Sunday, September 18, 2005
8000 and rising......
Going by its behavior in the recent past, the Sensex should be dubbed as the 'Sensational' Index. The BSE-Sensex soaring past the 8000 mark made media headlines in the country. Views and concerns expressed about the Sensex gaining more than 3000 points in a span of a mere one and half years dominated the editorials of many a newspaper and magazine. The message seemed loud and clear - the economy is flourishing, India Inc. is all set to take on the world.
Honestly, I have no clue as to how all this translates into economic growth or trickles down to development in villages etc. Hell, I don't even know how it affects me. Apart from a certain amount of investment parked in a few equity funds and Unit linked plans, I see no monetary gain in this booming stock exchange. IPO's came, IPO's went, none seemed to affect me in anyway. I somehow seem to shy away from the entire concept of investing directly in stocks and shares, let alone being a market player.
Its not that I am totally dumb (I am quite close, but not yet there) and wouldn't understand anything about the market. Is it then a lack of interest? I am not sure. I don't mind knowing for the sake of general knowledge atleast, some eco and fin principles, such as the ones pertaining to Interest Rates, Oil prices, Dipping Dollar etc. I wouldn't go and look for books or material on these, but if it came my way I wouldn't be averse to reading it. But somehow when it comes to investments and managing personal finances, I don't seem too keen on gaining any knowledge.
Many a time, I have tried convincing myself that monitoring market investments requires a lot of time. I have seen colleagues spending office time, logging on and tracking the markets through IndiaBulls, ShareKhan and other such similar sites . I felt it was in some manner unprofessional and I shouldn't emulate them. Well I soon realized that my argument has no basis unless I first stopped activities such as surfing soccernet, reading others blogs, checking personal mails etc during office hours.
Or is it simply because I feel good by taking on the moral high ground of not being overly attached with money, I wonder. It feels good, but is such an attitude even remotely practical? My friend always states a Seinfeld quote in such discussions - 'I don't want my money to work for me, I'd rather work for my money'. A cool attitude to have I guess, if you happen to rake in a million or more (like Seinfeld) every week.:-)
Honestly, I have no clue as to how all this translates into economic growth or trickles down to development in villages etc. Hell, I don't even know how it affects me. Apart from a certain amount of investment parked in a few equity funds and Unit linked plans, I see no monetary gain in this booming stock exchange. IPO's came, IPO's went, none seemed to affect me in anyway. I somehow seem to shy away from the entire concept of investing directly in stocks and shares, let alone being a market player.
Its not that I am totally dumb (I am quite close, but not yet there) and wouldn't understand anything about the market. Is it then a lack of interest? I am not sure. I don't mind knowing for the sake of general knowledge atleast, some eco and fin principles, such as the ones pertaining to Interest Rates, Oil prices, Dipping Dollar etc. I wouldn't go and look for books or material on these, but if it came my way I wouldn't be averse to reading it. But somehow when it comes to investments and managing personal finances, I don't seem too keen on gaining any knowledge.
Many a time, I have tried convincing myself that monitoring market investments requires a lot of time. I have seen colleagues spending office time, logging on and tracking the markets through IndiaBulls, ShareKhan and other such similar sites . I felt it was in some manner unprofessional and I shouldn't emulate them. Well I soon realized that my argument has no basis unless I first stopped activities such as surfing soccernet, reading others blogs, checking personal mails etc during office hours.
Or is it simply because I feel good by taking on the moral high ground of not being overly attached with money, I wonder. It feels good, but is such an attitude even remotely practical? My friend always states a Seinfeld quote in such discussions - 'I don't want my money to work for me, I'd rather work for my money'. A cool attitude to have I guess, if you happen to rake in a million or more (like Seinfeld) every week.:-)
Thursday, September 15, 2005
TheRum Chronicles
TheRum, the overlord of a city which claims to be 'Mahanagara', comes up with unique and innovative ideas to solve the infrastructure problems that plague the city. Here are some of the pearls of wisdom uttered by him over the week:
Before anyone could bring up the topic of infrastructure(or the lack of it), he diverted the topic, taking off on a different tangent altogether by making this profound statement - IT sector should hire more locals. Profound indeed, politically. Don't know how its going to solve anybodys problem though.
