chris Gayle and Mathew Hayden on T20 and the recent exit of Australia in the ongoing T20 World Cup have once again confirmed my long standing belief that it would not be long before the oldest form of the game (the newer baby, ODIs has begun its journey long back, hence am not mentioning about it here) begins its journey into Extinction.

or rather the Indian Voter has set the stage for reforms by voting with clarity and purpose. These results cannot be dismissed as a mere referendum on the State Governments. The results of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu clearly show that the Voter has voted for Stability and Clarity.

at this moment to the EC (Election Commission) of India for having successfully conducted this show so successfully. It is a "thankless job" with the media highlighting only the stray Incidents and the flaws. 

Mr.Rajapakse, Go ahead and etch your name in Golden Letters in not only Sri Lankan History but also World History. You cannot do it by Obliterating, LTTE, rather you can achieve it by making a simple announcement.

There is no need to call for a Ceasefire, you can rather end this whole war by making one simple announcement. Go ahead and Announce that Tamil Immigrants in Sri Lanka will be treated in the same way as the Sinhalese are treated. You can make the LTTE totally Irrelevant, get the Appreciation of International Community and save thousands of lives and put Sri Lanka on the growth path.

If one were to look at this issue closely all this, it started because the Tamil People who came to work in Sri Lanka were not even treated as Humans, let alone being treated on par with the Sinhalese. And if I were to delve a bit more deeply into this, it arises from Ignorance. Yes Ignorance of the fact that all Humans are Equal and you do not become superior or Inferior because of the fact that you are born in a particular country, or you speak a particular language or because of your color.

This is one Issue that should have not become such a big one and consumed so many lives, but Past is Past. Sir, you now have the opportunity to bring an end to all this. So go ahead,announce and etch Ur name in History forever.

Watching Movies on Festival Days can be a real torture due to the ridiculously high number of advertisements that are aired. But I endured all this and many more dampeners to watch a movie yesterday, courtesy the Director of the Movie, Myshkin.

I am not going to write a Review on Anjadey(Tamil),a movie that was released a year ago, rather I am going to write about some aspects , which made me to come to the conclusion that he is one for the Future.

The first thing was the keen attention to detail and belief on the Script,it is very rare to find directors paying attention to detail, on the other hand it is very common to have directors gloss over the finer points focusing more on Style and Star Power.

The Second thing that impressed me was the fact all he sketched all the characters as Intelligent Ones.Readers might be surprised over the fact that I have mentioned this aspect,but such is the low level that films have got into, particularly Tamil and Telugu. You will hardly find the Lead antagonist as an Intelligent one,in fact he will be portrayed as so Dumb, that you will start to wonder about the Intelligence of the Director.

The third thing is his stress on Background Score or Re-Recording as it is known in some circles. A good background score enhances the value of a scene immeasurably and makes the performance of the artists look better.It also allows the artist to underplay the role.

Finally to the Grey areas, Film making has got a set of formula e which are Language Specific and Myshkin too falls into the formula trap at some places. Hope he does not fall into it again.

Final Word: Here is a director who can go places and make a name for himself. I wish him all the very Best.

Yeah that is the word that comes immediately to my Mind, when I think of all the Election based programs that are being televised, a small Consolation though is that these programs at least are entertaining unlike the Stupid Soaps and the Dumb Reality Shows.

Well on a Serious Note, if one were to dissect the Contents of these shows, one would observe that, Like Indian Cinema which has pretty much remained Unchanged in terms of Content, these shows too have remained Unchanged over the decades. All that has changed is the Packaging. Leaders still promise food, shelter and basic facilities for the weaker sections (Huh, it is indeed a sad state of affairs that we have this situation even after 6 decades of Independence), Leaders still speak of Free * ( Fill the (*)wild character with whatever u want to) to people.

The climax of this entertainment is the Election Manifesto and the discussions over it. I seriously would like to know how much of that Manifesto has changed over the past decades, and how seriously do these parties value this Manifesto?All they seem to value and treasure is their Money bank and Muscle Bank. They seem to have clearly understood that there exists a significant section of the Voting population who are very loyal ( read as Stupid) when it comes to Voting, and hence they confidently keep repeating the rhetoric, without caring a damn about the Implementation.

Well, Let us all enjoy this Time Pass, as this provides us all some relief from the usual Nonsense, But let us not make fools out of ourselves by continuing to Vote for these parties. Let us keep all our love for a family or for an organization at the doorstep and vote for a better future for all us. Let us Vote for 49-O.

Elections are on us again and the world's largest democracy will have its next Ruler in around Six weeks time, but is anything going to change for the common Man?

Government after Government has come and gone and in spite of all the Political parties claiming responsibility for the growth , the sad truth remains that salary has grown by just a percent against a growth of 5% in productivity, in the last 2 decades (Courtesy:ILO). Put in Simple words, people have not earned their respective Due.

