“The ocean in Mauritius is just wonderful, blue-green and pristine. Truly is a paradise island”, said my South Indian friend, Swami who had just been back from his vacation. One of the few times I had seen him happy, without much to complain about. Just when I thought he was in a good mood, he … Read more
In the old MTNL days, customer service used to be quite honest. It may not have been good, but you cannot fault them for honesty. So when you called them for some request, mostly you were welcomed with something like “कृपया प्रतीक्षा करें, आप कतार में हैं” which made no bones about the fact that … Read more
“One thing that is different in our players of today and our players of yesterday is that earlier our players used to play mostly not to lose, and today they very often play to win”, said my broker friend Jigneshbhai over our Sunday evening coffee. Continuing, he remarked, “The difference may seem minor but is … Read more
The wealthy man living in the sprawling bungalow near my house with his BMW and Mercedes speaks very sparingly. And whenever he speaks, it is quite cryptic. So one has to really concentrate when he is speaking, and think hard after he is done. So the other day when my South Indian friend Swami and … Read more
“भैया ये दीवार टूटती क्यों नही?” said one brother to the other in the Indian joint family from the famous Ambuja Cement ad. And then the voiceover replies, “टूटेगी कैसे? ये अम्बुजा सीमेंट से बनी है.” I had heard that this ad was popular with the English players whenever Dravid used to come out to … Read more
“Can you guarantee it?” asked my South Indian friend Swami, when my broker Jigneshbhai asked him to hold on or add to his investments saying that markets will recover. Jigneshbhai said, “Boss, there are no guarantees, but they should recover eventually.” Swami continued, “But when? For the last 4 years, the returns from my investment … Read more
‘All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone’ – said Blaise Pascal. On those lines, there might be some truth in extending it a bit – ‘All of a nation’s problems perhaps stem from their parliamentarians’ inability to sit quietly and agree in a room together.’ If only … Read more
My South Indian friend Swami had a new reason to complain since this morning – the rains. “I really got caught in the rains today – it was really bad, the weather, roads and traffic” , he told me as I met him today. Monsoon in Bangalore is, at best, mild, so a steady bout … Read more
“Who is this S&P?” asked my South Indian friend Swami to my broker over a cup of coffee. Swami, who generally spends time with his family over weekends, suddenly called me on Sunday afternoon, and said he wanted to meet my broker friend Jignesh who knew a thing or two about investing. I was not … Read more