BROWNIAN MOTION

I was about to catch a sweet nap in the local train after catching up with Orhan Pamuk’s themes in “My name is Red”. It is habitual now. It is almost impossible for me to read this book for more than thirty minutes after which I feel myself getting overpowered by drowsiness. That’s exactly the reason why I am yet to post on books so far this year.

Today morning, after completing my quota of delving into Pamuk’s thoughts, I was feeling this tremendous urge to close my eyes and relax. It was at exactly this moment when I overheard three middle aged gentlemen who were sharing the adjacent seat in the local. It seems each of them had kids who were about to clear class 12.

1st Gentleman: These days it’s not worth going for Engineering. Everyone is an engineer these days. I am not encouraging my kid to pick up such a career. Its too outdated…

(The statement made my ears ring…I have an engineering degree…oops)

2nd Gentleman: You are right. But more than engineers, you can trace out MBAs these days. Every 2nd person holds an MBA degree. Too much oversupply you see. I am just not going to ask my kid to undertake such fancy studies worth nothing.

(Well…that was like another arrow shot….I have spent so much time and energy gathering a fancy degree)

3rd Gentleman: I agree with both of you. These 20 something people are hugely responsible for pulling down America’s economy. The son of my boss is 26 years old, holds MBA…is an engineer and is working in a global bank….earns too much for his age….absolutely not worth his knowledge and experience. You see we are so much experienced and we are nowhere close to what these guys earn. That’s why the economy got screwed. That’s how US got screwed. These people without experience assume decisive roles, make wrong decisions….and we suffer.

(So here I am…according to these people…with two degrees….one outdated and one fancy….and responsible in my own way in screwing up the economy….and make these people suffer)

What makes me wonder is the fact that these three people were supporting each other in blind with such absolute ease and continuity…. nowhere their thoughts were in sync…the idea of the 1st person was to underline the fact that Engineering is outdated stuff. The second person supported him but stressed the fact that MBA is a fancy degree which every second person has. The third person supported both of his friends but he wanted to prove that MBAs have ruined the economy and that they are terribly overpaid.

SMILE AS YOU ENTER

Noted something…in the entrance door of one of the ground floor offices.
There is a mirror extending the top half of the entrance door. The span of the mirror provides an ideal visage to every individual who happens to cross through it. Just above the mirror is located a board which reads:

SMILE AS YOU ENTER

Simple but striking….isn’t it !!!

PACE OF CHANGE

When I was doing my engineering….

1. No one used mobile phones…actually no one possessed one.
2. Laptops were nonexistent….only the luckiest and richest of the students had computers in their rooms…an anachronous machine in the present day context.
3. There was a high demand for a “certain” category of books….such books are outdated stuff today.
4. Google was just introduced as a search engine….today it’s the most frequently used word.
5. My engineering college did not have a website. I think it was during my third year that the website was created through student volunteers.
6. Library was overpopulated…these days I really doubt.
7. There were no “orkut” friends or “facebook” friends.
8. Examinations were limited to pen and paper.

9. We used to visit the campus bank and queue up there to withdraw cash. ATMs/debit cards/credit cards were quite forwardlooking concepts.

10. People used to write handwritten, well ornamented love letters.

I am just trying to gauge the pace of the change. Ten years back certain things were unimaginable. Today, we cannot live without them. But more importantly, all these changes have brought about a paradigm change in the way people think, behave and act.

ASPIRATIONS AND DREAMS

As a generalist, I have often enjoyed when specialists from two tangentially divergent fields exchange their awes. In one of the recent gatherings, I happened to witness the spectacle of two specialists discussing their professional experience – one a seasoned seafarer and the other a professional investment banker. I was acquainted with both of them, thanks to my past experiences and common friends.

While the seafarer was exploring the thrills of his profession, the investment banker was busy reflecting his enlightening experience of multi-million dollar deals. While the seafarer was talking about his exploits in Brazil and Mexico, the investment banker was mentioning his late night office hours in London and New York devising winning strategies. While the seafarer emphasized his expertise with operations of pipelines and engines, the investment banker was proud of his ultra sophisticated financial models. While casual comfort marked the nature of the seafarer, conscious sophistication defined the attitude of the investment banker. But the question remained unsettled…which of these professions is associated with more glamour and money?

The talks continued….the comparisons gradually waned...and after the initial extravaganza, they soon resorted to a new topic…somewhat pensive but relatively practical….about their families….about their personal lives…The seafarer’s life oscillates between the sea and the land with an allocation of six months for the respective stays. The investment banker mostly spends his time in offices and travelling with occasional visits to home. Every time the seafarer gets back home, his people are older by six months. Every time the investment banker gets back home, he finds his people lost in deep sleep. The dream of the seafarer is to earn enough so that he can stay with his family…in his hometown...and can live his dreams. The investment banker aspires to earn enough wealth in the next decade that will enable him to retire and live his dreams with his family for the rest of his life.

