Reflections

There are Lies

2009-07-13T23:22:00.004+05:30

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".

Huh...

2009-07-04T20:43:00.003+05:30

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?

This is what the Indian Farmer does every year,expecting for the Monsoon, as his survival depends on it and "only" on it. The wait is still on this year and I can only hope that the rainfall proves to be "really" adequate. (Politicians have already begun their dirty job of issuing statements. Huh will they ever change? )

Now no Government or for that matter No Human can do anything to Influence the Monsoon. But for sure the Government can do lots to reduce the dependency of the Farmer on Monsoons.

India uses thrice as much water as the United States of America to produce a tonne of wheat. Drip irrigation is still in its Infancy and Awareness is lacking regarding Usage of Fertilizers and reagrding the Avenues available to sell their produce and the Government is least bothered about educating the farmers.

Nor is the Government, showing any real interest in building the requisite Infrastructure, by which I mean enough water storage facilities to make sure that the excess rain water (when India has good monsoons) are stored and not let out into the Ocean,Ensuring Rural Connectivity and Steady Supply of Electricity.

At this juncture,I would request people to remember History. "Revolutions" have always had their roots in Inequality and this Inequality which is widening might also lead to another upheaval, unless addressed immeadietly ( although it might sound as an exaggeration now).

Pause Plz...

2009-06-12T08:04:00.001+05:30

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.

How things have changed!!!! Really cannot believe what I am seeing right now. Everyone i meet on the floor gives me 10 stocks to follow and all of them are really crazily positive about the markets now. Wow, I say to myself, Wat a transformation? When I was going around advocating people to Invest systematically and have confidence in the markets, I was given a cold stare.

Now when I go around advocating caution and asking people not to go overboard, (no prizes for guessing) I am being given the same cold stare again. Sensex has gained nearly 80% purely on back of sentiments ( global and local factors) without much of a change in the fundamentals. Penny stocks have started to rise again and that calls for caution.

I say this again, Markets look really promising from a long term point of view, however do remember that "A Rising Tide lifts All Boats" and only when the Tide receedes will people realize that they have got into a Sinking boat and by that time it will be all too late again.So Please hit the Pause Button and analyse ur portfolio and use this rally as an opportunity to exit the not so good businesses u own.

Happy Investing

The Future is Here

2009-06-06T08:59:00.002+05:30

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.

Australia's recent exit confirms the point that even good or even great Test players can actually be a misfit in T20s and this fact is further supplemented by the successes of players who will not actually make it into a Test Side.

Wat does this mean? It means that T20 requires not only a different mindset but also a completely different set of Technique and the best part is that it is not as difficult to master as the technique required for Test Cricket is.

That makes it easier to learn from the players stand point.

On the monetary front, well well, we all know which format of the game rakes in all the Big Bucks, don't we? With players showing more Interest in taking to this form of the game as it is much more simpler and much less complicated than the 5-day format and the People( Read as General Audience ) showing more Interest in T20s because the format is more Interesting and takes much less time to produce a result.T20 is really light on their purse too when pitted against the burden which the 5-days or for that matter the ODIs place on the audience:).

There we go,with so many factors going for it, Test Cricket may not be replaced by T20s for that matter it never will be, rather T20s will in my humble opinion bulldoze Test Cricket and in some years time, I believe that the 5-day format will soon be history.

It so might happen, that Test Cricket might Re Invent or Mutate Itself into a 2-day game or max 3-day game, but I am pretty sure that the game is never going to be the same again and the 5-day format is not going to be around for a long period of time.

Stage Set

2009-05-20T19:55:00.002+05:30

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.

The Opposition party (BJP) of course made it easy for the Voter by their absence in these states and a couple more (Kerala and West Bengal) and by not even tying up with any of the local parties.

Even Anti Incumbency has taken a back seat and lost out to Stability in the minds of the voter.

I must appreciate the voter for taking this smart decision and the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the BJP for denying the average voter a choice.This has meant that many leaders like T R Baalu, Azhagari, Mamata Banarjee, Dayanidi Maaran, A.Raja all are in power and that does not look positive.

However, these leaders now will have lesser clout and cannot demand as per their wish as Congress has emerged much more stronger this time. Thank Heavens for that.

Dr.Manmohan Singh has a free hand now and I sincerely hope that he performs at least this time around and do the Dridirashtra act yet again ( For those of who are wondering what it is, It comes from Hindu Mythology and it is remaining as a silent spectator and Incompetent fella)

A Note of Appreciation

2009-05-13T18:33:00.003+05:30

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.

But I feel it is time that we recognize their great work. To conduct elections in a fair and free manner in a country which has a good chunk of Illiterate population and a vast majority of Rural population and constantly under the threat of terrorism and Naxalism is nothing short of marvellous and Incredible.

Just Contrast this against what happened in the USA ( the world's oldest democracy and the most developed nation in the world) some years back when there was a huge confusion on who won the Race ( Al Gore or George Bush) and the drama went on for close to a week with no one sure of what was happening and we are bound to appreciate the great work of the Election Commission.

I would like to convey my heartfelt congratulations to all people who have been Involved in this process. Election Commission has made sure that Democracy is still very much alive in India and they deserve a huge round of applause for it.

Well movin on to the show itself, lots of questions are about to be answered, Can Jayalalitha emerge as a King Maker? Will Mayavati's aspirations be fulfilled? Can Chandrababu Naidu make a comeback? Can Modi weave his magic again? Will Advani's dream be fulfilled? or Is Sonia Gandhi going to wield power again? Well just 3 more days and I will be back in 3 days time for my take on the results.

Grab It

2009-04-23T14:18:00.004+05:30

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.

One for the Future

2009-04-14T21:59:00.005+05:30

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.

Time Pass

2009-04-06T23:18:00.003+05:30

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.

The Time Has Come

2009-03-28T18:33:00.006+05:30

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.

A Bizarre Suggestion

2009-03-19T22:14:00.003+05:30

(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?

Appalling

2009-03-11T22:31:00.007+05:30

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.

Final Frontier

2009-03-04T07:00:00.006+05:30

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 :)

A True Champion Outfit

2009-02-22T22:10:00.004+05:30

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.

Bye Bye

2009-02-05T21:43:00.005+05:30

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.

The Roaming Foodie

2009-01-25T20:22:00.007+05:30

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.

The reason being that, its been a long time since I have given myself the permission to enjoy and I just wanted to get away from this maddening crowd who speak about "Recession" and predict "doom" on a daily basis.

Now that I decided to let myself loose for a week, I now had to decide the cuisines on which I was going to feast upon. This was a much more difficult task than giving myself the permission to enjoy as my love for food cannot be put in words and hence the selection process always is mighty difficult.

After much deliberation and a lot of pain I made the final list. I was going to go for Lebanese, Mexican, Japanese and Italian

So how did it go?

Started off with Lebanese, which is very very close to my heart. It was the first foreign cuisine which I tried and i cannot forever forget the experience of munching on Falafels and loads of Humus. So it was a very emotional feeling when i stepped into the restaurant which although claiming to be Mediterranean, is in my opinion more Lebanese than Mediterranean. For all those foodies out there you can look at Chicken Sharwams, Grilled Chicken Wings (as opposed to the usual Batter Fried Wings) , Grilled Fish, all with Pita Breads , Falafels n Humus, apart from the Lambs and Tunas. I went for the Grilled Fish along with a Tuna Salad and a Herbal Tea.

If Lebanese has Pitas, then Mexican has its own Tortillas and if Lebanese has hot Sauce, Mexican has Salsa ( in various flavors) and if Lebanese has Cream, Mexican has Cream + Cheese. No am not rating any of the cuisines for I love all of them, but I am tryin to showcase some of the similarities which I have noticed across some of these cuisines. I personally went for Seer Fish grilled in Barbecue Sauce with Rice and Chicken Soup ( for my Soul :D ) along with Lime Margarita. In case if you are venturing out for the first time, make sure u don't miss out on the Burritos, Fajitas and the Quesedillas.

Pizzas and Pastas have become so so famous and popular throughout the world, which leaves hardly anything on the table for me to add, but I would sincerely suggest people to look at Italian restaurants as opposed to the restaurants which sells Pastas n Pizzas along with "N" other dishes belonging to "M" odd cuisines. The reason being the authenticity can only then be appreciated. My personal favorites Include Lasagna with Sea Food ( I must confess here that I m a huge fan of Sea Food :D ).

Finally to Japanese, which is markedly different from any of the aforementioned cuisines. The sight of a Sushi with a Raw Halibut or Raw Tuna could even put off some of the hard core foodies. (Andy Murray who now is a fan of Sushi was so apprehensive of it in the beginning). The best thing would be to get the mind rid of any "Blocks" and "Prejudices" and to get there with an Open Mindset. Once you get there with that mindset then it becomes that much more easy for you. The Saashimi and the Sushi will then taste nothing but delicious. I personally went for the Sushi with Saashimi( Halibut, Tunas, Shrimps ) and Miso Udon ( Udon is Japanese for Noodles ) with Shrimps in it. Dont forget the Tempuras if you are interested in fried items.

The journey has ended and now it is time for me to tighten my belt( literally I would say) and to shed off those extra pounds. It is a sad thing that I cannot afford all this on a daily basis, even the low fat versions of them ( low fat versions are in fact costlier). Either I need to earn huge to make this affordable or I need to get hold of a girl who is an expert Cook :) .

P.S: This is one blog which you can check out as it contains some highly valuable information for you. http://yummyrecipies.blogspot.com/. Readers are welcome to share their personal experiences here :D .

Tit Bit -8

2009-01-21T21:53:00.003+05:30

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 ???

An Attempt

2009-01-12T06:09:00.007+05:30

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 :) )

New Year Treat

2009-01-09T20:35:00.007+05:30

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.

Well Done and Good Luck

2009-01-03T22:07:00.009+05:30

We are living in a time where Media in general has got only one aim "To Sensationalise". The context or the significance of the news item is irrelevant. All that is needed is sensationalism in the presentation. So those news items which are very "dry" are ignored, even if they might influence the society in a very positive way. However I do not blame the Media alone, after all the Media delivers what the majority of the population is interested in knowing about.

So if that means covering Film fare awards and Reality shows and controversies surrounding them in detail, so be it. It is at such a juncture has "The Week" come out with an article highlighting the impact that little known Indians have created with their Ideas in rural parts of India. Aptly titled as "The Indian Genius" the article contains details of those wonderful human beings and their simple but highly effective solutions and how it has transformed their villages and neighbourhood.

The fact that the magazine chose to cover this story during New Year Time was more commendable, as New Year is that time of the year when magazines and Television are agog with Best Songs, Movies, Man/Woman/Animal/Moment of the year contests. It is generally viewed as a time which is ripe for minting money. Kudos to "The Week" , which chose this time of the year to come out with a story which in today's jargon can be labelled as a "Dry" story.

------------------------------------------------X----------------------------------------------

Good Luck to "Chennai Live" a Radio FM channel which has opted to take the Road less travelled by opting to air English Music for major portion of day as opposed to airing Tamil music ( the Native language of the Province in which Chennai operates) I am reminded of those days when the city as well as the country had few Restaurants which sold "Pizza". Fast forward to the present and you have almost every small Bakery selling Pizza. Such has been the extent to which Pizza has become a part of our daily life. The Same is the case with Sushi cuisine in America.

One common feature in both of the aforementioned examples is that the owners were able to customize the food to suit the needs of the target audience.Now whether this channel goes on to establish itself in such a way depends on the way it is able to market itself and the degree to which it is able to customize itself. However one thing is for sure, it has decided to break the monotony and dared to be different. Whether this will bring success to it or not? Time alone can answer. The result immaterial, I appreciate the courage and wish them good luck.

2008

2008-12-24T20:34:00.010+05:30

an year which has reminded us of some age old lessons, an year which has given us some great memories to cherish and above all an year which has presented us with a fantastic opportunity.

Lesson 1: Greed Kills:

Yeah it does, does not matter how big you are or how mighty you are. Ask Lehman Brothers or AIG or Barclays or the average Indian Investor for a confirmation. Everyone be it small or big forgot this simple truth and are now finding themselves in Intensive Care.

Lesson 2: Back offices can't get decoupled:

"Decoupling" a term which was on the lips of every person whom I met, everyone spoke of India as an Insulated Economy conveniently forgetting the fact that India's growth was predominantly driven by the Service and the Manufacturing Industries which catered mainly to the needs of the US n Europe. Now that Europe n US find themselves in a deep recession, India has started to feel the heat. Time to move on and become a world leader and not remain a back office of the world.

Lesson 3: Nothing lasts forever

Be it the Australian Supremacy in Cricket or the Dominance of Federer in the lawns of Wimbledon or the American hegemony in Olympics, nothing lasts forever, everything has got to come to an end.

Lesson 4: Pseudo Secularism Hurts

As the Congress government in India is now finding out. Having taken a soft stand on terrorism to please the minorities, congress is now finding itself in a huge hole getting out of which is not only necessary but mandatory for its survival. Too bad that it has taken so many unfortunate incidents for Congress to realize this.

2008 also gave us some wonderful memories to cherish

Who can ever forget the sight of Micheal Phelps winning his 8th Gold to beat Spitz's record of 7 gold medals. Here was a man who came with a mission and he achieved it in style. Donno when and by whom will this record will be broken but I am pretty sure that it is going to remain unchallenged for a long time to come.

Usain Bolt's stunning runs in the 100 and 200 metres at Beijing. I cannot forget forever the adrenaline rush that i felt when Usain ran his 200 metres. Bolt is now gearing himself for breaking the 400 metres record and I am already looking forward to it.

Spain got the monkey of its back, with a stunning performance to lift Euro 2008. They played like true champions and Torres and Villa became superstars. As i had written before, Euro 2008 was a wonderful spectacle and its end made me really sad.

Rafeal Nadal winning his first Wimbledon title after an epic struggle. Federer or Fading light nothing could deter Nadal from his destination. I was reminded of "Rumble in the Jungle". I had read so much about it and here I was watching a similar contest. A Match for a lifetime.

Now to the Opportunity, well I have said this time and again and now I end with the quotes of 2 of the greatest Investors of of all time, Buffet's "Be Greedy when others are Fearful and Vice Versa" and Sir John Templeton's quote "Before this century is over, the Dow Jones Industrial Average will probably be over one million versus around 10,000 now. So for the long-term, the outlook is tremendously bullish if you buy stocks blindly to keep for a century."

