20k on sensex - Part - II

Alright, as promised in the last post, this is the second story. I have already boasted a lot about being in the second economic cycle of my career, I will assume people are well aware of the context.

As an amateur trader I bought some share and took some exposures in the futures and options. Within no time sensex was at 20k (December 2007) and I was making over 50% returns on my portfolio. All my beliefs were suddenly transformed, I discarded all former beliefs of safety and continuous saving for the future, which perhaps my Dad had taught me by example. I thought share market is where people become rich. Though I was warned about the downside all the time, but I had only seen market going up in my life thus far, and I thought I knew everything about the world.

However, I often asked myself a question, "What is the value I am creating in the world, that entails me to this kind of money in my job or otherwise?". And frankly no matter how I justified it, I knew there was a loop-hole in each explanation. Simply because -How can a mere graduate sitting in an air-conditioned terminal create so much value? If I compared my efforts to a farmer who is toiling in the sun to produce food grains, I felt he might be more useful to this world than I am. (No-offense to people making big bucks on a terminal :D, I am only presenting a perspective)

I had asked this question to my boss, and to others, whom I considered to have wisdom. Somehow, I didn't find an satisfactory answer. The answer came to me when the markets crashed, and it went all the way down to 9k :). In fact this continuous downturn transformed my question itself. Now I wanted to know "why does recession happen?" I started searching answer to my new question desperately.

The answer that I have arrived thus far is elucidated by this small story:

There was a small village in which there were only two families of Ram and Shyam. Both families complemented each others needs. Shyam's family produced wheat, rice, vegetables, cotton, cloth, etc. The other family tamed animals and produced milk, meat, utensils, furniture, etc. Both families used to exchange excess of their produce with each other in a barter system. Shyam being an intelligent guy introduced concept of money to do the trade. Rather than exchanging good directly, money made trade more convenient. The price of the goods were to be decided in the same ratio as they were earlier exchanged subject to availability. Eg. if 1/2 Kg of rice was exchanged for a 1 Litre of milk then price of rice will be 10 Rs/Kg and price of milk will be 5 Rs/Litre. However Shyam being the intelligent guy who understood these calculation, took Ram into confidence and fixed price of good to favor himself. Eg. He priced rice at 11 Rs/kg and milk at 5 Rs/Litre.

Initially both the families started off with 1000 Rs each so that trade could start. And with time slowly Shyam started getting richer (Meaning he held more cash than Ram did). However Shyam did not stop, he continued amassing cash. There came a day when ram was not left with a single penny. That day Ram realized that there is some "jhol" in the market. From that day onwards he stopped giving goods to Shyam in exchange of currencies. In a single moment Shyam wealth of Rs 2000 became zero, because it was only paper afterall.

So next time you see people getting paid more than the value they are creating (including yourself), You should know that another recession is just round the corner. And if you don't believe me, wait a little :P

20k on sensex makes me nostalgic....

Now that the sensex is back at 20k, I am feeling nostalgic. I am one of the luckiest person in the world, in-fact most of the my batchmates too are in the same category. We all are visiting second economic cycle of our life and we are in the center of it. And all this has happened in a period of less than 3 years. Any other generation would have spent over 10 years to visit 2 economic cycles.

I started my career at Lehman Brothers. My relatives and family friends in my hometown were always confused about the company I was working in. They used to refer to Lehman as "Ameriica ka bank hain, bahot paisa deta hain". Some called it "layman brothers" others "Leemaan Brothers" and some creative people made it "Rehmaan Brothers" :)). As the fate would want it, in the months to come Lehman Brothers featured in the most relished daily of my hometown "Dainik Bhaskar". And everyone recognized the bank immediately. But all this is the context, the observed stories are as follows:

Story one

I left Lehman Brothers in April 2008. I know you would want to know why I did such a thing. And no matter how smartly I devise my reasons, I will be far from the reality. I guess Karl Marx has described this reality quite beautifully:

"What is great glitters, its glitter arouses ambition, and ambition can easily have produced the inspiration, or what we took for inspiration; but reason can no longer restrain the man who is tempted by the demon of ambition, and he plunges headlong into what impetuous instinct suggests: he no longer chooses his position in life, instead it is determined by chance and illusion."

And this

"But it is not only ambition which can arouse sudden enthusiasm for a particular profession; we may perhaps have embellished it in our imagination, and embellished it so that it appears the highest that life can offer. We have not analysed it, if you read this, shout not considered the whole burden, the great responsibility it imposes on us; we have seen it only from a distance, and distance is deceptive."
- Karl Marx, 1835, Reflections of a Young Man on The Choice of a Profession

But the story does't end here:

When I left Lehman in April 2008, everyone said "this guy has gone mad, he has not seen difficulties in life and does not understand importance of money." My tauji's driver was shocked to here that I have left a respectable job for a teaching job in a coaching institute. He was worried about my living expenses, he asked me "Bhaiya! mumbai seher bahut mehengi jagah hain, kitene din aise chala paoge?"