Especially when I come across such discussions (the frequency of which keeps on increasing), I feel most of us are in the same boat. Residing within a colorful façade, we so successfully pursue our aspirations. We aspire to be successful….success makes us strive for more. We identify ourselves with this ever widening scope of success and all the recognitions it’s associated with.

But is this success potent enough to stir that little thing which sits within us and continually requests nourishment...the fulfillment of which provides individual contentment…without any further extension of the boundaries.

Are aspirations and dreams two different entities in the present day context? More I look into, the more I sense so. And the divergence seems to be widening.

BUFFETT'S RATIO IN INDIA ???

Buffett’s ratio: (Total market cap of all companies listed in an economy)/(economy’s GNP)

According to Warren Buffett, this ratio is amongst the best indicators of where valuations stand in an economy. He has used this ratio very frequently (and ofcourse successfully) for predicting successful movements of markets.

The GNP of a country is a measure of the revenues of the business and the market cap is the value investors are ready to assign to the businesses. Ideally, under reasonable situations, both the market cap and the GNP should grow at a similar rate. But that’s not what happens.

As per Buffett, an astute investor buys stocks if the ratio falls below 70-80% for long term investments as markets are fairly valued. If the ratio exceeds 115%, the markets are overvalued where odds of investing are not in the favor of investor from a long-term perspective.

Came across an interesting article analyzing the Buffett’s ratio in the context of the current Indian market, where the ratio stands at 1.04.

LANDSCAPES

Landscapes can change in a matter of months. Just a year back, my neighborhood was relatively silent with long stretches of lands defining the spaciousness of this place. With hills all around, this place looked like everything but typical Mumbai.

Now, on this vast stretch of open land sits one of the most hyped parks of India, the Central Park. Crowds of all ages throng this half constructed park to witness the creation of the most striking landmark of Navi Mumbai. The story does not end with the Central Park. Just opposite to the park, some of the hills were sacrificed and are being currently leveled to form a sprawling golf court. India’s largest ISKON temple and a Gurudwara are just waiting for construction activities to commence. Malls and towering apartments are getting added at a very brisk rate.

The whole area now wears a colorful and festive look. Very different from what it was when I made it my home. I loved it then too…without the parks, malls, golf courts …..just huge, open, green space and hills separating them. Now it’s different….this place has completely taken a new look….an outspoken and bubbly look….distinct from the earlier charming reclusion.

RIGHT CAUSE???

We (as in human beings) are a scientific lot, or shall I say “logical” is the right word. We tend to look out for a reason for everything…. a cause for every effect.

Why do we so relentlessly keep on stressing ourselves so much to find “why” something happens? And we keep on pursuing it until we manage to allocate the “right” cause to the effect.

Effect: Company did reasonably well last quarter
Cause: The CEO was replaced last quarter

Effect: Recession seems to be evaporating
Cause: The policies of our government are clicking

Effect: Inflation continues to menace with close to double digit growth
Cause: Government is not taking adequate measures

Effect: My friend is relocating to US
Cause: He was fed up in India

Effect: Our new business is rocking
Cause: We have an excellent PR team

Effect: India is growing at 7% per annum
Cause: Thanks to budgetary, monetary and fiscal policies of our Government.

Think anything…and we have this unique ability to fix a cause to the effect.

I am not against analyzing effects. But the fact that we can successfully assign an effect its cause is just beyond my understanding and endorsement….because I feel that its just not possible for something to have a precise cause. We just have the tendency to assign the most visible contextual fact/(s) as the cause to an effect/(s)….forget the blurred ones….and more so the nonvisible ones.

DOES IT MATTER

Do people make situations more complex and decision making more painstaking by investing too much time and thoughts into them? Gathering information and using them as pointers in decision making is fine …but isn’t it that too much information normally acts as deterrent towards decision making and execution? What is the optimum research one should do before commencing something?

Imagine….someone keeps himself immersed in a sea of information, spends immense time analyzing all possibilities, potential problems, likely scenarios, risk analysis etc….based on assumptions (wild ones) and finally becomes overburdened with data, exhausted by (mis)/information….takes every step too cautiously (based on some illusion that some problem might happen)….and finally turns out defensive….and lacking the guts to embark....justifies lack of action to all the problems (none of which might actually happen) which he foresees….

Now consider….someone well versed with the basics….shifts gear to the action mode…faces hurdles on the way….devises ways and modes to resolve the hurdles….either he succeeds in clearing the hurdles or learns the hard way at some cost…either way his course is dynamic…sometimes success, sometimes failure….with the success rate getting better with time.

Now extending this logic to companies, should companies invest so much resources and time in gathering data and analyzing them? Does it really matter in the end? How many MBA jobs will be crucified if companies put a brake on too much data analysis.