Lets Take the lessons of 2008 and remember dear friends that "People who don't remember the past are bound to get punished in the future". Njoy 2009 and lets hope and strive for a peaceful and hunger free world in 2009.

Thoroughly Entertaining

2008-12-16T08:13:00.004+05:30

A marathon journey and had it not been for Movies and Music, the journey would have been excruciatingly painful one too. Thanks to technology,I was able to keep myself engaged and entertained for the length of the journey.

By the end of the Journey I can say, i became eligible to call myself as "A Movie Addict" and a "Music Maniac". 6 movies in a span of 21 hours is I believe too high a number by any yardstick. The good thing about the whole exercises however was that most of them were real good, with a couple of them in the league of "Extra Ordinary".

All started off with "Sparrow" a Chinese movie, which deals with the story of a pick pocket and his gang of men and how they go about freeing a girl from a Big Shot. It was a a movie which started off well and tapered off towards the end. Then came Taimur n Shafia an Arabic movie which dealt with the story of lovers and the ego clashes between them. The movie must have been made as a full fledged comedy movie, however the director made it a regular commercial flick by adding some unnecessary elements towards the end.

After 2 movies i got a bit tired of movies and I moved to the Music Section where Haydn provided me not only the much needed entertainment but great comfort with his symphony Number 88.

With over brimming joy i returned back to continue my movie marathon and resumed it with "45 Yoam" an Arabic movie, which deals with the mindset of a youngster, who is charged with having murdered his parents. Did he really murder them? If so why did he do it?, the movie although moves on predictable lines in the second half makes for a good watch with a really moving climax. Wall- E followed and Pixar Studios with this movie have covered a subject which is not a subject which is usually covered by Animation movies. Handling a sensitive subject and handling it with finesse,the makers have made an all time great movie.

After taking a short nap and recharging myself i switched back to watch "The Dark Knight" and i felt so happy and joyous after watching this all time classic. If i were to write about this movie that alone would take up a few pages on itself. If Heath ledger's performance was brilliant to say the least, the Script work was simply out of the world. The whole angle in which the subject has been approached and dealt with calls for a "Thumbs Up". Amazing movie. After a series of emotional movies i needed to get myself out of that mood and i decided to go for Mamma Mia a light hearted musical characterized by Cool songs, awesome locations and an average screenplay.

After all this, i still had time and what better way to spend time rather than to listen John Williams, Indiana Jones, ET, Jaws, Jurassic Park,Goodness Me!!! Hats off to U Sir. And when my journey ended and i reached my Native Place with Superman and Olympic Fanfare theme ringing in my ears, I felt like a KING notwithstanding the fact that I dont have a fortune or a Kingdom or a Queen ;)

Slum Dog Millionaire- Lay Man's Review

2008-12-14T08:59:00.007+05:30

A movie which holds a mirror and shows to us the real India, thts Slumdog Millionaire for you.

Getting into the details.

Story:"Rags to Riches" story, nothing more am i going to reveal here :|.

Screenplay: Brilliantly written screenplay by Simon Beaufoy. Rather than going on for pages and pages about how wonderfully written script it is, I would like to say "Make the script of this movie a part of the curriculum for Film Institute students".

Cinematography: It actually never struck me that I was watching a movie, Now isn't that enough to speak about the quality of the cinematography?? Simply Stunning work by Anthony Dod Mantle

Editing: Huh, I m running short of adjectives here :(, I was not able to find a single shot extra in spite of the fact that the movie oscillates back and forth between 2 time periods,which makes editing all the more difficult. Hats off to Chris Dickens.

Music: A R Rahman is here to stay in Hollywood is what I can say after watching this movie. Background score is not only about composing music to elevate the scenes, but it also about silence. There are a few places in any movie where u feel that Silence is the best elevator, U don't spoil that by music. U let the audience feel that silence, let that feeling sink in them. A R Rahman has done that brilliantly and the Music is bound to haunt u for a long time to come. I Promise.

Casting: Ever thought as to why Hollywood is able to churn out far better movies than what Bollywood or for that matter any "Wood" in India. Simple, Hollywood is more "Professional" and no where is this more exemplified than in the case of a Casting Director. I don't even know if there is any Casting Director in any of the "Woods" in India. Kudos to the Casting Directors Lovelaan Tandon and Gail Stevens of this movie for having made the apt choices for all the roles.

Direction: I am sure we are going to hear lots and lots more about this director Danny Boyle. He deserves a pat on his back or rather a standing ovation for making such a Honest "Raw" movie and making it so entertaining. He hits you hard with reality and portrays brillaintly the the huge Inequality that exists in the Indian Society,at the same time he has made sure that he has made the movie as an entertainer and not as a boring advice soap opera.

Performances: Each character lives in its role. Is there a bigger praise that I can heap on the artists?? If so let me know please.

My Favorite Scenes:

"When the Kid jumps into a pool of shit and gets up and runs without washing himself to get the autograph of Amitabh Bachan",the director clearly shows the go getter nature of the character in this single scene.

"When the hero says "I Donno" to the police officer who asks to name him the personality who is on the 1000 Indian Rupee Note. Another scene which shows to us how even Independence of 5 decades has not made much of a change to the lives of these people and they have not even got the opportunity to earn a decent livelihood.

When the hero says "Had it not been for Ram and Allah i would have still had a mother"

Yeah thts enf :), I might give away all the scenes at this rate.

To sum it all up "Slumdog Millionaire Hits the Jackpot"

Tit Bit-7

2008-12-09T09:07:00.003+05:30

Back in May we spoke about the poor handling of the Gujjars issue by Rajasthan's Chief Minsiter Vasundra Raje Scindia. The poor handling of the issue meant Vasundra Raje lost the trust of both the castes and this coupled with neglect for the masses in general has cost this election for the BJP and Vasundra Raje

http://gowerramesh.blogspot.com/2008/05/open-request-to-mrgurumoorthy.html

Bagavad Gita N Me

2008-12-06T19:51:00.012+05:30

Disclaimer: Well, Unlike Corporates who usually issue disclaimers in Font 4 at the end, I will issue my disclaimer right at the start. This article is not meant to hurt the feelings of any section of people, nor do I claim any great proficiency in the field of philosophy. In case if someone feels hurt I apologize and any contradicting views are always welcome.

Bagavad Gita one of the finest philosophical works of all time. In my opinion it is quite unfortunate that the "label" of religion has been cast on this.

I have always looked upon this as a text written by a great philosopher to explain the turmoil that an Individual goes through when he/she has got to make tough decisions and how should the Individual go about it to come out successfully from that situation.

Arjuna and Krishna are 2 characters, with Arjuna symbolizing the troubled Human Mind and Krishna representing the pure knowledge that exists within all of us and to which every human reaches out to during desperate times or times of confusion knowingly or unknowingly. The entire Bagavad Gita is about the Inner Turmoil that happens within an Individual and how he manages to find that pure knowledge or God or Hunch or Intuition or "X" factor within himself.

Sounds pretty confusing isn't it? That's precisely the reason why these characters were created to make it simpler and to avoid lot of misinterpretations. OK all that in detail for another occasion. Coming to its impact or my own experience now.

There is a place in Bagavad Gita where Krishna asks Arjuna not to worry about the result and to remain detached from it. Very recently i had an experience which made me realize the importance of doing that.

The beauty if I can call it that way was that it was a very trivial issue, where in stead of doing what i could do best, I became so anxious about the result which pretty much was not in my hands. It got to me so much that I ended up making a mess out of the whole thing.

Down I was when this saying from the Gita struck me like a Bolt out of the Blue Sky. Wow!! I said to myself and the next day I happened to hit upon a Zen Story which advocated on the same lines. Finally I must say that i have realized (note the word, it is not "Knowing" but "Realizing") what it means to have a target and work towards it but not get too obsessed with so much so that you end up messing things up or failing to look at the larger picture and finally end up way short of it.

P.S: Had the Financial Geniuses too remained a bit detached they would not have got too obsessed and made the mistake of missing the larger picture which was that the main product was wealth for Shareholders and their own profit was a by product of that. They got too obsessed with their welfare that they ended up missing the larger picture. Hopefully things get right from now on at least.

Thinking...

2008-12-05T00:51:00.013+05:30

For the last 4 years the genius Fund managers, Investment Bankers and Rating agencies forgot their role and befriended Mr. Greed and went on devising method after method, product after product and scheme after scheme to make themselves rich. However apart from the top honchos most of the middle level managers have ended up jobless and are now pondering over their future. The sad part however is that they have taken down along with them millions of general public who believed in the wisdom of the Investment Bankers and the credibility of the Rating Agencies

Thanks to Greed,we have learnt a few terms like Stimulus, Recession and Bailout.These words have become an integral part of our life in the last few months. Turn on the Television or pick up any newspaper you will for sure hit upon at least one of these words. It all started off with USA and its 700 billion dollar bailout, EU followed with its own 130 Billion Euro Stimulus package, Britan is planning for a 100 billion dollar package and China is planning for a massive 586 Billion Dollar Stimulus package, India too on its part is considering a 10 Billion Dollar Stimulus package.While the devloped countries are doling out these packages to prevent recession, the Developing world is providing the stimulus to make sure that the growth is maintained.

All of a sudden a Billion looks like a very small amount :).I have got one doubt about these stimulus packages and their long term effects. I might sound very stupid, for my knowledge on economics is nothing great, but i still would want to put forward this doubt and get it cleared.

While I cant agree more on the fact that we do need stimulus as tightening Interest rates and sucking out money from the system is going to dent the confidence ( assuming some of it is still left) more and create further panic, I am still not sure as to how the economists and the central bankers are planning to tackle the situation of excess money which will be the case when the economy turns around.

Raising interest rates and sucking out surplus from the system, seems to be the obvious way out, but i have got one question, When things start to go well, will the Financial Organisations allow the Fed or for that matter the other Central Banks to raise Interest rates and dampen the good mood? Agreed they might not be as powerful as they once were, but still do the Governments have it in them to go against powerful Corporates and raise interest rates and make sure that excess money is sucked out of the system thereby preventing the creation of an Inflationary environment and an asset bubble?

The fact that too much of cheap money was available was the biggest reason behind the rampant Inflation which the world experienced and the Sub Prime Crisis, now will we see Central Banks learning from their mistakes or will "History Repeat Itself"?

P.S: The whole of India must thank Mr Y.V.Reddy the former RBI Governer of India.His conviction and his boldness to increase the Interest Rates notwithstanding the directions from Finance Ministry and the other Intellectuals has protected Indian Banks and Finacial Institutions from entering the Sub Prime Game. Hats off to You Sir!!!

A Look Back

2008-12-01T03:31:00.010+05:30

Six months have just got over in a jiffy. Yes, Jiffy is the right word. So how has the experience been ?

Let me start off with what i had in my mind, based on what i had heard from people before i came hereto Canada. "Awesome place","20 years ahead in all aspects of life","One of the best places to live in"and "Culture less place" were the most common things i heard.

So now having spent some time here, what would be my view of the place?

Let me begin with the bright spots

Quality of Life:No point in comparing i feel since the quality of life here is definitely better than what is prevalent in India

Inclusive Growth: A truck driver here earns enough to lead a quality life with all basic amenities. Wonder how many of the truck drivers can do the same in India?

Respect: Regardless of Ur profession, financial status or color u r looked upon as a normal human being and not as anything else. People warned me about Racial Discrimination, before i came here but i must admit that i have never seen anything of that during my stay here. People have been really hospitable. I am not issuing any generalized statements here nor am I going to do so for i have not seen most parts of this country. But all I am trying to say is that for people who associate Racial Discrimination with the Western world are just like the people who in west associate India with Snake Charmers, "IMMATURE".

Technology: I have said this time and again and I think this wont be the last time either. Their focus and Investments on technology is their biggest strength. Technology has helped them cut down on Red Tapism ( one of India's biggest drawbacks) apart from improving productivity and efficiency.

Self Discipline: Rules can be framed, technology employed and people be monitored, but rules are nothing if people are not going to adhere to it. Fear alone cannot be used as a weapon for long period of time.People here seem to realize that these rules are made to make life better for them and follow it willingly. Indian immigrant population also follows the rule to the dot. Hope my friends remember to do that when they come to India too.

Of course no place in the world is all white, there are some grey areas too, grey areas more from the economical point of view

Spending: I am pretty sure that when parents asked their Kids to live alone and fend for themselves they must have done so with the Intent of making their kids understand the value of Money and thereby hoping to make them wise spenders of money. However as with many other things in life, this has backfired, the effort to make them realize the value of money has in my opinion gone awry or rather backfired. People in stead of becoming wise spenders have become reckless spenders, People shop for things without thinking whether they really need it or not in the first place. Such kind of spending has only made them more reliant on their paychecks and failure to get one makes them go bust. I only hope that they realize it sooner and start spending judiciously.

Shrinking Population Base: presents a big problem since a shrinking population base means that the population is skewed in terms of the aged and since the govt takes care of all the pension and the health programs and it does so out of the tax money it generates, an ageing population means less Tax Money as the number of young people who can work is reduced and it also means greater strain on the Government.Population Control was instrumental in their development but now the time has come where they need to make sure to do the opposite. Time for the Government to start taking measures for that.

Shrinking Population base is also not good for the Corporates since what it means is that they have a smaller customer base to target and achieve growth. That will only lead to excessive discounts and attempts to lure the customers to spend more and more and more and in turn will lead to more reckless spending, which is not good news.

So whats my final take on the stay "Enjoyable" :)

Glossary:"Quality of Life" covers the overall standard of life and a better standard means less corruption, less bureaucratic negligence, less pollution

Disclaimer: I have written this out of my own personal experiences and my own observations. Also this is no attempt to degrade India. I have written these things with the most objective of mindset and in fact I would be the most happiest person if India can achieve this standard of Living, without becoming the reckless spenders.

Hats Off

2008-11-27T23:03:00.007+05:30

Livid, Disgusted, Frustrated, Fed up am I with the current Ruling Government in India and I am sure that I am not alone. Insensitive and Irresponsible this has got to be the worst ever Government that ruled India. Dr Manmohan Singh the dumbest Prime Minister and Mr.Shivraj Patil, the worst ever Home Minister India has seen so far.