However, 5 months later Lehman went bankrupt, and the news was in "Dainik bhaskar" too. This time every one said: "Kya intelligent ladka hain, sahi time pe nikal liya". Some of my brother's friend asked me "Abe tujhe kaise pata chala ki Lehman bankrupt hone wala hain?" :P



PS: A better version of this story, comes at the end of of the movie "Charlie Wilson's War".

Second story to follow :)

The Chillars

Long time, no see... I have been off blogging for quite sometime and no matter what justification I give, the truth is 'no one reads it anyways' :)

But here I am, back with a vengeance, I don't care about the readers, I write for myself :P

I would like to start my blog by introducing you to the topic 'The Chillars', which refers to people who are miser beyond tolerance of any normal human being. Please do not confuse the topic with general chillar people, which we all are at times.They are 'The Chillar',

So how does one recognize 'The Chillar'

1. They never have chillar money when the amount is small, 'abe chillar hain kya?'

2. They never have enough money in the wallet when the amount is big, 'abe abhi de de, mein tujhe baad mein detaa huun?'

3. They suffer from amnesia selectively, when they have to return you some money.

4. They behave as though they don't care about money, whereas that is the only thing they care about.

Although, we all would have done all the above once in a while but what makes a person 'The Chillar' is when it happens perpetually until eternity, without the exception of a single instance. Whenever I have come across 'The Chillars' I have felt deep resentment for them. I felt frustrated because I thought they are smart enough to get away with all their chillargiri.

Interesting though, is the fact that, things that are least talked about are the things most noticed by the people. I had been noticing one of 'The Chillar' for quite some time now. He had been annoying me, and I wondered how come he gets away with it. But today I lost all patience and I let out the pressure by speaking my heart out. And I was amazed to find out that everyone shared a similar opinion of him, or even worse.

Precautions:

1. Never go out with 'The Chillar'.
2. If at all one has to go out with 'The Chillar' because of reasons beyond ones control, he should ensure that 'The Chillar' is not leaving his wallet behind.
3. Avoid a situation in which you owe anything to 'The Chillar' to the extent possible.
4. And if at all you end up giving a credit to 'The Chillar', let it go.... :P

The art of creative copy!

Creativity is a gift which is bestowed upon a few in the world. I don't know why god has created thousands of intelligent or in fact extremely intelligent people in the world but he is apprehensive of creating a lot of creative people. The reason is perhaps in "khuda ki marzi" or to say "Bhagwan ki maya". Anyways being an IITian I have mastered the art of creative copy. Our degree is a proof of our mastery over creative copy. If anyone asks me what sets IITians apart from rest of the world, I would answer, it is the art of "creative copy"

What the fick is this art of creative copy???????

Its simple you copy, yet no one one comes to know it was a copy.....everyone thinks it is a product of a great analytic, synthetic, and a creative mind. It is quite useful in various context, from resume to examination, from interviews to client meetings, from goal setting in your organization to writing a SOP for MBA application, from BTech project to any other project report, from impressing a person to cracking a joke in your group of friends......etc etc

Life becomes easy and tension free, the moment you are faced with a new challenge just find collateral which is good enough to copy.

The realization of true value of "creative copy" happened to me in a moment when I saw MNIK. It was a moment of truth for me. I never imagined the same art could be exploited to create a blockbuster movie which grossed over 250 million Rs on day one. Karan johar did it ...... the maestro of "creative copy" :)If you want to do the same here are some tips!

Watch all the recent super-duper hit movies

Movie 1: Taare zameen par - Protagonist should suffer from a rare and mysterious disease and should have some extraordinary capabilities. (SRK suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism that complicates socialization, yet he is extremely intelligent and can "repair almost anything")

Movie 2: 3 idiots: Protagonist helps everyone and uses his extraordinary capabilities to innovate in the pursuits. (SRK innovates only once in the entire film when there is water logging and doesn't seems to innovate when faced bigger challenge of meeting the president)

Movie3: Munna bhai MBBS: Protagonist helps people against all odds & fights for a cause. Ultimately creates a movement with huge fan following. & the heroin should fight for the injustice done to her beloved ones.

Movie 4: Slumdog Millionaire: There is something about protagonist from slums, who ends up getting all the media attention in the end.

I am sure there are other movies which I have missed here but these are all the hit movies I have seen....... I guess this much should help! Any more additions to illustration above are most welcomed :)

Long live creative copy!