A SMART CREDIT CARD CALLER

(Caller knows only the phone number from God knows where)

Caller (with relentless ease): Congratulations, Sir!!! You are the winner of a silver coin from our bank xxx
Receiver (wondering, what he did to deserve a silver coin): Ohhh…k
Caller (even sweeter): And along with it, we are glad to select you as a proud recipient of 8L limit credit card of our bank xxx
Receiver (now realizing that its one of those credit card callers.. throws): I don’t need credit cards. Don’t call me again!!!
Caller: Sir, Do you have a credit card with credit limit of 8 L. No other bank will give credit limit of 8 L
Receiver (realizing that the maximum credit card limit he has from existing card is only 1 L): ok, tell me the details..

(Long conversation follows. Receiver dreams that he is going to be a proud owner of a 8 L credit card)

Caller: OK sir, my executive will visit you to receive the relevant documents
Receiver: No problem. I will be ready with all the documents
Caller : Sir, just to confirm, where do you work?
Receiver (thinks…how can some bank offer credit card without knowing where he works, anyways): xxx company
Caller: Sir, if I may ask, whats your monthly salary?
Receiver (now thinks hard…how can bank offer 8L credit card without having prior salary information, anyways): xxxx/ per month
Caller: One, last question, sir, Whats your name?
Receiver (thinks even harder…silver coin, 8 L credit card etc without knowing name, salary and work, anyways): My name is xxxxx
Caller: Thank you very much Mr xxxx. My executive will meet you tomorrow evening and collect all the relevant documents

Next day: Executive collects all relevant documents
After one month: Caller receives credit card from xxxx bank

Some of the contractual points mentioned in credit card
1. Credit limit: less than 1 L ( That’s like 1/10 of 8 L)
2. Reward if you secure xxx points a month : 1 silver coin (which is possible if someone utilizes the whole credit card limit during the month)

A NOT SO SMART CREDIT CARD CALLER

(Caller does all kind of background check, gets to know the name, designation, salary, and even the take home salary…God knows from where. Also calculates the maximum credit limit that she can offer to her potential client. Then she decides to give a call)

Caller (as courteous as anyone can be): Am I speaking with Mr.xxxxx?
Receiver (almost getting a hint... responds impatiently): Yes!!!
Caller (even more courteous than before): Sir, This is xxx and I am very glad to say that my bank yyy is offering credit cards of maximum credit card limit. I have gathered something….(suddenly hears a sharp noise and realizes that the phone has been disconnected from the other end.

Story ends

PLAY SCHOOL

Over the years, so much has changed. Present day toddlers are so different from those of the past, thanks to their parents and society.

My neighbor’s daughter is not even two years old. But the search for play school has already started. Why so early? Because, the kid has to be groomed for the pre KG interviews. If a kid does not clear her/his interviews, s/he will not get admission into a good school. And the best route to be an eligible candidate is by joining playschool.

The cost of such play school starts at Rs 70,000 per year…no upward limits.

Isn’t this an example of exploitation and commercialization in the name of education? More than that, its forcing a tiny kid to forego his/her early freedom and get into the “processes” and “systems” of education provided in our country…the education which is so successful in transforming human beings into some vague creature, which knows only to run a race and move ahead of others, without knowing why s/he is running.

AM I RIGHT??

Amongst other things, smart people are often good at the following –

1. They don’t take life too seriously
2. They know whom/what to ignore and at what time
3. They know when not to follow what they generally preach

1ST DAY

Highlights of New Years Day:

My Name is Red
Three Idiots
10 km walk
A late night drive
Phone calls and emails
Lost and found a gold bracelet
(Overall a very happening day)

2010: RESOLUTIONS

1. Study Law…preferably join a part time/correspondence course in Business Law. Understanding business law is crucial in understanding business (especially in the industry I am in)

2. Visit a new place and also one of my past…with EM.

3. Get back to shape. It doesn’t feel good to carry anything unnecessary.

4. Continue reading books of all genres.

5. Post at least 100 posts in this blog during 2010.

6. Write at least one personal mail each day to someone I know. I don’t remember when I wrote a personal email for the last time. It’s disheartening to lose touch with the friends with time.

A SIMPLE DREAM

Riding bumpily on the muddy stretch of land which they call roads, we were busy confirming appointments with representatives of various oil companies who have a strong presence in this part of the world (Port Gentil in Gabon). I was accompanied by a Gabonese guy who was entrusted with the joint responsibility of driving me to the respective offices and be the French-English translator wherever required.

The meetings went well…enlightening to be precise. It’s a great experience to understand how culturally diverse people can be. But I don’t intend to go in-depth into how people work here. I will rather like to look back into the dreams of a simple African…or shall I say the dreams of a simple man!!!

