Prof.:!@##%%^$%&%^&*
Me to Amit (whisper): Oh no! Another abstract lecture....
Amit to Me: Look at Chintan.... He already seems to be getting the headache.
Me: Ujjwal and Uncle are better... sleeping in hostel...
Chintan: I should have also gone back to hostel....
Me: I bet that only Dhadda would be listening....
Chintan: He is an alien. How can you not sleep in any of the lectures!!!
Me: Especially of Prof. PR....
Chintan: ha ha ha... Saale how were you sleeping in his lecture today on the first bench.... there were hardly 30 students in the whole lecture theater and you were on first bench...
Me: What could have I done!!! He is irresistible. I bet he could win a Nobel prize in curing insomnia.
Amit: Gaurav was sleeping with his head down.....he didn't even tried to listen anything... Mast banda hai...
Me: Why was he in class then?
Amit: To rest.... whats better place to sleep than lecture!
Me: Yeah.... its better than the night long sleep. I feel refreshed after PR's lecture.
Chintan: Look at Baba Ravi....
Me: He seems to be enjoying the lecture. And why does he keep shaking his leg even while sitting! Yesterday, I was sitting with him in lecture and man I felt that I was on train....
Amit: He does it when he is concentrating....
Dhadda to Prof: Sir, I have a doubt.......
Amit: What the heck!!! Doubt!
Chintan: Bhai, he is Dhadda.....
Amit: So what! if he is Dhadda, we have Aakash... Com'on Aakash ask a question :D
Me: Saale chup... Prof is looking at us.... u will get all of us killed!!!
(All made innocent faces.... Prof looked at us.... nodded as if in appreciation and turned back. Good reputation came to rescue.)
After 30 seconds
Me: I hate Wednesdays.....
Chintan: What happened?
Me: Its electronics lab today for me....
Amit(sigh): yeah... I hate Mondays....
Me: Because of EoP Lab.... ha ha ha... AR loves u man.... he keeps on looking for opportunities to have sweet little chit chat with you.... and if there is none he creates one.
Chintan: You are completely screwed man!
Amit: Yeah, but the problem is that I have reached that level that it doesn't even hurt....
Me: Yo Amit... finally you have recognized your true potential... the real Neo is here....
Amit: Bak mat mar....I am feeling hungry.
Chintan: Me too... But I don't want to eat that Brijwasi crap....
Amit: Lets go for Biriyani after lecture.
Me: Didn't u 2 go over there just yesterday for dinner....
Chintan: Oh ho... Amit, how many times have I told u not to tell Aakash this....
Me: As if I won't come to know....
Amit: How many minutes more?
Chintan: around 5 min
Me: 3 min....
Chintan: ha ha ha.... how do you keep track of even that.... Saale system number 2....
Me: Saale, don't put me in Avi's category... I can't compete with him ever... He is 'THE SYSTEM'
Avi: Somebody took my name....
Me: Nothing nothing... you look forward.....
(3 min after)
Chintan: Biryani?
Me: Nahi yaar.... Lets eat here only. And I don't like Biryani...
Amit: We will have that for dinner
Chintan: Arre yaar... m going to hostel then... can't eat that Brijwasi food any more... let me catch some sleep.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
IPOs/FPOs of Public Sector Organizations and Inclusive Growth
Its been a busy IPO/FPO market in India and with some of the biggest IPOs/FPOs yet to hit the market, things will only get busier. Among all the IPOs/FPOs the ones that will hog the limelight are the IPOs/FPOs of State run companies. Coal India Limited's IPO is presently under going book building process where its targeting to mop up Rs 15000 crore from the market. Other biggies that are lined up are MOIL, SAIL, Power Grid, ONGC and OIL INDIA. The government has to meet its target of Rs 40000 crore revenue through disinvestment. Nearly 35% of that will come from the retail investors. Its a whopping Rs 14000 crore!!! First of all I don't think RBI has to do much to control inflation after these offers as the liquidity will be sucked up to the maximum... But still its a huge amount!!! With the number of active retail investors in the market, it seems to be a bit difficult task. But, if you change the picture a bit and instead look at the population of India... this amount is well within our reach...
Its no secret that with India progressing the gap between the rich and the poor is widening as never before. This is not a financial issue but a social issue which if not addressed in time will destroy us as it destroyed the other developed civilizations in the past. The financial divide between the various sections of the society had been the catalyst of all revolutions throughout the history. And India is trading the same track. The need of the hour is to take the India Shining story to the last strata of the society which presently exists totally unaffected from it. Financial inclusion of every section of Indian class in the India Growth story is must. But the million or rather zillion dollar question is, HOW?