So why or rather for whom should you to Take ur Hat off ? Do it for the "Mumbaikaar" the common man/woman of Mumbai. "City of Dreams" it is called as and i will also add "City Of Resilience". They are not Insensitive like the Government which rules them. They care for their people and yet at the same time they are mighty resilient.Be it the 93 Serial Blasts or the more Recent train bombings the city has always responded in the most extra ordinary manner.

Wonder if there is any city in the world which has been targeted like this....Such is the extent to which Mumbai has been targeted. But every single time the city has risen like a Phoenix from the ashes. At the time of writing this, the rescue operations are still being carried out and i sincerely hope that it becomes a success.

Regardless of the result of the rescue operation, I am however sure that Mumbai will come back much stronger and much better. "Hats off to You" my dear Mumbaikaars. The World can learn a lesson or two from U.

I only hope that the Govt wakes up at least now and as a mark of respect for the resilience of the Mumbaikaars hangs Afzal and starts off the war against terror at least now.

First Step

2008-11-24T20:48:00.002+05:30

"Down and Out" said my friend on the phone. I got really worried and asked him "Why, whats wrong?". He said he was very sad over the stock markets and was wondering how many years would it now take for him to recover his capital?

In an attempt to cheer him up, i said " Yeah the markets are down, but why don't u Invest now in a very systematic and small way for the future?", to which pat came his reply "Who has got the funds?"

I was now really stunned. I had always advocated ( not my original idea though :) ) people not to be fully Invested and retain some cash. When i questioned him, he said he had bought heavily close to the peak and as soon as the market started to fall he has kept buying hoping to average it out.

Now please, for heaven's sake never Panic when u see the price of stocks coming down. Check out as to why they are falling. If the factors are very strong and the selling is very heavy WAIT. Wait till u find the selling dries up and all the bad news gets factored in. For example, you can now wait till u see how the US bail out scheme is implemented in case if u r now looking at US markets. Never Panic and buy for the sake of AVERAGING.

Buy because u feel that the business is great and a great opportunity exists. Never buy for the sake of Averaging. In case if u get to know that u have done a mistake, Be bold and try to trim ur losses rather than holding on to the losses.

Remember Investing as they say is like Gardening "Remove ur weeds and let the flowers grow". So don't panic and be patient. Analyse businesses and then hold on. You will definitely hit on a phase when there is not much happening in the market and the market meanders without any direction. That is the time in which u slowly enter and then accumulate during the consolidation phase.

To quote Buffet here "The man who cannot watch his stock beaten into half his price without losing his composure is not good enough to be in the markets" So cultivate Patience and Courage along with Knowledge. Investing is as much about emotion as it is about Intelligence.

The greatest Investors have all been emotionally very strong.So the first step would be to prepare urself emotionally to be an Investor. Be courageous to admit ur mistakes and trim ur losses. Have the Conviction to hold on to businesses if u feel after ur analysis that they are really good.

Finally Never be tempted to put all ur money in either because the markets are too good or because u want to average. Always have Cash in hand. Savings to cover all ur needs and contingencies and then of the remaining disposable Money, Invest 75% and let the 25% remain as cash.

I know it is easier said than done, for I am stuggling to fight off these demons of Panic and Greed and hold myself.But remember that when u win over Nature, the rewards are extra ordinary.

P.S: First Step in markets is to prepare Emotionally and the first step towards a peaceful India is to Kick the current ruling Government out of power. Seems like they have forgotten that it is their duty to protect the people of India.

Magic Number

2008-11-20T07:52:00.006+05:30

Whats the Magic Number? Cmon,must be an easy guess.Yep got it folks. Its 700. First it was the USA which was and i must say still is all fixated over this number and now we have a new friend or rather companion for them.

This set of people must be thinking that they are here today in this position because of the mess created by the greed of the financial companies of the USA. I would rather say that this is where they were supposed to have been or maybe a bit better.They had an awesome time because of some of the actions of the ex-President of the USA and also the cheap money that helped inflate asset prices beyond reasonable levels.

Now that the bubble has burst,they are crying, feeling bad for it. OPEC's chief has said that OPEC nations have lost 700 Billion Dollars USD because of low Oil Prices. Low Oil Prices,considering the artificially high prices that were prevailing then. An act ot Terror in Nigeria, problem in Russia or Venezuela, Embassy attacks in Saudi Arabia were all gud enf reasons for the price of oil to go up then,contrast that with today where even 2 production cuts by OPEC nations have not been able to stop the falling price of Oil.

Where has the "Fuel Guzzling" Chinese Dragon gone? What happened to India? the 2 nations who were cited as the main reasons in the media for the start of the upward crude rally. In reality none contributed in a major way, Cheap money which was made available through questionable polices of the FED along with the Iraq war which has made the region a hotbed were the major driving forces in my humble opinion and once the prices started to be pushed upwards, the OPEC nations felt wonderful.

Now the whole party has ended and ended in a very bitter fashion and with Obama not intent on continuing the Hunt for Weapons of Mass Destruction( just to remind readers that, that was the reason for the Invasion cited by Mr Bush) Oil seems to have got into this bear Mode.

Now every single negative report out of the USA and the rest of the world will push the price of Oil Down and it will be a huge challenge for OPEC to boost the prices of OIL now. They will try their best though, as all the nations had a lot of plans based on the money that they thought, they would be getting out of selling Oil at high prices.

But for the moment it seems like the efforts of OPEC are not going to yield much benefits and i personally believe it is very good for the world, as high prices means more Inflation.

P.S: This happy news has got no relevance for India though, the PM of India Dr Manmohan Singh has decided that Petrol prices will not be slashed as the Oil Marketing companies have suffered huge losses and now its recovery time for them. While I do agree that the Oil Companies suffered huge losses, one must remember that it was because of the poor policies of the govt which taxed and taxed and taxed Fuel for revenues. My Question is why should the people suffer even now when things are better?

Finally

2008-11-13T03:01:00.005+05:30

It has happened. A long long wait has ended, more than a decade and a half has Indian Cricket waited for a good captain and it seems like the prayer of the fans have been answered.

Indian Cricket has always had great Individual talents but unfortunately has never had had a good captain, a captain who is both tactically astute as well as a natural leader of Men at the helm.

Things finally seems to have fallen in place. Dhoni an unassuming, No Nonsense speaking, Calm, composed and sensible person with a wonderful sense of humor and loads of audacity

Motivating other seems to come so naturally to him. Tactically too he seems to be very shrewd and above all his out of the box thinking really impresses me.

No captain would have had the guts to call off a team meeting before a match and even if anyone might have, i bet no one would have the guts to speak about it in a post match conference, for Team meetings are rituals which is to be followed strictly no matter what.

The leader in him shone brightly when he said after losing the IPL finals "I am not going to blame anyone,we played our best and we are happy with this result". Wow, that's a true leader speaking for you. How often have we heard " The boys did not bowl well, bat well, field well, we were 20 runs short and all such nonsense", Not to say that Dhoni is not issuing such statements but he chooses the right occasions to say that.

More recently when he so boldly came up with the 8-1 field set up, providing us a glimpses of his out of box thinking. A captain who is "truly" aggressive,a captain who lets his actions speak louder than his words unlike some of his predecessors.

Of course these are early days and I am sure that he will go through rough patches and testing times as does any sportsman or for that matter any human. As they say "Greatness is not about avoiding failures, for failure is inevitable. It is making sure that the frequency of failure is long" and I am confident that Dhoni's greatness as a captain, I am willing to put my head on the line and predict that here is one captain who will go down in the annals of Cricketing History as one of the Finest Captains of all time.

P.S: Just one advice for U, Do not get occupied with personal prejudices and involve yourself in divisive methods like some of your predecessors did. That will do.

Lip Smacking

2008-11-07T10:02:00.008+05:30

I said to myself when i had my Pita Bread with Falafel and Vegetables. Yummy it was. Just as delicious as the Pita Bread and Falafels is the opportunity that we are now being presented with.

Yeah, I m referring to the screaming opportunity that is existing in today's equity markets.

The Market has been pummelled out of shape by FIIs who have been forced to sell their holdings here to shore up their balance sheets to whatever little extent they could.

Since the beginning of this year the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJIA) has fallen by 27%(in terms of USD) percent, whereas the Sensex has fallen by more than 60%(in terms of USD) in the same period. Notwithstanding the fact that INR has fallen against the USD in the recent times, this is a very huge fall.

Readers must remember that the country which is in Recession is the USA and not India, yet the Sensex has been hit much much harder by this credit crunch, thanks to the FII selling( FIIs have sold 12 billion in USD from the start of this year till date.)

Readers must also remember that this figure pales in comparison with the amount of money lying in Savings and Fixed Deposits. No, I am not advocating for people to put all of their money into the Stock Markets. I do believe and advocate Diversification of Portfolio. But all I believe is that we go on and learn our lessons from our Japanese Friends who have bought into a big way into Stocks during this downturn

Stocks are not going to double the next month,The days when your pan wala provided you with tips and advice on what to buy for a 100% return are gone. Tough Times says the media, but it is during times such as these that you lay the foundation for building up an empire,for creating wealth.

Stocks of good companies, by which i mean companies which have a solid business model and have strong Order books going forward for at least the next three years are available at prices which make them so mouth watering and I request readers to make some research and to start Systematically Investing into the markets, for such Lip smacking opportunities may not come again for another decade or so.

Don't go overboard, start off small and keep Investing consistently and I promise you that you will create a fortune for yourselves.

Stirring Up a Hornet's Nest

2008-11-06T02:33:00.003+05:30

Yeah, a couple of people have done this recently through their statements.

Lets start off with the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Mr Karunanidhi, he has taken a swipe at Hindus and Hindu Culture for the Umpteenth time now. The recent one being the criticism of people's habit of wearing a Tilak on their forehead and a community's habit of wearing a thread over their shoulder.

He has gone on and said that Equality is the need of the hour and caste differences need to be uprooted and people should stop fighting over the existence of a Supreme power.

While i do fully aknowledge the need for Equality and the need to refrain from fighting over the existence of a Supreme Power or Not, i do have some questions for the Chief Minister

1. How does wearing a thread or Tilak on the forehead contribute to Inequality? Now why target a community again and again and create the illusion that a particular community alone is responsible for Inequality, when the reality is very different?

2. And why doesn't the Honourable CM speak about the caste differences that exist in other religions in the state? What is preventing him from speaking about other religions? Votes???

The Second Person is one of the most loved cricketers of the modern era, Adam Gilchrist, Following his recent swipes at Tendulkar, Ganguly and Harbahajan, he has gone on record and called Muralidaran a Chucker.

Now the best part about his statement though is that not at one place has he blamed Muralidharan, he has gone on and spoken about how this whole issue was politicised and projected as a Racist Issue, thereby sidetracking from the main problem.

Notwithstanding the fact Racism exists, the recent hype over Obama being the first "Black President" is a live example of how we are still looking at people.Obama's colour and not his credentials have become the biggest talking point and it is something that i feel we must be ashamed of. We still subconsciously differentiate people based on such silly things.

Coming back to our topic, in spite of the aforementioned fact, I have always felt like Gilchrist that Murali's issue was side tracked and projected as an Issue of Racism. Now I am pretty sure that this Statement will create a tremor or two in cricketing fraternity.

Now people all over the world are asking "Why Gilly?"

Never Before Never Again

2008-10-25T18:45:00.018+05:30

Equity Markets bleeding, Commodities tanking, Inflation rising and grimness prevailing might be the situation outside, but step into my room and the atmosphere is of sheer joy, thanks to my wonderful room mate. U might ask me whats so special about him? I must say that he is one of the finest story tellers that i have ever met.

I am really feeling bad for not having met him when i was a kid for it would have been really entertaining then. OK, no more making u wait, here we go, i am listing the gems.

It was a bore and dull evening until my room mate decided to change that with his wonderful story, It was about his story at London Airport, He started off by saying that London Airport is really big and since i have not seen London Airport i did not do anything but to acknowledge it, and then he went on saying that, with 200 terminals it is so huge, I was now shocked, however big an airport might be 200 was a colossal number, but still did not say anything and quietly heard through the rest of the story. Part-2 of this incident was even more funny, he narrated the same story to another set of people the next day and all of a sudden the terminals count became 300.!!!!!!!!!!!. I was dumbfounded, How could construction happen so quickly??? well then i checked it out and it seems that now Heathrow has only 5 terminals,

Surely my room mate cannot be wrong,they must have closed the rest down :)

Second one was when my room mate gave me the most amazing explanation ever given for the rise of USD(US Dollar) against the INR (Indian Rupee). I was having my dinner when he came in and asked me " Did U watch Bill Clinton's speech?", I replied "NO", then he went on and said " It was a great speech and with this Wonderful speech, Clinton has brought an end to the political Instability prevailing in the US and because of that the USD has started to rise".

Never I knew that US was in Political instability" nor did i knew before that " The speech of an Ex-President in support of his party candidate was good enough to move the currency of a nation against other currencies".

Third one was when he enlightened me about how Human Body works. "People moving from Tropical Countries to America and other cold countries can withstand the first winter easily its only from the second winter that these people will start to feel tough" Before i could ask "Why" he came up with the explanation, its because our blood will be hot and hence we wont feel the cold during the first year, but over a period of time it becomes cold and hence we start to feel the chillness from the second year onwards.

I drew a blank face and i did not know how to respond to this. I somehow managed to ask him, Who told this ?, Pat came the reply " A Doctor" but please do not ask me the name of the doctor, for he never revealed that to me " :)

Now don't these incidents justify the title??

No Country for Weak Hearted

2008-10-18T05:19:00.007+05:30

Billions and Billions of dollars of Investor Wealth wiped out and there seems to be more pain in the offing. Markets have corrected (?) from a high of 21k to 10k levels and going by the intensity of the downward move, i think it can be safely assumed that we have not yet seen the Bottom.

Global Financial Crisis, has taken India along with it and in fact it had done more damage to Indian markets than it has done to the US markets. Warren Buffet once said ,If one did not have the capacity to see his stock beaten down into half without losing his composure, one must avoid the Stock Markets.

Speaking of Buffet's wealth itself has gone down by $10 Billion USD thanks to the recent crash/ correction. But he seems unperturbed, in fact he has gone on record saying that this is the time to "BUY", and he has actually bought into Goldman Sachs.

So what should we do here in India? Follow the God Of Investing? Well, predicting the bottom is not an easy task, but i would stick my neck out and say that the market has more downside left and we can consider buying after that.