This guy should be in his late thirties…its difficult to estimate the ages of people. A native of Togo, he had moved into Gabon in the pursuit of a better life. These days, he has been granted Gabonese citizenship and has well adopted to the nuances of the new culture. So have his wife and daughter.

He studied basic English in Togo and has transformed that little knowledge into his profession now. It really amazed me when I tried to map his fluency in English to his educational qualifications. Hardly a couple of years of English training and when I had asked this guy if he will guide me during the next three days he had responded “you are our customer and I will ensure that there will be no problems…”. What was striking is not the usage of words but the way they were pronounced….the kind of pronunciation which adds humility into the tone…which, according to me, is the most sophisticated form of delivering any language.

During our drives, we talked…I learned that his was a love marriage and that he had first met his wife in his Togo school as a kid. It’s always interesting when people open up and start speaking out…He spoke about his life in Gabon…the difficulties he had faced when he moved to Gabon for the first time….the kind of differential treatment which the outsiders are almost always exposed to. It took him years to reach a position of relative stability. The word stability is very dilute in its strength when used in Africa…yet he was quite happy with his stability in life.

This man…Francois…is now a proud possessor of a small land and he dreams to have his own home on this land someday. That day, he says, he will have his dream fulfilled….his dream of a family with a home.

(Sometimes, when I see people struggling so hard in life, I realize how privileged I am…just by being lucky enough)

EXPLORATION OF FAITH

The last few books I have read bear something in common. Though been authored from different parts of the globe, the central themes of these books tend to converge towards exploring the answers of the age old cryptic questions.

1. Many Lives Many Master by Dr. Brian Weiss
2. Illusions by Richard Bach
3. Life after Death by Deepak Chopra
4. The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler
5. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

All these books have something in common. Each one of them is written by someone who has a scientific background. For example Dr. Brian Weiss and Howard Cutler are professional psychiatrists, while Deepak Chopra is a doctor. Richard Bach is an airforce pilot while Dan Brown settled down as a professional author after exploring careers in music and teaching.

Nevertheless, the idea is to stress the fact that all the authors are extremely well versed in science and they have tried to explore faith with a scientific background. The books are completely different in their context and approach. The Lost Symbol is one of the most exciting books I ever read, which so scintillatingly combines spirituality with entertainment. The Art of happiness is amongst the most practical books with a balanced approach. Life after Death is more textual in nature where Deepak Chopra provides his views on what happens after death with evidence from science and life. Illusions talk about the illusions that carve out reality. Many Lives Many Masters is about past life regression, which Dr. Weiss claims to be true.

I don’t know if the basic underlying theme of these books is true. But what if it’s close to truth….even a bit. The slightest belief in these things can bring about a paradigm shift in the way an individual perceives life.

ONE

"...each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one"

(The last line of "The five people you meet in Heaven")

IF

If market friendliness and market size bore positive correlation…..

(Lately, I have been involved in exploring country specific market opportunities for the services we provide. Stronger the exploration, higher the realisation that the above wish will remain only a wish)

CORPORATE VS. NONCORPORATE

CORPORATE ROLE

Beyond the management lingo, beyond the complicated corporate models and beyond all the glamour of a corporate role, sit five very basic tenets. Every possible corporate profile seems to fit into one of these broad divisions.
1. Generate business opportunities
2. Finance the creation/availability of products/services
3. Sell the products/services to earn revenues and profits
4. Maintain records of everything
5. Partner with relevant people/entities
The words highlighted have strong significance. While the processes may be different from one organization to other, but the end indicators used to measure the organizational success are often the same across organizations.

NON CORPORATE ROLE

I feel the non corporate role sits in point number 2 minus finance i.e. “creation/availability of products and services”. It can be in the form of technology/engineering or R&D or something similar.

FEELING HAPPY

Life is a travel (the philosophical cut)…..travel is life (that’s how life is these days for me). After a relatively long trip in South Africa and West Africa, I am back in Mumbai….So much things I feel I should type down in this blog…but it seems time is the culprit.

Books covered during this period….my experience in Africa….Mumbai….and most importantly feel like writing a long letter of gratitude and thankfulness to the unseen power that seems to control all the things happening in my little world. After staying away for almost two years from the sweetest person in my life, its so nice to feel the period of separation in its final phase…Three more months and life will change again…Remaining away from each other after marriage is not easy….not at all if you know that the period is for almost two years.

She handled her new life so well…Marriage and MBA…successfully managing even one of the two is never easy... Really admire the way she did it….
Never had I felt so happy in my life….not even with whatever little I have achieved till date…when she called me and said “I made it….thank you so much”. A job in Mumbai…her dream job…in finance…in investment banking/private equity…in a stable and reliable company…in the fragile economy...no joke….there has to be someone sitting right there….above us…and making all the decisions for us…