Compare this against the $1.5 trillion stashed away in Safe Haven of Switzerland. Although the Government of Switzerland has expressed its willingness to provide details of its account holders, the Indian Government has not asked for it.

The BJP, which is the main opposition party , claims that it will bring out the details if it comes to power, but I seriously doubt it and the reasons for it are too Obvious to be stated.

In such a scenario, what do we do? whom do we vote for? Our vote seems hardly seems to matter as there is not much of a difference regardless of whoever is in power. The Election Commission says that 70% of the people in the age group of 18-25 have not even registered with the Election Commission. The response that you are likely to get is that, Things are not going to change regardless of whoever comes to power.

Well, My dear friends, we finally have a way out. Our choice 49-O. The right which the constitution provides us to say that we Vote for None. A few clarifications here, Even if 49-O were to emerge with the highest number of votes to its name, the elections will not be held again or be declared as null and void. The candidate who has got the highest number of votes (excluding 49-O) will be declared as the winner.

Then why the hell vote for 49-O? 49-O will serve as a Warning bell to our candidates,Imagine the amount of embarrassment that a candidate will have to face when he comes to know that more people have voted for None in his constituency. In this age of Media, this will create a huge embarrassment and whichever government which takes charge ( Some Government will.I say this because most of the Rural public are not aware of this option) will strive its best to salvage its image.

So Let us start this change, let us go out and vote,let us create awareness about this amidst the Masses, let us do it for all the people who are suffering, let us do it for our fellow friends and for the future of this Nation.

(Experiments can either click or go absolutely awry and this is one such experimental solution. Readers are welcome to add their thoughts :) )


Vaccination is a really amazing concept. It involves taking a small quantity of the very substance or organism that produces harm and using that as a base in preparing remedial substance that helps fight the same poisonous substance. Why speak about it now?

Something on similar grounds is needed now to provide the much needed fillip to the sagging economies. This is now a Crisis of Confidence and not a Crisis of Credit and that is why I believe that any amount of Stimulus packages alone wont go really far in resolving the the current problem.

The same goes with creating Jobs, even if jobs are going to be created, Unless people come out and spend again, the business scenario is not going to improve much.

Stimulus packages and Job creation Packages need to be accompanied by measures which go in improving the confidence of the people in a very big way. It should alleviate the fears of people, who are worried about the flow of credit.

So what is my prescription? Interest rates are at an all time low, How about taking it to a next level and start to tax Savings and reward Investments?

Taxing Savings, would mean that people would start spending or Investing their savings, which would start restoring a bit of confidence amidst people. Banks would start facing pressure to pay the Investors and this can be addressed with the help of funds which are being provided by the Fed and other National banks.

How about taking this route?

would be an understatement. Never did I ever think even in my wildest dreams that things would come this far.Democracy in India perhaps has reached its Nadir. Although not widely reported, I consider this to be a really significant event.

People scolding election officials for preventing the disbursement of Freebies, an euphemism for Bribe. This Recent happening at a Constituency in a part of Tamil Nadu has come as a real shock. All along, Politicians and bureaucrats were painted (wrongly) in black and the general Public in White (again wrongly). This incident would have cleared all those doubts.

Add to this the recent survey finding that "4 out of 5 people in BPL(Below Poverty Line) category confess to having accepted money for casting their vote in the state of Andhra Pradesh and states like Tamil Nadu are not too far behind with 70% of people in the same category"

In case if someone is going to brush this off as a problem with the under privileged section of the society, I must inform them things are not greatly different with the other sections too.Sometime back we had a survey which said that Majority contracts in countries like India are won through Bribes.Not for a moment am I supporting the politicians, But all I would like to highlight here is the fact that the overall standard of the society seems to have dropped so low.How come people who preach the highest standards in public stoop to any extent, when it comes to getting things done for themselves? I leave this question to the Psychologists and people who study Social Sciences as I am sure that it would be a fascinating subject for them to research upon.

There is a Sanskrit Saying which goes "Etha Raja Tatha Praja", which means People follow the King. Now we need to tweak this as "Etha Praja Tatha Raja" which means The King follows the Subjects, or to quote Bernard Shaw "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve".

So let us stop complaining about and make that we as responsible citizens and civilized humans do our bit to get us out of this mire into which we have got into.

Mahatma summed it up beautifully when he said "There is enough in this world for every one's need but not enough in this world for even a single man's greed". Such is the power of Man's greed and it is his Insatiable greed for Power which has brought the world to where it is now.

Although the of terrorism is packaged and sold to us in the name of Religion, it has never been not really will be a battle for religion.The foot soldiers might believe in the theory of religion, but those who analyze issues objectively will know that this is all plain struggle for power.