What if u have not sold out of the market when the market hit a high of 21k? Well, as it stands nothin much can be done since u cannot sell out now. But maybe its time for u to analyze why u held on to them in the first place without selling them. Did u join the rally at the last stages? Did u feel tempted and hence held on to the stocks hoping for more upside? Or Did you fool urself by saying to urself that u were a long term Investor and held on to the stocks, while the reality was that you were greedy and held on to them for more profits.

Whatever mite be the reason, treat this as a lesson handed out. The lesson? " Dump your greed and your Stocks when the valuation overtakes the growth rate". Financial Markets have never been a place for the Weak hearted and it is only during times such as these that the truth is felt.

Stop feeling bad, get the learning and Happy Investing.

Bullseye

2008-10-07T08:33:00.009+05:30

Which is the most difficult thing to do in a movie? If someone were to ask me this question, my reply without any hesitation will be "To Convey a message in a movie and to do it successfully", as most people who come to the theaters have only one "Entertainment" in mind.

Now Krish the film maker pulls of the aforementioned task with nonchalant ease with his movie "Gamyam (Telugu)" . I must say its been quite sometime since i have seen any movie like this. Absolutely Honest Film making. Handling a story, which had more chances of making the audience run for their Pop Corn out of boredom, the director not only manages to keep the audience interested, but also goes a step beyond and makes the audience think, think for a moment.

I am not going to give any reviews for this movie as its been quite sometime the movie had released and the web media contains enf and more reviews. But i would like to point out some points which i felt interesting about the movie.

I read a lot of reviews which spoke of Allari Naresh as the second most person of the movie, but i beg to differ on this, I name the Lyricist of the movie Sri Vennela Seetarama Sastry as the second hero of the movie. Never before i guess a lyricist played the role of a second hero. The one song where he explains life is awesome to say the least. To Sum it Up "No Praise can be too high for the lyricist."

For the first time or maybe in a long long time we saw "Naxalism" handled in the most objective manner.And the brilliant part is that's not in the main scheme of things too. Such was the attention paid to even the not so critical track.The track was handled in a very objective and honest fashion.

Finally the episode that deals with the dance girl, God! Wonderful, On your face hard hitting dialogues, Never were these episodes treated with such finesse before.

All in all, a fantastic journey, a thought provoking one.

P.S:Although off the topic, i would like to ask this doubt here, "Whats that so special about Philosophy in general, everyone knows the truth but when every time we hear it again and again it sounds like new, it becomes a new learning. Is that the beauty of the Truth or the Human Mind?"

Takeaway

2008-10-03T05:11:00.013+05:30

History has repeated itself and as usual, this time too it the items on the takeaway menu remains the same. So will take it at least this time around? Time alone can answer that. So whats the takeaway?

Oops i forgot to mention the subject, its the recent crisis in the Financial Markets.

Investing is all about controlling the two demons "Greed" n "Fear" and unfortunately the "Expert Investment Bankers" never controlled the former and forgot about the latter, In the quest for hefty pay packets, Investor care was forgotten and the market became a place where the "Bigger Fool Theory" was played out. And when it ended the Investors became the biggest fools.

The Investors(?) too need to be blamed (not to that extent though) for not really understanding the underlying business and getting allured by higher Returns that were promised by these "EXPERTS".

The Investing public clearly needs to understand an important point "There is no such thing called as Short Term Safe n High Return. Returns and Risks are Directly Proportional and the more the return the greater the risk. And coming to time frame Risks are far greater if one takes a short term view as Emotions play an important role in the short term"

Now moving on to the other aspect called Leveraging: It is a tight rope walk. Not only the firms but the Investing Public were also guilty of Over Leveraging.Now Leveraging during a Bull Market looks to be a fantastic strategy, but as soon as the market turns bad the Excessively Leveraged will be the worst hit. So Make sure when Leveraging that you are adequately covered with cash to handle any crash.

Now all the aforementioned lessons are not something new. They are as old as the Rocks. Every crash has thrown up the same lessons, but yet we tend to forget them which reminds me of Bernard Shah's saying "If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience."

Will It?

2008-09-28T05:15:00.011+05:30

Religion- A set of rituals and practices that if followed will take us close to the Eternal or a set of stupid practices followed by people who do not have faith in themselves. Your view could be any one of those aforementioned ones depending on whether u believe in the existence of a Super Power or not.

Where did it come from? Why was it conceived? A search would throw up tons of Information that might require a lifetime for us to go through them. I will put it simply as a set of practices which are "Symbolic". The reason why I say them to be symbolic is that looked as it is in a superficial way most of them do not make any sense. In fact i would go ahead and say that man was made to follow religion to make sure that he "Denounced" religion. Paradoxical, it might sound, but that is the purpose.

One who truly understands religion ends up getting detached from all the rituals that religion calls for.

So Why about religion now? Recent happenings in parts of India, have again highlighted the fact that Learned or Academically qualified we might be, we still are Uneducated when it comes to religion. Money paid ( God knows why) and Lives Taken all in the name of religion again highlight our "IGNORANCE".

Money paid in Huge quantities for Conversions and to sponsor Violence clearly shows that academic qualification or Economic Status are not indicators of Maturity.

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry at these happenings. I even feel that we are better off banning all the religions and closing down all the Churches, Mosques and Temples till we mature and truly understand the meaning of Religion. By meaning i don't mean the Text Book Meaning but the Intended meaning. Now will it Happen? "Hope" is the name of the game.

:O

2008-09-21T07:09:00.012+05:30

Surprise, Surprise!!! The Country which symbolized "Free Markets" and embraced "Capitalism" as a way of life is now doing the unthinkable. Yeah, they are going the socialist way...

The woes brought about the problem of excess liquidity and greed has now forced the American Govt to take over many of the Financial Major companies. For record, they now own around 80% of AIG, have bought in all the problematic assets of Bear n Stearns, and they own the biggest mortgage firms of America Freddie n Fannie, and they have recently pumped in 247 Billion USD to bail these firms out the liquidity crunch.

Yeah u r reading it right, Add to this the fact thy ey have fixed floor prices for the stocks of Financial companies, prohbited Traders from shorting the stocks of some 699 financial companies!!! this country is now truly turning socialist.

The solution to the problems caused by the issue of Excess Liquidity seems to be Inject more liquidity into the system. US govt has spoken of a 700 Billion Dollar rescue plan and one strongly feels that even this wont be of any help unless the Fund Managers are not going to be monitored and questioned for taking decisions without evaluating the risks or taking decisions for personal gains fully knowing the risks involved.

So where does US go from here? By the looks of it,it seems that we have not seen the end of this problem, for the problem seems to be so deep rooted. US needs to save, go through a period of real consolidation where u are not going to have great results reported by companies, less sales and stuff but there seems to be no other permanent way out. Start Saving Uncle Sam.

P.S:The only silver lining for US in this whole episode is the fact that there is still no country which can substitute the US as the Consumption Giant, now that means all the other countries are trying desperately to keep the US afloat so that their own interests are protected. Constituting 40% of the Global GDP the US is still the Engine of the World Economy, notwithstanding the fact that its Debts are humongous to say the least.

Station 13

2008-09-09T06:30:00.003+05:30

Is Fedex's latest stop and it looks like Stations 14, 15 and 16 are not far off. Goodness Me! What a player? Never before had Men's Tennis had someone so creative and so stylish.. There might be debates on whether he is the greatest ever or not, But i don't see any debate on who is the most creative and the most stylish player around. Fed wins Hands Down.

The fact that the Tennis watching public are not mindful of One sided results and on the contrary are happy to see Federer annihilate opponents is a testimony to his Style and Creativity. Never before were One Sided contests cheered at, Never before were Assasiantion applauded at as it is being done now.

Watching this person in full flow is like watching a Waterfall in Fullest Fury.Never, will you want like to experience the fury, but never will you say "NO" to watching it. So lovely. Federer is a connoisseur's delight. A Tennis Fan's dream.

The game is privileged to have him. But my only worry is that we don't have enough competition to bring the best out of this genius, Apart from Nadal,that too on clay( with this ylear's Wimbledon being the exception) rarely do i see him getting streched. Today's final was just another example of that.Playing against a player whom i would label on his present game as a "Typical Semifinal Player" Federer hardly broke sweat.

Whether he wins the French open or not that is immaterial,no one can deny that he is by far the most Creative player to have graced the court. GO FED GO!!!!!, We Love You

Tit Bit-6

2008-09-09T00:52:00.001+05:30

Sometime back I expressed my opinion on WTO talks that were held recently, Here we have a Professor in Trade reinforcing my views. These kind of things act as a fillip and makes me feel that i m at least thinking on the right track

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Manoj_Pant/WTO_talks_Should_countries_trade/articleshow/msid-3339127,curpg-2.cms

An Analysis (?)

2008-08-30T09:19:00.005+05:30

It was all Roses, not long ago, 22k,25k all seemed possible. Most of the experts spoke about India's great economic development, India as a superpower. Decoupling theory, was the latest fad. Everyone spoke about Decoupling effect and how India was insulated from the rest of the world particularly the US. Reasons were given to the people to Justify the BULL RUN which the market was then.

Cut to present and the markets have corrected by more than 35% and now most of the experts are attributing it to Rising Crude, Weakness in Global Makets, US economic slowdonwn. Dunno how suddenly India has got Coupled again. Rupee is hitting lows after lows and suddenly everything looks bleak and experts are warning us for Tough times and a bear market.

Well, Anyone who has been following these experts on a daily basis will now mostly be in a mentally unstable condition. Politicians pale in comparison when it comes to speaking in different voices. General Public must be very confused.

So what is actually the reality and what can be expected?

Here is my analysis( Oops ppl must have got fed up of this word) or take on this whole thing.

To Begin with, Yes India is indeed decoupled to a great extent from the rest of the world and it is not like a China or a Taiwan or for that matter even a Japan all of which are export dependent, India has got a huge middle class consumer population which is 30 million strong. Add to this the fact that Rural population has not yet developed, if they are provided with a platform to grow into even Middle Class,India would have a Colossally big Domestic Market.

It is also true that India is growing and growing at quite a pace.

However India's Stock Markets are not decoupled from the rest of the World. For that markets Indian Stock Markets is Decoupled from Indians. Yes, thats the truth with around 70% of India' s household savings lying in Banks in the Form of Fixed Deposits and Savings and only around 5% in the Stock Markets, our own market is actually decoupled from us.

Add to this the fact that Pension funds are also not allowed to Invest in Equity markets, we have a scenario, where our economy to a great extent is dependent on Ourselves, but our markets are not. FIIs hold the remote for our market and the market dances as per their tune.

FIIs had loads and loads of money ( thanks to Fed ) to play with (thnks to P-Notes, which allowed and encouraged them) and they took the markets to dizzying heights in a jiffy, Cometh Sub Prime crisis, cometh Liquidity crunch and they are now selling left, right and centre to shore up their balance sheets, which are in a state of Hemorrhage.

Reuters report puts the current losses at 400 Billion Dollars US and this is just half of he problem, add all the Personal Loan defaults and other consumer loan defaults that we can expect it to be in touching distance of a Trillion Dollars!!!!

Now our analysts are saying abt Crude, Inflation and other stuff, If i remember correctly when Sensex was at 21k Crude was more than 100 even then and RBI was warning of potential Inflation, Yet no one cared.

Now they have started again, Most of the Analysts are painting an all gloom report again.

Hmm, the way i see it, India is all set to grow, Favorable Demographics, Educated and skilled workforce and a huge Consumer Base, means that we have all the Ingredients ready. But this growth of 8+% on a consistent basis is not going to possible unless we sort out a few things(on which is going to be my next article). Till these things are sorted out, India will grow Despite the System and not because of the System, but one thing Growth is for sure and with the Economy growing can the Markets be far behind??

However as Bufet said " Markets are like Voting machine in the short term and Weighing machine in the long term", So have a long term perspective (2+ years advisable) and set ur goals( i have already written on this) and Happy Investing :)

Shame On Us

2008-08-19T06:02:00.003+05:30

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Food-crisis-Try-rats-says-Bihar-govt/350268/
This is the status in one of the states of our country. Absolute Shame. 9+ growth, Foreign Investments, Booming Real Estate, but still people are starved for Food. One more example to show that the growth is not INCLUSIVE and still there is a huge section of the population has not come under the Beneficiaries bracket.

The worst part is not that the people are asked to eat Rats. The worst part is the confession of the Official that " Half of the grains in the Godowns are eaten by rats". Yet nothing is being done to stop that. Although agriculture is neglected, we still manage to produce enough food to feed the whole of INDIA, the problem is Poor Storage, Black Markets and Hoarding.

"Eating rats serves double purpose" says the Official, Dunno whether he will feed on them, however well cooked it might be?

To Sum it all up "Shame On Us"

Tit Bit-5

2008-08-07T22:21:00.005+05:30

Readers will remember my article on Rupee where i had advocated for a strong Rupee.
Here we have Swaminathan Aiyar presenting that as an election stargey to make sure that Inflation is controlled, by making the Imports cheaper.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Swaminathan_S_Anklesaria_Aiyar/Will_a_strong_rupee_win_votes/articleshow/3321111.cms

Appetizer

2008-08-01T20:04:00.005+05:30

Uhh, finally i have decided to write on this, after days of research,i found that i was getting deeper into the Excess Information Trap.

What is this meeting all about?
Simply put,the Developed world( Read US and the EU) wants the developing world to do away with the Tariffs on agriultural goods, which the Developing countries enforce to protect their farmers against cheap imports. The Developing world( Read India,China) wants the Developed nations to do away with the Subsidies which they dole out for their farmers

Are all Developing countries agains the removal of Tariffs on Imports?
No,Although a part of the developing block, Brazil, Uruguay wants the developing countires to do away with the Tariffs, because of their vested Interests in agricultural exports.( This is excluding US and EU)

Subsidies to US and EU farmers?

Yes, you are reading it right, US and the EU does give subsidies to its farmers. And these are Multi Billion Dollar Subsidies doled out. Subsidy amounts that is greater than the GDP of some of the Third World Countries.

Why this Subsidy?

Farmers on an average hold about 200 hectares of land to the 1 hectare average that an Indian Farmer holds. Now these US farmers although they hold this much amount of land cannot bargain for a price as they deal with all Big Retail Giants like Wal Mart, who buy in huge qunatities and stock it up. Now the US governmnet or for that matter any Government cannot force the Corporate Giants to increase their prices,so they allow the farmers to sell at low prices and then give huge subsidies to the farmers to compensate for the loss.

