“The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2013 was awarded jointly to Eugene F. Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert J. Shiller for their empirical analysis of asset prices” read my friend Swami from his iPad, as we were having our weekend coffee after a long time. Looking up from his … Read more
In the classic Sherlock Holmes short story, ‘Silver Blaze’, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle chronicles the story of the missing race horse and the murder of its trainer. One of the popular Holmes stories, the plot in ‘Silver Blaze’ hinges on Holmes observing the ‘curious incident of the dog in the night-time’. Here is the dialogue: … Read more
One hundred lesser would not have made Sachin Tendulkar a lesser legend in anybody’s eyes. Like the last four runs that Sir Don Bradman did not score did not make him any lesser a batsman. Or the last successive Wimbledon title that Federer failed to win in a row did not make him a lesser tennis player in … Read more
My friend Swami definitely does not believe that he is ‘average’. Some study said that 9 out of 10 people believe that they are above average. Which means that the average belief is that ‘I am above average’. This comes to the fore during performance appraisals in companies. Atleast 70% of the people are supposed to … Read more
Very many years ago I had read a book considered by many as a classic in technology marketing – “Crossing the Chasm – by Geoffrey Moore”. It describes the challenges faced by technology marketers, most of whom, at some point, have to sell a product or service that has definite value that will change its … Read more
When Sachin Tendulkar became a Rajya Sabha MP, my neighbourhood got divided. Not that we were very united in any case, but this led to arguments like “He should have stuck to cricket” on the one hand, and “It is better to have Sachin in parliament than some other MPs” on the other. The subject … Read more
“What is the difference between retrospective and retroactive?” asked my broker friend Jigneshbhai, as we met over coffee last weekend after a long time. Surprisingly, the question today was from Jigneshbhai rather than Swami. Swami looked at my broker friend and shrugged it off. “They are the same I think. Why?” “Well someone from the … Read more
“Andy Murray’s victory in the Wimbledon final last Sunday reminded me a lot of the Indian victory in the Mumbai World Cup final.” Jigneshbhai said when we had our coffee last week. Swami agreed. “Both Andy and the Indian team carried the heavy burden of expectations on their shoulders, albeit Andy had it more in … Read more
Dynastic rule is not new in India. In almost every field of life, it is the default way of functioning. To follow in your father’s footsteps is seen as a matter of pride and families in India boast about it. In politics, it is not just the default, but even if it does not happen … Read more