Taliban was never a Non Violent Outfit before, nor were they a religious organization. It was an organization supported by America to make sure that they overturned the Soviet Rule in Afganishtan. The job was done and Taliban would not refuse to stop and listen to America, they have enjoyed the taste of power, killing people ruthlessly and making money out of it. Hence they took to religion this time. Sadaam Hussain was encouraged and he too became a Frankenstien's Monster.

LTTE used the claim of separate state to carry on with its violent activities and run its own government.

I can go on and on with the Rebel groups in countries of Africa and in all of these cases the bottomline is that People's craving for Power has led to this sad state of affairs.

The World now wants to fight terror and you have Media both print and Television minting money by running series of sensational programs on terrorism. The real battle however lies within the Human Being. Unless Man conquers the demon within him, nothing is going to change much, regardless of the laws which might be enacted by State.

I am not against such laws nor am I sympathizing, but until we conquer the demons within, the problems are not going to be solved on a permanent basis and anything else is just a temporary fix.

On a lighter note how about this for a beginning "How about stopping the sale of Arms to Private Parties? How about a Rule that Only Government can procure arms and No Sale of Arms is permitted to any private parties? How about a firm crackdown on Private Procurement?

Will the world countries agree to this? People to me it seems want to have their cake and eat it too :)

At the time of writing, Man U are locked in a battle with Inter in Europe, so close to clinching yet another Premiership crown,a step away from winning the Carling Cup and still alive in the FA Cup.

They might or may not win all or either of the four( although I expect them to easily win the Premiership), but none can deny the fact that they are a true Champion Outfit. People might say,So what is so new about it? They have been a champion Outfit for years now and what is the need to write this at this juncture.

Well the way they have turned this season around, has made me sit up and write this one. Although an Arsenal fan for years now, I cannot but admire the "Champion Material" of Man U. I have never seen any club which plays and plays till the last second to score. All of us would have lost count of the number of times they have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the dying moments of a game.

Who can forget the 1999 Champions League final when the game looked all but lost. Just when Bayern fans were about to uncork the champagne, Man U sent dagger into the hearts of Bayern fans. Bayern fans are not alone. They have got a lot of company.

There is this "X" factor about Manchester United which is absent in most of the clubs. They seem to have this Uncanny ability to win even when they do not play to their potential. They started off shakily and just when everyone thought that it was going to be a two horse race between Chelsea and Liverpool, Man U hit form and now are looking all set to clinch the title.

This season is not a One off, Seasons back they did this to Arsenal, Chelsea had a taste of it very recently.

Once they get into the lead, they are so so very difficult to catch and more often than not they just run away with it.This season is just another testimonial for the aforementioned trait.

I wish and long that Arsenal get some of these traits to go on and end this Manchester United's hegemony and I salute this Man U team for they are One True Champion Team.

to Free Trade? this is something that has been plaguing my mind. The recent developments taking place in the USA are sending strong signals that Protectionism is back and back in a very big way. The last time that was the case was during New Deal.

Now what do we make out of these measures? To Begin with, One must remember that USA is also a democracy and in any Democracy, Votes are paramount.Developed Country or Developing Country, politicians are always after Votes and Barrack Obama is no different.

A look at his past will clearly reveal that he has always been someone who has been inclined towards rising of barriers to help shield American Companies against competition from the Developing world.Swaminathan Aiyar of Economic Times wrote a wonderful article capturing this beautifully. So these moves do not come as a big surprise.

Obama with this move is sure to make American Voters happy. They will now feel that Obama is out there to protect American Jobs and American Companies. Well, It is a Politically correct decision.

Economically, though it does not augur very well for the Developing world and in the long Run for American companies too. Remember the License Permit Raj Days in India. All that did was to make India Inc complacent and it gave them the luxury to remain without spending money on research and improving their technical capabilities.

Compare that against the Liberalization Era, where Indian Inc has grown tremendously to acquire foreign firms, become super efficient and grow on par with the best in the world.

So, here is the problem for Obama. If he is going to allow liberalization, Stop subsidies and let Merit alone prevail, that might cause More American companies to shut shop and above all dissatisfy the American public or try to follow "Be American Buy American" policy, shutting out the developing world thereby creating a huge problem as most of the Developing countries run a surplus with America and if they start to pressurize for redemption, that will push the USD downwards and will result in the dethroning of America from the Numero Uno Slot, or tread a middle path by following protectionism in a camouflaged form and on looking at what is happening, it seems like he is treading the path of Camouflaged protectionism.

Yes that is what i decided to become one, even if that meant I ran the risk of putting in a few extra pounds :)  and I was sure of becoming poorer by a few thousand Rupees :D.

Stripes are back in Fashion: Stripes which were previously considered as a design favored by people who were mentally disturbed are now back in Vogue. British designers are busy designing dresses with stripes says a news Item.