Current Scneario:

There is now a deadlock with the US n EU not agreeing to reduce on the subsidies and India n China refusing to do away with the Tariffs, to protect their poor farmers, who are still in the Dark.

My Take:
My humble opinion on this would be that India and China have got it spot on. Liberalizing the service sector and liberalizing agriculture are 2 different things altogether.While the former does have corporates running the show, the latter consists of lot of powerless Individuals. Liberalization of course should happen, but before that either of the 2 mentioned below must happen
A) Governement must make farming a viable business and educate the farmer or B) The US n EU must do away with the subsidies, so that the farmers of the Developing world are not at any significant disadvantage compared to their peers.

Which of the 2 will hapen first? Well, Ur guess is a good as mine

P.S:I will call this Only an Intro article, More on the Subsidies given on Cotton, Rice, Soya, Brazil's win over US in the Cotton Issue and other details coming soon.

Tough Times

2008-07-31T09:17:00.006+05:30

"Here, There and Everywhere" Nope we are not talking about God here, we are talking about Bombs in India. The word Security seems to have been removed from the Country's dictionary. More than the explosions i am alarmed at the ease with which these terror networks are able to operate. Terror network is growing at an alarmingly fast rate. Blasts are no more confined to MUMBAI and SRINAGAR .

How come they have been able to grow at this alarming rate?

1. "Vote Bank Politics", the bane of any Democracy, more so in the case of India with it being a culturally diverse country,is the single biggest factor. With the educated class not voting, the minorities and the oppressed become the deciding forces and this Government has gone way too far to get the share of the minority vote. The Pending execution of Afazal whose involvement in the attack was prove beyond doubt is a standing testimony to that. Terrorism is being equated to Religion and this if continues spells nothing but "DISASTER".Can vote bank politics be removed from the system? "NO" it can never be done in any democracy. So can it be minimized?" Yes". How?

Action Item for Us:

People must for their own sake must excercise their franchise, the more the voting percentage we have the better as that and only that can minimize the game of Vote bank politics.

Now for the Govt:

And I doubt whether someone in Redfort will see this, So what even if they see it? They see so many newspapers which all cry for action, but are unpertrubed by it. Then why are we writing, all hoping that someday or the other some awareness is created or some change takes place.

Action Points for Govt:

Invest Heavily in Technology. It is not going to be possible to monitor a billion people with out dated systems. Invest for the future.

Implement "POTA". Networks need to be broken, for which fear needs to be sent down the spines of the people who support the networks.

And

Educate the minorities and make them feel comfortable. Get rid of their apprehensions and fears and Insecurities.

Finally,A single attack on a Country, was reason gud enf for that country to carpet bomb another nation. I am not asking for Carpet Bombing, but please make sure that u dont welcome the anti social elements with a Red Carpet.

P.S: My good friend Nagrockz is also writing a very good series on Indian Politics and what needs to be done. Readers can also have a look at that too. His blog URL is nagrockz.blogspot.com

Imitating the English Gentleman

2008-07-25T00:31:00.005+05:30

Is one of the very few lessons which i still remember vividly. Gandhiji's writings on how he tried to imitate the English Gentleman is something etched in my memory. Forward 50 odd years and the author gets a chance to travel abroad and Well! Well!! Well!!!! the author is reminded of that same lesson.

When i look at People trying so desperately hard to prove to the citizens of the Western countries that they too are as developed(???) as my Western friends, i am baffled. What makes these people do this? What makes my own friends and colleagues speak with me in a neutral accent and then speak with my Western friends in a....well, Can i Call it American?? Nope its neither here nor there accent? What makes them try and owe the alien culture on themselves ???. Thankfully they dont spend as much as their Western Counterparts.

I am not generalizing, i never do that. Its just that most of them whom i happen to meet with or speak with fall in this bracket. What makes them do this? Are they going by the saying "When in Rome, Be a Roman", Well, then here is a question, Will these fellas do the same things, if they are posted in Kenya or Carribean Islands? I wonder.....( I might be wrong, though).

Well I am no psychologist, but i feel this is due to the sub conscious feeling that Westerners are superior to us. Citizens of US n Europe are God to us. Hence the attitude,We must do whatever we can to please them. This makes us bend before them. Not for a moment I am sayin that we must fight with them and assert our authority. But am saying that sub consciously most of these people are also racist in nature. They look down upon Blacks ook up at Whites and stoop low before the Whites and cry Foul terming their dominance as Racism. My question is who asked u to bend so low and make the other person think that he is superior?

Whats in a name? goes a saying, i will go ahead and ask Whats in the color of skin? or for that matter the nationality, after all these nationalities are all notional. We at the end of the day are humans and i dont see any disparities between a whte skinned person and a black skinned one. I am not advicing, some might feel that I am jumping the gun here(well could be true..), but all i would say is Plz be Urself. Forget about Imitating, its a cheap thing for us to spend our time on. U are what U are and be proud of that.

P.S: At the time of writing this, Blasts have rocked the Nation. Well, Condolonces to all the family members of the dead. Hope the society stands united and helps them get over this irrecoverable loss.

Tit Bit-4

2008-07-22T20:20:00.004+05:30

Readers please go ahead and listen to "Mungaru Male" songs in case if u have not yet listened. ( Guess most of u would have by now). Wat an amazin album!!! Songs simply take me into a different world altogether. Mano Murthy has come out with a GEM.

P.S: Mungaru Male is the Highest Grossing Cinema in the History of Kannada Cinema.

Rupee, wat needs to be done???

2008-07-16T21:15:00.004+05:30

Well on seeing the topic, ppl might ask,Are u an economist or for that matter someone who has got any expertise in Finance? My answer to that is A Big "NO", I am neither of them. Then what makes me write on these topics? Well its simply the interest and the love for this field.

Before gettin into the topic, a bit of History on the INR. Before 1991 when we we had our License Permit Raj and other rigid policies which prevented International Investment and made sure that Indian Companies also never grew to match the International Standards, the Rupee was not very attractively priced against the dollar.

Cometh 1991 and the economic crisis ( which came as a result of decades of poor governance and policies which were suited for the Industrailists and the politicians to make money), cometh Manmohan Singh, who liberalized the Indian Economy, devalued the Rupee to save the Country. Thats the end of Part 1

Part 2 had Indian companies ( IT/ITES in particular) exploting the arbitration advantage to its maximum and minting money like anything. Indian Companies started showing its mettle. TATA group did a historical buy out of Corus, bought over Tetley and so did the Aditya Birla Group, they expanded into different continents and India Inc started attracting huge Foreign Inflows. Sensex zipped and zoomed and the strength of Indian Economy coupled with the weakness in the US meant that Rupee started appreciating against the dollar.

So Part 3 must have been Indian Rupee strengthening further against the dollar. But it is not happening. Rupee is weakening now. But how is it happening, that too at a stage when Crude is rising and US is also in a recession. There lies the greatness of our politicians.

What is that they have done? They invented P-Notes, an arrangement by which someone can invest( ???) in India without giving their Identity. Money which came through the P-Note route was Hot Money and this huge Influx of Dollars meant that the demand for Rupee went up and Rupee appreciated. (Software Companies cried Foul. )Now the moment Disaster Struck US this Hot Money vanished and so did the demand for Rupee. Had they encouraged more long term Money like that of CALPERS and allowed EPF to invest into Share markets, 2 things would have happened
1. Sensex would not have gone into such a big downward spiral and 2. Rupee would not have fallen this much now.

Why is Strong Rupee Important?

A strong Rupee means that we spend less for Crude. Ex: Let us assume that Crude is trading at 140 Dollars US, right now, and Rupee is trading at 40 against the USD,it means that government will spend Rs 140 * 40 per barrell. Now assume that the Rupee is at 43 against the dollar and now we spend 140 * 43 per barrell. Now there it is for all to see.India imports 70% of its Crude Requirements and imagine the amount of saving that a strong Rupee will bring us.

Also Crude is the basic material for all the operations, hence high Crude leads to a overall high cost of Living. So howmuch ever u make through ur lucrative software job or any job u will end up shelling far more to sustain the standard of living.

Now, wont the Software companies and the other export oriented companies be affected? is a question that will arise in the minds of the readers. My answer to that is, A rising currency will weed out all the Incompetent players who primarily rely only on the arbitration to make profits.A strong currency will only strengthen the competent and the efficient players. A Strong Currency is the Need of the Hour, from an econmical point of view.

Oil Price Rise- Is it all due to demand????

2008-07-07T19:59:00.006+05:30

My knowledge on Futures Trading is minsicule.Constructive criticism and alternate view points are most welcome.

Reams and Reams of Paper have been used up to paint a story of Oil Guzzling India and China as the main reasons behind the increase in the price of oil. If u have the habit of watching news channels then again ur opinion would not be any different. How True a Statement is it though?

Futures Market:

Introduction:

For benefit or readers who dunno what a Futures market is( guess most of them will be knowing about it). It is a place where an agreement is made between the parties to buy at a particular price on a Future date. To give an Illustration( am not happy with my definition), let say that u have 10 litres of oil with u, i need 10 litres for the next month, now i would want to secure my supplies for the next month and i am afraid that it might go up.So i enter into an agreement with u by which i agree to buy the oil at a price of say Rs 10 per litre( when the current market price is say Rs 8.50 paise per litre). Now if Oil shoots beyond Rs 10 i save my money and if it does not and goes down i lose my money.

Now what if i feel if the price of oil will go down to say Rs 6, i go ahead and make a sell agreement and sell Oil for say Rs 8 and if it comes to Rs 6 i go ahead and buy it back. Now my profit in this case will be Rs 2 per litre.

Time Bound Contracts:

All these contracts are time bound say 1 month, 2 months and these contracts can be extended, called as Roll Over in Futures market parlance. This extension cannot be beyond a particular time frame ( which i guess is 6 months or 1 year max).

Payment Terms:

There is no need to pay the entire amount when u enter into the contract. U need to pay only a percentage say 5 or 10% of the total contract. At the end of the contract if u want to buy the oil physically u can go ahead and pay the balance amount or if u want to make the transaction completely notional u go ahead and sell the contract and take the difference or pay the difference depending on whether u made profit or loss

Why Futures Market?

This market was originally evloved as a means to hedge ur portfolio against losses in the primary markets. Since these Futures are based on the primary markets they are also called as Derivatives.

Why about Futures Market here?

Futures which was originally conceived as something of a Hedge Tool, slowly became a Income generating option thanks to the brains in the Wall Street who managed to get as many commodities as possible under the gamut of Commodity trading.

Now the point to be noted is that none of the big Wall Street banks nor the Big shots who trade actively in Futures market actually take delivery of the stocks. They stick themselves to the notional buying and selling. Which means if there are more of such speculators who believe that Demand is going to go up and they pump money into the market, the price of Oil actually rises without even a single barrel beng bought or sold Physically(!!!)

What is Happening Now?

US through its mind blowing policies gave these speculators a great chance to have a field day, Everytime a bomb exploded in Bagdad or Saudi the price of Oil Shot up. Rather we can say that these speculators drove it up. India and China stories were used as camaflogues. When the prices went up the Oil Producing Nations thought of holding back supplies to increase profits,which gave the speculators reason to push the price again. More the prices went up the more these Oil Countries reduced to increase the supply, the more they did that the more the prices were pushed.

This vicious circle has resulted in Oil Trading at 145 Dollars per barrel (at the time of writing).

What needs to be done?

So what needs to be done? can we go ahead and ban the futures trading in Oil? Just because people are misusing it, it does not mean the system is bad. We need to fix the excesses of speculators.

The sad thing however is that it does not seem possible since the parties involved in this are Too Big for any rule to be applicable to them. So it seems like that the prices will continue to move up and we are in for some tough times.

P.S: It is not that these traders came into the scene all of a sudden, they have been there for years but it is just that they found the conditions conducive for them to ply their trade around, thanks to...Is there any need to mention the name???

Tit Bit-3

2008-07-07T18:44:00.004+05:30

Federer's reign at the Hallowed Centre Court came to an end yesterday, Although Federer lost to the number 2 player in the world and that too in a final, i would term this as one of the biggest upset in recent times.

Nadal's win reenforces my point about the grass getting slower. Take nothing away from Nadal though. He played Great tennis.

My real worry is about Federer not volleying enough. He came in as a good serve and volley player and from there on has gone to become a baseline player. If he wants to challenge and beat Nadal from now on, on a consistent basis, he would need to get his volleying in tact.

Few Gud Humans

2008-07-05T01:08:00.009+05:30

Staying away from home without any gr8 company is by itself a very difficult task, Now add the fact that one does not know to cook and is required to cook, and it does become underably difficult for the person.

Whom shall i thank ? God or Nature or Stars, no problem i will go ahead and thank all of them for not letting me get into such a position. I can now say that i have found a "Home Away from Home", thanks to my friend and his family. As all things in this world, even this shall pass ( yeah this honeymoon period shall also end :( ). Never bother this little phase has provided me with an enviornment which has made my learning of this wonderful art called Cooking much easier( Yes U heard me right, I did call it as Wonderful, thts what a gud environment does to you)

I am reminded of my home when my friend's wife in a husky voice prompts my friend to ask my opinion on something or asks him to listen to me. This is how it happens at my home and i guess that will be the case with most of the homes.

FLIP SIDE:

However there is a flip side, as it is with most of the things in this world. I feel bad for being an unnecessary burden on them and also for me intruding into their private space :(. Sorry about that my dear friend.

GOD Bless Both of You Prashanth n Archana

P.S: My hearty congratulations to both my friends Anand( who i guess will be reading this from the US) and Srinivas who is all set to travel to Britan. Wish u all the gud luck guys, have a gr8 time and remember to rake in the millions like Deepak

Why Did it End?

2008-06-29T16:29:00.005+05:30

Is the question that I keep asking myself now 2 days after it had ended. My love for Football started in 1994 when all i loved and knew about Football was Goals. Ever since both my love and knowledge and love has grown, albeit (Unfortunately) love has gone at a much faster rate than knowledge.

So where does this one rank if i were to compare it with the tournaments i have watched?

1994: A very dull affair, i remember this world cup more for the expolits of Sweeden and Bulgaria, Roberto Baggio's missed penalty, Bebeto's antics after scoring a goal and a dull yet efficient game of Brazil.