When questioned about his governments supposed 'lack of infrastructure focus', he brushed the topic aside. Claimed that top IT heads have actually thanked him for starting work on the Devanahalli airport. uhmm..Wouldn't it be great if your client/customer calls you after each line of code you type in and thanks you for it. They bloody hell don't, 'cause you are expected to do it, that's your goddamn job. The gratitude would be heartfelt and more meaningful if the Devanahalli airport turns out to be even remotely like a Changi terminal.
Before anyone could bring up the topic of infrastructure(or the lack of it), he diverted the topic, taking off on a different tangent altogether by making this profound statement - IT sector should hire more locals. Profound indeed, politically. Don't know how its going to solve anybodys problem though.
When questioned about his governments supposed 'lack of infrastructure focus', he brushed the topic aside. Claimed that top IT heads have actually thanked him for starting work on the Devanahalli airport. uhmm..Wouldn't it be great if your client/customer calls you after each line of code you type in and thanks you for it. They bloody hell don't, 'cause you are expected to do it, that's your goddamn job. The gratitude would be heartfelt and more meaningful if the Devanahalli airport turns out to be even remotely like a Changi terminal.
Apparently he is finalizing a 'Rs 491 crore Hi Tech City'. Probably he is establishing a new city itself !!
Showering the BCC commissioner with praises he remarked - 'I wish he continues working like this day and night'. Duh? I think most of us would be relieved if BCC works in the first place, let alone working all day and night.
Ah, but the remark of the week came from the Governor. Remarking on the infrastructure of the city he stated 'I am worried'. But I guess I would be more worried if the Governor takes out a cavalcade to inspect the city's problems and ends up causing a mamoth traffic jam in the process.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Traffic Woes...
A year ago my company shuttle used to pick me up at 8:05 A.M and end up in office by 9:00 A.M. But these days, it would be nothing short of a miracle if my shuttle reaches office before 9:30 A.M. A couple of days ago it reached office as late as 10:00, a mere 20 minutes before the 'late shuttles' operating from other areas turned up. If the 'Mysore-Bangalore' expressway is built (if and ever it is built) I think I would reach Mysore in lesser time than I reach Whitefield. Maybe a day in the future, if the traffic situation keeps worsening, it might well takes months to reach my office in whitefield and by the time I get out of the shuttle I would have enough hair to be counted as a Sai Baba look alike in Whitefield.
Just as every Survivor of a genocide pogrom would clearly remember till his last days, the concentration camp he or she was posted to, there is one particular place en route to office that would be forever etched in my memory. It gives me nightmares and would haunt me for the rest of my life - Welcome to KR Puram bridge, Welcome to hell.
Take a look at this marvel of engineering:
Just as every Survivor of a genocide pogrom would clearly remember till his last days, the concentration camp he or she was posted to, there is one particular place en route to office that would be forever etched in my memory. It gives me nightmares and would haunt me for the rest of my life - Welcome to KR Puram bridge, Welcome to hell.
Take a look at this marvel of engineering:
A suspension bridge eh ?, pretty impressive, but have a look at the scene below the bridge (the road leading to ITPL)
Uhmm....sorry I couldn't get a pic of that scene. Trust me, it looks much worse than the chaos depicted in the picture. Krishna Raja Puram (KR Puram) bridge should be re-christened as Yama Raja Puram bridge. Would be a much more apt name for this hellish place.
Anyways, fellow citizens the situation would soon be under control. Nothing to fear as our 'able' leaders are working 'relentlessly' towards finding a solution for the traffic problem. Lead by 'TheRum' Singh they visited New Delhi a few days back to assess the metro rail system there. Good system in place, they seemed to concur. Uhmm.. but maybe Kolkata has a better Metro rail system, or perhaps Paris has the best system in place, surely our leaders would even travel 'all the way' to Paris for this cause.
Well in anycase, the CM or the deputy CM (err what's his name?,,,does it even matter?) cannot take the big decision themselves without the seal of approval from a certain ex-PM. His engineering 'acumen' and 'vision' is required in deciding which form of mass transit system is the best suited for our city. Metro gets his favor one day, sadly it is abandoned a few days later in favor of ELRTS,which in turn is unceremoniously dumped for something else. Offcourse, his argument is valid, the best form of mass transit has to be 'economically feasible', economically feasible for whom I wonder?