Well, believe that Stripes are going to remain in Vogue for at least a couple more years :) , any second opinions ???

Yeah it is an attempt at understanding how important is Understanding Culture in picking up Stocks? Sounds bizzare, doesn't it? I bet we wont feel so, if we were to look at this at a deeper level.

Consider this, Coca Cola, Gillete some of the gems in the crown of Warren Buffet. These are not only good companies but also companies which are a part of American Culture. Put in Simple words, to Americans water and soft drinks are almost similar.Shaving everyday again is a part of their culture. Sounds silly isnt it? Well believe me, it is not so easy and understanding this seemingly easy but rather difficult facet of Investing is in my opinion a key to the monumental success of Warren Buffet. Once you have got this in place, you start zeroing in on the companies which operate in that sector and then all your valuation principles come into play.


Now, this process will help you in picking companies which can give you consistent returns over a long period of time regardless of the economic conditions, thus forming the foundation of your portfolio.

OK now to Indian Context, what are the companies I can think of which form a part of Indian Culture? Too hard as the country is extremely culturally diverse. However if this Organization is made into an Institution, I will be the first person to go ahead and get a stake for myself.

This Organization employs about 14,000 people, runs Universities, manages thousands of acres of assets and rakes in around 100 million US dollars and above all manages the activities of the most temple, which is the most visited in the world. In case if you have still not got it, it is none other than TTD(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirumala_Tirupati_Devasthanams).

If at all anything the recent crisis have made more people to turn to this place with the hope that God(if there is one?) will bail them out of the crisis. Hope TTD is listening :)

Well on a serious note, lets start our homework and hope to hit on something which can form the bedrock of our portfolios. It could be anything from a Beer Company( the changing demographics might make it a reality) to a Hospital ( the amount of Junk Food and Unhealthy life style) to a Fast Food Joint or of all a company which supplies clean drinking water ( don't be surprised if that happens :) )

This New Year has opened with a bang. Mr Raju of Satyam has given Hollywood and Bollywood a wonderful script, has given Media with loads of fodder for them to conduct debates and discussions and special programs,has given People like us material to discuss during lunch breaks, has given Employees with Uncertainity,fear and finally has given Investors, the best possible shock.




It has been an amazing story to say the least.Enough and more has been written about in the media. Hence i refrain myself from presenting the numbers again. But i would like to put forward just a doubt that is just killing me.




Mr.Raju says that he has been fudging the accounts to keep the company going and neither he nor his family members have taken a rupee nor derived any benefit out of this fudging process. Ok let us assume this to be true for a minute.




My doubt is that, the company has been and it is still doing the business of providing IT service. The company's workforce is around 50k. The company derives its revenues by billing the clients who are mostly Fortune 500 companies. The billing rates of the company are almost on par with most of the other IT Majors like Infosys, Wipro and TCS. This means that money has been flowing into the coffers of the company.




Now lets look at the expenditure side, the company is half as big as Infosys technologies Ltd, which pays twice as much as employers as Satyam does. Now looking at the Remuneration which Satyam pays to its employees, it is again on par with Industry majors.




Hence based on the aforementioned points we can safely conclude that Satyam has and must have got enough money to keep the cog moving. So the claim of Mr. Raju that he has brought in 1300 crores of his own money to keep the company moving is baffling to say the least. What has happened to the money which the clients must have paid Satyam?




Now let me give my version of what could have happened. Mr.Raju must have siphoned off the money to fund his real estate purchase and other purchases. He must have pledged his shares and obtained money for those activities. As long as the share price remained high and the prices of real estate was moving up he must have been a happy man. Once the Share Price of Satyam started to fall he must have been worried as his borrowing capacity was decided by the price of the Share.




His statement that All his efforts such as dividends and bonuses must have been to infuse confidence in the Investors was to make sure that his borrowing capacity remained intact. Global recession played spoil sport and it took down the price of real estate and the Sensex down.




This meant that he could not sell off the real estate holdings to bring back the money which he has siphoned off and he could not borrow any more and in fact on the contrary needed to pay the lenders for the drop in the share price. Our man was struck in catch 22 situation and then came out with a master plan to purchase stakes in Maytas using Cash that was not there. Had it gone through he would have made Maytas poor but carried on with the game, unfortunately it failed and he decided rather was forced to confess.





Readers let me know if u feel otherwise :)





Mr.Raju has come out with the Joke of 2009 so early in the year when he said that "None of the Board of Directors knew about what was going on in the company"





P.S: Why didn't SEBI remove the Satyam counter from F&O segment? The removal would have meant Satyam could not have fallen by more than 10-20% max in a day. This fall has wiped out millions of Rupees, all of which belong to the average Indian. While I do understand that exit routes needed to be provided for Investors, I believe in this case a freezing at least on temporary basis until the situation was brought under control would have definitely helped the common Investor.