1998: Known for all the contraversy surrounding Ronaldo in the finals, this was better than 94 for sure. France were flamboyant, rather its Forwards were flamboyant but only till they encountered quality opposition, Henry and Co could not manage even a single goal in the Knockout phase of the tournament. Davor Suker along with Zidane emerged as the players of the tournament.

2000 Euro: Again not a gr8 tournament by any standards, remembered solely for the last minute drama in the finals. Again it was Zidane who emerged as the player of the tournament.

2002 World Cup: As dull as the 94 edition. South Korea and Turkey were the teams which hogged the limelight for their exploits. Ronaldo laying the ghosts of his 98 world cup was the biggest highlight.Of course who can forget the disastarous exit of the Defending Champs

2004 Euro: although many xperts called it an average affair, i would call it a good tournament. Greece stole the show with their masterful tactics and great work ethic, Milan Baros was awesome and some of his goals were simply world class.

2006 World Cup:Wondeful tournament.Italy showed its class. Physical, Intelligent, Aggressive. They were awesome. Zidane's comeback nearly resulted in a fairy tale finish. He proved that he was still the best play maker in the world. Argentina flattered to decieve. ( Riquelme was awesome)

2008 Euro: The pick of the lot. Spain, Holland, Russia, Turkey were all excellent. Germany as usal was efficient and effective.Never did we have these many teams playing good attractive football. It was a treat to watch and it was fitting that Spain won the trophy. The list of good players would be a very long one. Awesome tournament.

Now u know why am i asking "Why did it End?", It was like watching a river in full flow. Sad that it ended. Lets hope that we get to see more such tournaments.

Account Opened

2008-06-27T19:21:00.004+05:30

I have lost count of the number of times that i would have crossed that place. But not once did i get a chance to enter. So it was pretty natural of me to get excited when i was told that i would be entering that place.
I was waiting for the D-Day and it did come. I was excited and no words can describe my excitement on that day. I dunno why but whenever i see this Survelliance Camera i get a bit disturbed. This place had plenty of them. Couple that with procedures and lot of Security and i was starting to feel uneasy.

When i was just beginning to get used to the ambience, a bolt out of the blue struck me. I had forgotten to take with me the single most important piece of evidence!!! Oh My God, I said to myself. Visuals of me answering my senior authorities criss crossed my mind and i became a statue for a moment or two. Picking up myself i spoke to the person in charge over there. He said that there was enough time for me to go and get back the document.That was a soothing balm to my wounded heart. Filled with relief i ran back to my family members, asked them to bring it for me. It seemed to me that 120 secs made a minute when i thought of where my family members were, and 30 secs made a minute when i checked how many minutes were remaining. Finally they came and i breathed a huge sigh of relief. My Dad gave me a look which made me think of my Soft skills tutor who said that Non Verbal Communication was more powerful than Verbal Communication. How True is that.

I started again and i now needed to complete some formalities, with a few people and boy! how abnormal were they, it seemed that not even Charlie Chaplin could make them smile. The word "Tough" would be an understatement.

Done with this and now to the final part, this time i was greeted by some people who were smiling for??? I dont know. They smiled for anything and everything. Finally i settled down in this magnificent Human Invention my account was opened. Filled with happiness and overcome by Tiredness i slept off immeadietly.

To Sum this entire experience up in a single Line: "All is Well that Ends well"

Credits:

The Place : Airport

Evidence : My Company ID Card

Tough People: Security Folks

Eternal Smilers: Air Hostess

Magnificent Human Invention: Aeroplane

Dichotomy

2008-06-24T20:03:00.007+05:30

If i may use that word is the best word to explain the stand of the Government on the Issue of Petroleum. Why this statement? This might be the question that immediately arises in the minds of every reader.After all the Government provides subsidy and there is no problem here.

Well i have a reason for saying this, the Government says that it is providing a lot of subsidies and it is doing so for the welfare of the people. Well, i beg to differ. Last week one of my friends who lives in Canada called me up. We had a long discussion and during the course of that discussion he said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a car in Canada as the price of a litre of gas( their term to refer fuel) has touched $1.33(Canadian dollar). Canadian dollar equals 40 INR and a simple conversion would reveal to us that we are acutally paying more for a litre. So where is the subsidy?

Taxes levied on Fuel by State and Central Goverments alone come to Rs 28 in the case of Petrol and around Rs 20 in the case of diesel( Figures are approximate, readers please help me out with acccurate figures). So the Government is using this as a revenue earning mechanism. To offset this the Government is making the Oil companies to suffer.Now there is a big problem with this approach.

This approach means that the Govt earns more if we consume more fuel. Now isnt this a recipie for disaster? Crude we all know is a non renewable resouce and the Govt shd actually try and encourage the saving of Crude. On one hand the Govt through the oil companies call for Lesser Consumption and on the other hand we have Govt encouraging auto companies to come out with more cars through friendy policies. So what exactly is it conveying? I am not able to understand. Can someone help me out on this???

P.S: Although Off topic, i would like to see the Govt spend a lot on Public Transport System, do away with subsidies on Kerosene and Diessel. Slap car owners with a tax for using a lot of the road space and causing congestion. But will all this or rather any of this happen???

Note:The US and the West are now finding it difficult to make ppl use Public Transport systems, as people have got used to the mindset of travelling through Car. More cars on the road is surely not the way to show our development. The sooner we understand this and we develop a better system it is better for not only us but also for the coming generations. And if we dont and succumb to the pressure of our Auto Lobby( as the West did and still do to a gr8 extent) we are going to get doomed.

Dasavatharam-A lay man's view

2008-06-19T06:37:00.006+05:30

Well,it has happened finally, Dasavataharam easily the most hyped movie of the Decade has finally released. So has the movie, which was touted as India's answer to Hollywood lived up to its expectations? Has it become a landmark movie for KamalHaasan which it was expected to become?Read On

Story: I am not going to dwell too much on the story, So much has been made about the Story."Chaos Theory","Butterfly Effect" and a lot many more jargons have been used. Put it simply it is about a Scientist trying to Destroy a Bio Weapon which is finally done by a Tsunami. Is Tsunami the work of God? Why should God create such things? Does anyone called GOD exist? the movie raises these questions.

Screenplay: This is the make or break section for any movie, and as far as this movie is concerned the screenplay is of the worst possible kind. Now, Hold On. Dont get angry. If u think that i am intent on Kamal Bashing , then u have got it wrong. Answer the questions raised below with a neutral mindset

1. The scientist does not know before the monkey's death that this bio weapon will be used for destructive purposes( Well what a KID the scientist must be to think so) and all of a sudden he changes his mind.(Huh)

2. Once he gets hold of the Virus(which takes place in the first half) why does he not go ahead and destroy it right away?? The story is logically over there and from that point on till the climax the story goes no where.It seems that at the climax the hero realizes that the time is up and we cannot make the audience wait anymore. Fatal Flaw.

3. How come a case in which even George Bush is interested in is handed over to an Officer( Read as Joker). The tactics employed by him are extreme sillly. Ridicilousness to the core.

4.These criminals whose photos are flashed all over the papers and TV channels roam throughout Tamil Nadu without anyone being aware about them. The Public is simply absent and so is the police. No police at the Check Posts, No Searchings nothing. Kiddish

5. Where does the story take place? Chidambaram, Next Scene Pondicherry Border and the next scene the people are admitted into a Hospital which God knows where it is and the next scene the concert takes place in Chennai(Simply Confusing)Although a minor one, which not many would have noticed it is still a flaw.

So with these many flaws the screenplay is just poor.

Direction: When u have such a poor screenplay there is nothing that can be done by the director, So there is no need to even speak about the director.

Music: Take away the first song and there is simply nothing in the movie, Background score is also weak.

Editing: Well Shoddy screenplay makes the work of an editor that much more difficult. I dont want to speak more on this( u wud have understood it)

Cinematography: Adequate

Special Effects: Well Done, the special effects are really good. Perhaps the only saving grace in the movie.

Dialogues:Dialogues try to support the half baked nature in which the movie has tried to deal with religion.

Performances:

Kamal in 10 roles and most of them are fogettable, not that he performs badly but there is no depth in characterization.

Asin has done the role of a semi lunatic( thats what i could make out of that stupid characer) to a T

Mallika Sherawat as usual has proven that she is poles apart from acting.
The rest of the cast( Was anyone there???) are Ok

All in all a very disappointing movie, I would say the most disappointing movie in the recent past, ranking higher than even Sivaji and Okka Magadu.( Now dont think that I am comparing OM to Dasavatharam, OM had expectations of a different kind)

Verdict: Well, Huge Numbers will be publicized, a Success Function wil be held for sure. But reality is something which will only be known the people who distributed and exhibited the movie.

P.S: One of my friend said that "Indian Cinema is at Kamal's feet", I dunno whehter he made it generally or keeping this specific movie in Mind,In case if it is a general statement then yes that statement can be taken up for debate, but had he said this keeping this movie in his mind, then there is no doubts over the fact that he must be a die Hard Kamal Fan who praises Kamal as a Duty without any analysis.

Tit Bit-2

2008-06-13T21:16:00.003+05:30

"I believe He will make it six in a row"-Roddick

Dear Roddick,Instead of believing in Federer had u believed in Urself, u wud have at least won One.

ORANGEWASH...

2008-06-09T22:56:00.006+05:30

Just as Home Food is bliss when had after a long time so is a match like Holland v/s Italy when you watch it after a drab affair like France v/s Romania.

It was a fantastic contest, although the scoreline suggests otherwise. Had Italy taken the chances that came along their way the scoreline would not have looked so bad.

If someone would have asked me before yesterday that if there was a team that could out muscle the Italians? i would have said "None".But now i have a different answer. Dutch beat Italy at its own game yesterday. They fought like gladiators for every ball. Surely thats not the way the Dutch used to play before.

Italy's defence was made to look pedestrian. Now when was the last time U saw their defence as pedestrain? We all knew that Defence was not Holland's forte, but it was Holland which looked the more solid of the two in defence.

Italy's defence looked extremely vulnerable.Maybe they were affected by the absence of their charismatic skipper "Cannavaro" or they were taken aback by the physical game that Dutch played or could be a combination of both.

Coming to specific players, Schiedner, Kuyt, Van Bronchost,Van Der Wart were all excellent for Holland, Van Nistelrooy was good as usual. Van Der Sar had a good game.Readers would do well to remember that the influential "Robben" is still injured.

Pirlo was good in patches, he was not allowed to be his usual self, Nor was the Workhorse "Gattuso". Kudos to the Dutch for achieving that. Coming to the striker "Luca Toni" i am somehow not that impressed with him. I dont follo the Bundesliga where this guy plays, but from whatever i have seen of him i feel he is overrated like "Thierry Henry".

All in all a Nice game of football, where we had a lot of End to End stuff. The Dutch were slightly better in Defence and special in attack on the given day. If they can sustain this kind of a play, then they can go the distance for sure.Coming to Italy, i feel i they will still qualify as i dont see France beating either Italy or Holland.

A rocking start to the Euro.Hope Euro rocks till the end.

Tit Bit

2008-06-08T20:30:00.004+05:30

One word to describe what happened to Federer today-HUMILIATION

NADAL on clay reminds me of a mythological character called VAALI.It was said that VAALI had a boon by which half the strength of his opponent would accrue to him. Nadal seems to remind me of him.

Bjorg, U Beauty!!!

2008-06-07T10:23:00.003+05:30

It is yet another Nadal v/s Federer clash and by the looks of it, it seems to me that Nadal is all set to win his 4th consecutive French Open crown there by reemphasizing that he is the "King of Clay".

This 4th win will put alongside Bjorn Borg( the only other player to have won 4 Consecutive French Open titles). What a fabulous Achievement would that be?

Last June we had Federer equaling another record of this great player by winning his 5th consecutive Wimbledon.

Now if two people winning 5 Wimbledon and 4 French are great feats by itself, then how big is the same player 5 Wimbledon and 6 French??? The word "Incredible" would be an Understatement.

Will any other player ever be able to emulate that? I wonder.

Borg unlike Federer is not an "Artistic Assassin" nor a "bulldozer" like Nadal. He was meticulousness personified. Borg was all "Method" and "Meticulousness". I can say Borg was a CMMi Level 5.( Huh, not able to shrug off this IT hangover). Borg was as precise as a surgeon. As cool as as Ice ( that he was nicknamed Ice Borg),As shrewd as a Good Investor when it came to "Risk Assessment" and As fit as a "Marathon Runner"

Borg was never flamboyant, rarely did i see him play an Unbelievable shot. He was a master at doing the simple things perfectly and he was also as tough as they would possibly come.He would make simple adjustments to his game based on the surface and the player. Panic was one word which never seemed to exist in his dictionary. His Record in Five Setters confirms this fact.

So where does he rank? Is he better than Federer or Nadal? Well i don't want to give a judgment on this. I will leave the decision to the Reader's choice. I would however like to throw light on One Important Point. "The Quality of Opposition" Borg had Johm McenroE, Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendle who were all great players. I turn now and look at the quality of the opposition and I am unable to find any quality here. The grass has slowed down and the quality has come down.

Well not for a moment i am saying that Federer is someone of lesser caliber. It is only unfortunate that there is not enough quality to bring the caliber out. He has got only Nadal to challenge him and that too on Clay. Its a pity.

My knowledge on both Tennis and Bjorg is as flippant as it can get. But still i am writing this because of the love i have for this champion.

P.S: Here is something some knowledgeable sources. Thanks to Wikipedia."In 2008, ESPN.com asked tennis analysts, writers, and former players to build the perfect open era player. Borg was the only player mentioned in five categories -- defense, footwork, intangibles, and mental toughness -- with his mental game and footwork singled-out as the best in open era history.^[13]":

Brand War Hotting Up

2008-06-03T19:51:00.004+05:30

Readers will remember my article "How Come !!!!" in which i spoke about Brands being associated with us right from birth. Now people are fighting for recognition of one such brand. Wondering what this is all about?"GUJJARS"( now u would have got it for sure)

Gujjar brand now wants Brand Equity. Although a temporary ceasefire looks imminent,this whole issue has clearly shown how the policies followed by our politicians have become a "Frankenstein's Monster".

The "Divide and Rule" policy implemented under the guise of "Reservation" is now a Monster which is growing at an alarming pace. The recent decision of the Supreme Court has only accelerated this growth. With the governments all over the country scouting for more and more benefits to some sections of the society, it is only natural that more and more people want to be identified as those sections for which there are perks and benefits.

Gujjars to me seem to be only the Tip of the Iceberg. If they are successful then they will act as inspirations for more brands to follow suit and get themselves recognized. Now if they are denied and this agitation crushed,( well cant even imagine that,with so much media coverage to the issue).

So Gujjars have set the ball rolling. It might be Kapus tomoro,Some other caste the next day and who knows a day might come when we will see even the Brahmins taking it to the streets. Well i can now say with confidence that we will be there as the most Brand Conscious Nation in a short span of time.

Jai Hind.

A TRIBUTE

2008-06-02T18:59:00.001+05:30

I seriously don't know how to start this. I am flooded with thoughts and filled with emotion when i think of this man.

Can i begin this with his debut match in which he took a pasting? With the Gatting ball, which was later dubbed as the "Ball of the Century"? With the 96 World Cup Semifinal? With his failures in India? or with this Heroics in 99 World Cup? or With his latest IPL performance?

I am confused.

Warne has been my Ultimate Hero since childhood. The image of a chubby blond figure strolling up to the crease(thinking how to fox the batsman), sending shivers down the spine of many a batsmen in the world is something which has got etched in my mind so much so that i doubt whether i will be able to ever forget them.

As Someone always destined to conquer Nature. Be it in mastering the art which demanded you to rotate your wrist against nature or be it in overcoming injury after Injury which he was confronted with.

As Someone always made the big stage his own,Remember the 96 World Cup Semifinals, 99 World Cup Semifinals, 99 World Cup Finals? Mind you i have not mentioned anything about his exploits in Tests( which will make this post prohibitively long).

As Someone who not only won but won in style and at the same time lost with Honor.

As Someone who dominated the game which is batsman oriented, something confirmed by Wisden when they named him as one of the players of the century. He was the only bowler in that list and he made that list when he was still playing( his career was 8 years old then).

As someone who is a great leader who could make Boys defeat men to which the IPL win stands as the testimony.

As someone with a great cricketing brain and a great eye of talent and so on and on and on. I simply dunno where to end.

The World calls him a Legend,a Leader and a Genius. I simply call him my IDOL.

Thnks Warnie, thnks for all the memories U have given me.

Pandurangadu-A lay man's review

2008-05-30T08:10:00.004+05:30

At the Outset i would like to mention that this is the view of a lay man. I am not an expert at analyzing the quality of Cinematography or the technical aspects. My reviews will be based on the entertainment aspect for Masala movies and Involvement aspect for Devotional Movies.

Coming to Pandurangadu my equation will be KRR+MMK+Devotion=SUCCESS. Seems to me like the actors and the actresses are only secondary. The actors and actresses are secondary. I am not degrading the artists but it is the amount of elevation and involvement that they are able to bring through their combo that makes them the pillars of these devotional movies.

I am not going to dwell too much on the story. It is about a flirt who realizes the value of parents and finally realizes GOD.

The first half is meant for the masses and is there any man better than KRR for the masses? Commodification of women is his forte and the way he shows Meghna Naidu, Tabu and other girls is simply a testimony of that.

The second half is all about KRR's other side the devotional side and boy! hasn't he done a great job? The last 40 minutes containing 4 songs just moves through extra ordinarily. I am not able to still believe that it lasted 40 mins for it seemed just like 10 mins. Brilliant grip.

Performance wise Balakrishna is simply outstanding. Be it in enacting the role of a flirt or that of a devotee he excels. However his best performance comes as Lord Krishna, he has tried to emulate his Dad(NTR) and he has done a great job at that. KUDOS to Balayya for that.

Sneha does the role of an innocent devotee to perfection. Neat job from her. Tabu was meant to make the masses drool and she succeeds at that. K Visvanath does a neat job as the dad. The rest of the cast are Ok.

Mohan Babu does a short role and as usual is very good in it.

Coming to the music, as i said at the start MMK is just brilliant. Songs or background score he is just at his best. Songs still continue to linger in my mind and i am sure that i am not alone.

Editing in my opinion is good and Cinematography seems adequate, nothing great but nothing bad as well.

Dialogues are gud at important places which is very important. About the quality at the rest of the places, well nothing much to write home about.

However there are some things which if avoided would have made this movie a great one

1. Plethora of comedy artists forced into the script and testing our patience( it was the case in the previous 2 movies as well). They were there in the previous 2 movies as well and i guess the success of those movies have made KRR to have them again in this movie as well.

2. Establishing the reason for God showering the Ranga character with so much grace. Although God showers all of us with grace with no reason, it would have been better if such a thread was there.

On the whole, an average first half( with lots of cleavage and navel show) and an extraordinary second half.

Verdict: Definitely bound to attract Common audience. Definite HIT.

An Open Request to Mr.Gurumoorthy

2008-05-29T20:53:00.004+05:30

This is an open request to an individual whom i respect and admire very much for his Conviction, Moral Values, Straight forwardness, Honesty and Knowledge.

Sir,

As usual it was enlightening to read your article in "Indian Express" a couple of days back. You were at your best in exposing how poor are Rahul and Sonia as leaders. Wonderful article.

I would also be more happy if u can write an article exposing the incompetence of Rajasthan's chief minister and the dictatorship attitude of the chief minister of Chattisgarh.

It has been a long time since the Gujjar issue came up and nothing seems to have been done in the meantime. It seems like the Chief Minister has the time to watch IPL games but not to address such serious issues. It also seems like not much progress has been made on the Jaipur blasts case.

Coming to Chattisgarh words fail me when i try to describe about his attitude in handling the case of a renowned doctor who has spent his life in servicing the poor and for whom support is now coming from all quarters of the world and that too from Nobel Laureates. Regarding the development of the Tribal people and the backward people in Chattisgarh, the less said the better.

I do accept your arguments about Sonia and the Congress but what i would also like to see from you is you criticizing constructively the BJP government too. I want to see this from you so that the you are not looked upon as someone who is biased and your views reach a more wider audience.

JAI HIND.

Torture or Comedy?

2008-05-27T18:39:00.004+05:30

I became a victim of my temptation today.I decided to go to sleep yesterday after Watson's dismissal thinking that the Mumbai Indians will win the game easily. Today morning when i woke up it was again proved that it is a game of Glorious Uncertainties.

I now got tempted to watch the Highlights show and in hindsight it was me succumbing to the temptation which cost me dearly in the end. The highlights got over by 8.30 and it was time for me to start to work.

I had to now take a bus as the train which goes to my place had already gone and it will take an hour for the next one to come.

I walked to the Bus Stand and to my surprise there were no buses for my place. So my begging session started. I started to beg the conductors of the express buses which do not stop at my place to make an unscheduled stop. Finally it did pay off as well as one conductor agreed. Aah i was happy and boarded it immediately( although the cost of the ticket was almost twice the normal cost).

The bus was a video coach and the moment i boarded it i looked up to the TV to check what was the movie being played. Oh My God :( they were playing a Vijay movie. The bigger shock was that the movie was "Thirupachi" directed by a director whose upper chamber is empty.

Now i was cursing myself for having watched the highlights show. Consoling myself, i decided to watch the movie as the journey would take more than 30 mins. And I did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Scene after Scene with not even a grain of common sense. Horrible acting(??) or to say the least by the lead characters with the Hero hogging the limelight. Background music which reminded me of a marriage function and of course stunts which made a mockery of Gravity.

If u r wondering whether i am saying this out of bias, well here is a sample.

The hero comes out of a house in disguise, well dont imagine too much.He simply applies sandal all over his face like a lady who is undergoing a facial and bashes the sidekicks of the villian without getting even a single punch. And then comes the most comical part he pierces a lemon with a sickle and then says that it is God's action and not his. I just could not tolerate any more and luckily and thankfully i had reached my destination.

As i was walking to the office i thought of a genre to slot this movie and i came up with the Term "Torture Comedy" a variation of "Tragic Comedy" invented by Shakespeare.

A Divine Relation

2008-05-25T17:53:00.004+05:30

Mae West is reported to have said: ‘Marriage is an institution, and who wants to live in an institution?’. Well I dunno what made this person come out with this statement. For whatever i have seen of this Institution ( as per West) i have come to the opinion that this is easily the best Invention of Human Race.

Marriage is the bedrock on which our society is built and I cannot do anything but Take My Hat Off to the person or persons who have thought of this arrangement. Readers might be wondering as to why i am speaking about Marriage now. Well, can anytime be better than the 25th Wedding anniversary of my parents ?

25 years have passed and according to my parents it has passed in a jiffy. The good days usually do pass that way, isn't it?(Remember our school holidays ???). I have had the opportunity or i will call it privilege to watch them from close quarters as neither me nor them have been forced to move out to different places due to work or studies even for a very short period so far.

And the more i see them, the more my faith gets reinforced in this relation. The bonding that the both of them share,the affection that is showered by both of them on each other and most importantly the understanding they share.

Lot of times they don't speak a word with each other and yet one does exactly what the other wants him/her to do. I have studied about these kind of things in literature when i was too young to understand that, but now i am getting what they were speaking about.

This article would be incomplete without a word about my mother. It is very natural for mothers to love their children. But it is not her affection towards me but her affection towards other people( to whom we are related in no way), animals and plants that makes me look at her in astonishment. Watching her speak to dogs, cows, cats, crows and squirrels as if they are her kids makes me look at her in awe and amazement. She epitomizes Love( affection without anything in return). And this love of hers is not limited to me or my family but it extends to anything and everything under the sun. It seems that the word "Ego" does not exist in her dictionary.( Hope that this is the case with me sometime into the future :))

If i were to write about her Kind Acts then words will not be enough.

My father who is also a good human( but no where near my Mom)is a damn lucky man to have her as his partner and they have been lucky enough to be together for 25 years and i hope that they remain united for another 25 at least.

Ram Raaj

2008-05-23T19:09:00.002+05:30

Is something which has become a political rhetoric at the national level just like 'Kamraj rule" has become in Tamil Nadu.

Before looking at Ram Raaj let us take a look at the concept of Society and the role of the State.

There are two versions to it. One is Our Version and the other is the version of the West or the Rest of the World.

Whats the difference? While ours focuses more on the Individual the West focuses more on the State. Why is that?

As they say the family is the building block of the society and the Individual is the building block of the family, so our people framed the policies that would lead to the realization of the Individual. We followed a Bottom-Up way of building.

The west followed the Top Down approach of building the society, by providing the state with all the authorities and making the Individual to depend solely on it.

(They taught the world to follow the "Bottom Up" approach in Programming. Ironical.)

So what is Ram Raaj? Now on reading the aforementioned paragraphs you should be able to answer it.

Ram Raaj is a state in which the people are contented, disciplined and at peace with themselves. Ram Raaj need not have Ram as the ruler, Any Ted, Mark or Iqbal can be the ruler of the state. Ram is merely a Reference to the Context. Unfortunate part is we have lost the context and have stuck ourselves to the Reference.

No wonder we are fighting over the Existence of the Ram. All this is unnecessary if we can understand the true significance of the Reference which is Ram. So did anyone called Ram exist? (Is it really necessary now?)

So when will we have Ram Raaj? We will have it when we look at the society like we look at our family, when we stop letting the Waste Water into the Storm Drains which are built for a different purpose, when we start to teach our kids the importance of values and not Money, when we teach them to deserve and desire, when we live at peace with ourselves, Now when will that happen???

Nostalgic Ride

2008-05-20T19:38:00.001+05:30

Train travel is always a great experience by itself. Put in a few college students preparing for their exams in the same compartment as you, Voila!!! You have got the recipe for the best journey. I was privileged enough to travel with a few such fellows today and i went down the nostalgic lane

//I started to think about my own preparation and wow i could not control my laughter(Mind you, i was never laughing during that time.)

This was how my preparation used to go

Advice to Myself: "Gower, dear Past is Past. So don't worry about this one. Plan your next one properly. So how many days you have for the next one?? 4 days. Oh thts gud. So you have enough time to prepare. GREAT. Start preparing from today evening"

Clash within me:Tht day evening will see a terrific clash within me with the prosecution and the defense putting forward their arguments.

Prosecution " Go ahead start preparing"

Defense" Dont worry man you have 4 days to go. So we can start tomoro"

And the case ends with me awarding the case in favor of the defense

Brisk Start: The next will start briskly with me starting off briskly with the briskness lasting for about an hour

Dull Phase: This is the phase in which i would be for most of my holidays,Oops Study leave. This phase would follow the brisk start and extend till the day rather night before the day of the exam. This phase would be punctuated by calling friends( who always used to be better prepared than me) and sleeping for a good amount of time.

Desperate Phase:The most exciting phase in which i used to flip pages at the Rate of Knots and still would have not completed the 5 units. This would also involve me seeking KT(Knowledge Transition) from my friend during our bike Journey to the college.

Climax: This would have me thinking like Einstein to frame the answers for the questions which i don't know( Most of them will fall into this category)

Then i would come out thinking that this should not happen again. But then the Lazy man inside me is the most powerful as well so The same cycle will repeat itself.//

Coming to these students they were no different from me. Well, I said to myself "Students will be Students"

A view on IPL commentators

2008-05-18T12:22:00.001+05:30

IPL has been an average fare at best. So what about the commentators?? . Lets look at each one of them Individually

Greg Chappell: The most boring of the lot. Does not commit too many mistakes and most of the times is very frank with his opinions and correct with his analysis. No wonder he could not sustain as the Indian Coach.
Verdict: Take him out and replace him with Sidhu to boost up the entertainment.

Tony Cozier: Again someone who is not too entertaining. An average entertainer at best Tony Cozier has failed to spice up the event with his commentary.
Verdict: Can be dispensed with and replaced by "Venkatesh Prasad"( who i guess will receive the marching orders sooner or later)

Robin Jackman, Rameez Raja and L Sivaramakrishnan: Passable is the best word which best describes their performance as a commentators.
Verdict: Can be dispensed with

Ian Bishop: The "Professor Commentator" is fit only for the longer versions of this game and does not fit the bill for T20s.
Verdict:Send the professor back home.

Ravi Shastri: Wonderful entertainer. Whether it comes to wooing the crowd by speaking in the local language at the toss or speaking about the Cheerleaders he is excellent. Not to forget his loyalty, which he expresses by praising Lalit Modi at least 10 times in a game and keeps on asking the players about how it is to share the dressing room( Going by these commentators,I guess IPL is more about sharing dressing rooms)
Verdict:Get him some incentives

Sunil Gavaskar:Loyalty thy name is Sunil Gavaskar is the feeling one gets. "Well there is Lalit Modi", " Here is lalit modi", "Lalit Modi enjoying the action", "SRK is happy" and he speaks some cricket too in between.
Verdict: Bonus Candidate

Aamir Sohail: "Husky voice and Loads of Nonsense(read as entertainment)" captures Aamir Sohail. One example for that:" Wasim Jaffer holds the key for Bangalore"
Verdict: Bring on more such people. We want entertainment

Ranjit Fernando: Keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats by not completing the sentences at all. His way of structuring a sentence is "Start, pause, Start, Pause, End "
Verdict: Go Ranjit Go, Keep Going

Pommie Mbwanga: If he were a radio commentator then the listeners would be made to think that playing cricket leads to Hypertension.So excited he gets. I dont blame him. I guess his pay packet is linked to his ability to keep viewers engaged even when there are no contests, for which he goes crazy over trivial things. A loyal IPL servant.
Verdict: If he develops some of Aamir Sohail's trait or Arun Lal's to be more precise then it will be great.

Arun Lal: Undoubtedly the best of the lot. Seems to me like there is no limit to the humor which he can provide. It does call for an ability to keep uttering nonsense stuff and carrying off without improving at all. Arun has it in plenty. I wont quote a lot of them for then the length will become too much. All i will give is one statement made by this gr8 commentator.

(One of my friend gave the beginning of a story and asked the readers to complete it. Well i will be slightly different. I will give a sentence. Now you have to tell me the meaning of that , If u can)

"The bat speed on that occasion proving to be disastrous"

Verdict: 3 OR 4 more Arun Lals will make IPL a very entertaining watch for the TV audience.

The above list is based on the entertainment quotient alone. Sensibility and understanding of the game are not considered as the game itself is designed for Entertainment.

How Come!!!!

2008-05-17T08:33:00.001+05:30

A recent survey says that India is the 3rd most Brand Conscious country in the world. India is more brand conscious than USA( which is perceived to be the most Brand Conscious Nation by Indians).

I am Surprised and Stunned!!! How come we are ranked 3rd. We should have been ranked No 1. Thinking why??? Well we have brand associated with us right from birth and the number of brands are only increasing by the day which leaves me wondering how come this Brand Conscious nation is not there at the top. Well with the introduction of more brands and with the fight for Brand Recognition hotting up, I guess its only a matter of time before we are ranked as the "Numero Uno."

The Farmer

2008-05-15T21:15:00.001+05:30

I am writing this article out of sheer pain and agony. Someone who is responsible for my survival and existence is struggling to lead a life. The man whom according to me is the fulcrum of life for everyone is being ignored.The man whom according to a Saint Poet must be the leader of men is now the biggest Laggard.

This man is none other than the Poor Farmer. Cheated and exploited to the core he finds himself left out of the growth express in which many other Indians are now traveling in now.

I am now hearing some voices saying"Boss now that the Food prices have gone through the roof and hence the farmer must now be happy." Friends all i ask you to do is to visit Nagapatinam district or Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu once and you will get a hang of the real scenario.

One of the basic rule of business is that the producer or the owner decides the price of his own product. Agriculture is the sole exception.

The Governement and the Traders decide whats the price that they will be paying for the produce. The reason behind this being the protection of the farmers and the maintanence of the price of essential commodities. I could understand this when the country was an out and out socialist country. Now with the country Liberalizing and embracing capitalism as the way to go,i don't see any need for the government to do this.

The government is better when compared to the traders who form a cartel and make sure that the farmers are exploited to the core. With lack of good godowns and cold storage facilities and Interest costs weighing down heavily he has no other go but to sell it at whatever price he gets.

Words fail me when I try to describe the life of these "Real Heroes" of the society.

What needs to be done to better this situation: Long back ITC came with e-Choupal there by eliminating middlemen and providing farmers with the pricing power. Not one, not two around 100 e-Choupals are the need of the hour.

I would also like to see more of "Central Points" where the farmers can actually bring their produce and sell them directly there by eliminating middle men.

Providing them with more Cold Storage and Godowns there by preventing the exploitation.

Last but the most important: Eliminating money lenders( might be the most difficult thing to do since majority of the money lenders are big shots in the local political scene or people close to them) by the introduction of Stringent laws and also by ensuring that Banks cover the needs of these people.

I also find it Surprising when i see 100s of NGOs speaking about AIDS awareness but hardly any about more serious issues such as this.( Friends please let me know in case if there are any such NGO. I would be more than happy to know about it).

P.S: When i decided that i will start a blog, i also decided that not all my articles will be lighter topics like "My attempt at making Mirchi Bajji" or "Software Engineer's lifestyle in US" or " Carnatic Music reviews". I wanted to write on topics which i felt were of importance but not being given the required attention in Media ( I don't blame them, they were tied up with Indian Idol and Sydney test match yesterday, Sharukh and Aamir episode today, Might be Rakhi Sawant tomoro). I would be more than happy if this blog creates awareness in even 10 people( over ambitious perhaps, as thats roughly the number of ppl who visit my blog) and if it leads to the birth of "ONE IDEA"

Hats off to My Ancestors

2008-05-13T21:33:00.001+05:30

When i see

People like George Bush leading the most powerful country

Leaders like Karunanidhi and heading my own state.( Dont think that i am against him or i am an AIADMK supporter, since he is in power now i am using his name)

A Military Junta exporting rice to other countries when 2 million of its own people are starving for food.

People queuing before Jewel Shops to buy GOLD on Akshaya Tithi thinking that it will bring them Good Luck and Fortune

When women are looked up on as just commodities by not only men but by women themselves

When the person who produces food is not able to price his stuff, but people who manufacture shoes have that capacity

and

When Crony Capitalism is taught as the way to go

I say Hats Off to my Ancestors for having predicted all this some 5000 odd years back. Wish I could be at least half as intelligent as them.

Value of Goal Setting

2008-05-10T20:42:00.001+05:30

A title which may drive away even the very few people who visit my blog, but I am not going to speak about the importance of Goal Setting like a Corporate Trainer. I am going to discuss about the importance of Goal Setting in the world of Investment.

People might ask, Why Investment? Certain happenings over the past month, month and a half have made me write this piece.

"Can i buy now or will the market go down further? Can i sell Infosys and switch over to Tata Steel now? Is the Realty Sector party over? Can i get into Pharma now? Can i sell my holdings and get into Short Term Bank Deposits? These are some of the questions that my friends ask me.

The only advice that I offer to them, Dear Friends Have a Goal?

Will having a goal alone suffice? No , The goal needs to be realistic. Look at Returns which can be made consistently on a year on year basis.

Understand that Risk and Returns are Directly proportional.

Have a Time Frame. Unless you have that you will never be able to apply the concept of Opportunity cost. Also the lack of a time frame will make u panic and make u take decisions which are mostly bound to be wrong rather than right.

Ex: Recently one of my good friend asked me, " Can i sell Infy and buy IDFC?

I said boss u first tell me whats the time frame u r looking at, if u are looking at a period of a week, then there is every chance that ur decision might backfire, If its a month then again there is a probability of u going wrong. So whats the time frame u r looking at?

I hope this example highlights the importance of having a time frame.

Once u have all this in place develop a feeling of contentedness. For unless that is in place U are not going to be at peace which will hamper ur growth.

I know it is easier said than Done for i have been struggling to implement all these things for years now without any g8 success. But life is all about Trying.

So Try, Try and Try Until You Succeed.

Being a Fan

2008-05-08T21:25:00.001+05:30

Jai, Zindabad, Thalaivar Vaazhga ever heard this before?? Well the chances are that most of the South Indians would have heard of this, at the time of the release of a movie whose hero commands a fan following. I have always thought what makes these people go crazy over an actor??

I used to look at these people and think of themselves as people as FOOLS. All thats history now. I have become a FOOL( no i don't want to use that word anymore) , let me say a FAN myself. Boy and it does feel great to be a FAN.

The only problem however is that when i led a tension free life before, it has got very tight now. Every time a movie releases my pressure goes up. How will be the movie like? How will be the performance of my hero? What will be the response of the Public?. These things really make me go mad. Boy, being a fan is indeed tough.

However all this really is not remembered when the movie turns out to be a hit and when people give Thumbs Up to the movie.

Oh i have still not mentioned the name of my Hero. He is TARAK also called as NTR Jnr.

Now that the movie is releasing, what will be the verdict this time around??? One thing is for sure whatever the verdict may be one thing is for sure A Fan is someone who stands by his hero through thick and thin. While success serves as a fillip and failure leaves us frustrated nothing will make us change our loyalty.

I am a True FAN.

Purpose of Life?

2008-05-06T21:37:00.001+05:30

"Naan Yen Piranden" ( For what did i come to this world???) this is a question which often plagues me like anything. Just when i was thinking about this and reading today's morning newspapers i found an interesting article. Nizam, born in Tamil Nadu and Settled(???) in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh has been travelling throughout the country around in his cycle rickshaw spreading the message of brotherhood and Peace.

While the majority of us in the world do not find 24 hrs enf to earn money here is one man who is cycling 75-80 kms daily spreading the message of peace feeding on whatever people give him and not asking (!!!!) for food. I feel jealous of this fello and at the same time feel guilty for doing nothing to this society.

This man now wants to meet the Chief Minister of TN and suggest him some remedial measures to curb drunken driving and over speeding. Waste of time in my opinion as the Chief minister's purpose is to only enjoy power and amass wealth for himself and his family.

Long live the gentleman!!!

Pandurangadu- Cream of Kreem???

2008-05-06T20:55:00.001+05:30

MM Keeravani or MM Kreem as he is called in Bollywood is one of my favorite music directors, even though he is not in the league of Ilayaraja or A R Rehman. He is someone who always takes me in to a different world with his music.

He is supreme when it comes to Devotional or Classical music and above average when it comes to regular commercial stuff. So it was very natural of me to have sky high expectations when it came to Pandurangadu, the latest devotional flick in the combo of KRR-MMK.

So how is the album does it really live upto the hype or has Keeravani failed this test? The album contains 15 tracks.

Aadauv Devakideva: This is a sloka which captures in a single paragraph the entire life history of Lord Krishna. Very neatly done.

Brindavanuma: Keeravani's voice may not be a connoisseur's delight but it is a very soothing one when he sings commercial numbers and soul touching when he sings devotional numbers. This is a devotional number. Do i need to say more? Listen for urself and get transported into a different world

Govinda Krishna Jai: This is a song which speaks about the deeds of Sri Krishna the boy. Wonderfully rendered by SPB this song will grow on when seen on the screen. The way it is pictured is of utmost importance here as it is very easy to show some small boy doing all kinds of mischief. I personally believe this song will attain a new level if this song with the singer singing it in the height of devotion without any girls and boys there by preventing the trivializing of the lyrics.

Govindude Koka Chutti: Simply Stunning number. Keeravani does it again with this number. With Sunita providing great support this number is an outstanding one.

Hey Krishna Mukunda: SPB and SPB alone can render these kinds of songs. Good to hear i am pretty sure that this song will catch on when seen on as it is about the protagonist demanding the lord to give him darshan.

Jaya Ranga Ranga Vittala: A master at churning out chorus numbers which elevate the scene, keeravani comes out with this wonderful chorus. Could be the ending song. Excellent.

Jwalath Kaarala: Wonderful chorus.

Mathrudevobhava: Extra ordinary rendition and Lyrics of great depth makes this a simply extra ordinary number. Could go on and become an all time hit.

Koshaladeshapu: Mass number if i can call it that way, Now don't come to the conclusion that it is the usual mass number which has Shankar Mahadevan crooning to some stupid lyrics. This number has SPB again at his mischievous best as he sings about his love for women and his lifestyle. Sunita again provides great support. Fun Number.

Mathapitrusamo: An average chorus

Neela Megha:SPB at it again and this number when seen on screen will make a few people to shed tears for sure.

Sahasra Sheesara: Shankar Mahadevan sings this average chorus

Premavalambanam: An average duet.

Sri Sri Rajadi Raja: A fantastic fun number rendered by Shankar Mahadevan and Geeta. Mass will go berserk with this number for sure.

Yemani Adaganu: What lyrical value? My God!! Comes as a slap in the face for people like me who keep asking the lord for different things. Must listen number.

Overall, a fantastic album, definitely the cream of Kreem without an iota of doubt. A great relief for listeners from the run of the mill music stuff which we have been hearing for quite some years.

Kudos to Keeravani and Team

IPL- My View

2008-05-05T20:12:00.001+05:30

Newspapers, Television, Magazines, Hoardings seems like i cannot escape the IPL fever. Such has been the hype and the hoopla surrounding the even that it is hard to refrain myself from watching the games.

To start off let me say upfront that I am not a twenty twenty hater nor am i opposed to the players making big bucks. Media, Music, Movies, Football, Tennis everything got commercialized long back, and in my opinion cricket has joined the party very late. So for people who are crying foul i would advice them to look at their own field first before they go up in arms against cricket.

Having said that i am against plagiarism, I am against monopoly and i am against crony capitalism all of which are things that IPL stands for.

To begin with the entire concept was taken directly from ICL and they have made a few more changes to create ways to make more money ( unethically of course). The regulators who are supposed to supervise the business operations run the business operations and what more they are doing their level best to make sure that parallel leagues (ICL in this case) are finished by employing intimidation tactics.

Democracy today has a new definition which is " By the rich, Of the Rich and For the Rich" and so does Cricket "By BCCI,For BCCI and Of BCCI".

Coming to the entertainment aspect, 270 sixes have been hit, Hold on...Before u jump all over me on hearing that, i would like to ask u one question, How many of those sixes can u recollect??

Sixes have now become so commonplace that it has led to boredom. I do agree that T20 is a batsmen game but that does not mean that u take bowler out of the contest. Flat wickets are fine. But what is not fine is the short boundaries. These short boundaries are taking out some aspects of the game, which are the Running between the wickets and the Decision making of the batsmen.

With the short ropes batsmen just need not think for they know that even mis hits will clear the boundaries comfortably, there by making them dumb. How many threes have we seen so far ? (sorry for troubling u with this difficult question) u will have to think long and hard to come up with the answer for hardly any have been run.

So with some of the interesting aspects thrown out of the window the game has become like a circus show with the bowlers becoming the clowns.

IPL can revolutionize the game but not if it is run this way. More thought needs to be given for otherwise it will be looked up on as an extension of Bollywood, which if it happens will be the biggest disgrace to the game.