Now, just look at the IPO story in conjunction with the inclusive growth need. These might be mutual solutions to each other. All these state run companies IPOs/FPOs are value issues which have tremendous upside potential with minimal risk. They can be huge wealth creators for their shareholders in the long run. Moreover, they are government owned companies! So, if there is inclusion of all the social classes in these IPOs/FPOs there can be a win win situation for both the sides. On one hand these companies will get a broader retailer response, which will help them to raise the money with lesser trouble while on the other the retail investor can become a part of the India growth story through these companies. But the problem is to get these people to invest in these companies.
Indians inherently are more risk averse and conservative. Stock market is still a mystery to many. I don't have the numbers but I am confident that the number of retail investors in India is very minimal. None in my family invest in stocks! And here I am talking about a well off educated family.... When I told my Dad that I am going to invest in stocks his first reaction was, "People lose money in stocks. Its very risky.... Don't invest.... and if you have to, invest a little". I am sure the scenario will not be different with many of your families. And when we talk about inclusive growth then we are talking of encouraging those people to invest, who are much less educated and analytical and much more emotional. So, you can understand the gravity of the situation.
But how can this be addressed... Thats the question which we are looking to answer. The first and foremost thing that is required is to educate people and create awareness about the stock market and shares. For many this has to be done from scratch as I am sure that many might not even ever heard of stocks. Once the level of awareness will rise, people will shed their inhibitions about the stock market and more and more people will start investing in stocks. Coal India tried to involve its worker class by having brokering houses to educate them and help them open demat accounts. But its not enough... We need to scale it up to the national level where more and more villages are covered under such programs. But its easily said than done, isn't it? There can be an answer to that too. The banking system and Postal system in India has really made in roads to the remotest areas of the country. These can be leveraged to achieve our objective. Now, private firms might not be interested in doing this, but the state run organizations must make that additional effort to include the wider population of the country. In addition to doing road shows for institutional investors, these organizations can tie up with the banks or with the Indian postal department to conduct village level educative sessions for our target segment. If there is a will to do this in the government then logistics can easily be worked out....
There hasn't been any focus on this side and I don't think there is any proposal for the same with the government. But if there is anyone from a government agency reading this blog... then this might be one of the ideas that you would like to take up for implementation for the greater good.
Its no secret that with India progressing the gap between the rich and the poor is widening as never before. This is not a financial issue but a social issue which if not addressed in time will destroy us as it destroyed the other developed civilizations in the past. The financial divide between the various sections of the society had been the catalyst of all revolutions throughout the history. And India is trading the same track. The need of the hour is to take the India Shining story to the last strata of the society which presently exists totally unaffected from it. Financial inclusion of every section of Indian class in the India Growth story is must. But the million or rather zillion dollar question is, HOW?
Now, just look at the IPO story in conjunction with the inclusive growth need. These might be mutual solutions to each other. All these state run companies IPOs/FPOs are value issues which have tremendous upside potential with minimal risk. They can be huge wealth creators for their shareholders in the long run. Moreover, they are government owned companies! So, if there is inclusion of all the social classes in these IPOs/FPOs there can be a win win situation for both the sides. On one hand these companies will get a broader retailer response, which will help them to raise the money with lesser trouble while on the other the retail investor can become a part of the India growth story through these companies. But the problem is to get these people to invest in these companies.
Indians inherently are more risk averse and conservative. Stock market is still a mystery to many. I don't have the numbers but I am confident that the number of retail investors in India is very minimal. None in my family invest in stocks! And here I am talking about a well off educated family.... When I told my Dad that I am going to invest in stocks his first reaction was, "People lose money in stocks. Its very risky.... Don't invest.... and if you have to, invest a little". I am sure the scenario will not be different with many of your families. And when we talk about inclusive growth then we are talking of encouraging those people to invest, who are much less educated and analytical and much more emotional. So, you can understand the gravity of the situation.
But how can this be addressed... Thats the question which we are looking to answer. The first and foremost thing that is required is to educate people and create awareness about the stock market and shares. For many this has to be done from scratch as I am sure that many might not even ever heard of stocks. Once the level of awareness will rise, people will shed their inhibitions about the stock market and more and more people will start investing in stocks. Coal India tried to involve its worker class by having brokering houses to educate them and help them open demat accounts. But its not enough... We need to scale it up to the national level where more and more villages are covered under such programs. But its easily said than done, isn't it? There can be an answer to that too. The banking system and Postal system in India has really made in roads to the remotest areas of the country. These can be leveraged to achieve our objective. Now, private firms might not be interested in doing this, but the state run organizations must make that additional effort to include the wider population of the country. In addition to doing road shows for institutional investors, these organizations can tie up with the banks or with the Indian postal department to conduct village level educative sessions for our target segment. If there is a will to do this in the government then logistics can easily be worked out....
There hasn't been any focus on this side and I don't think there is any proposal for the same with the government. But if there is anyone from a government agency reading this blog... then this might be one of the ideas that you would like to take up for implementation for the greater good.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Solving a Problem
How do you solve a problem? A stupid question, huh? Not really. I am asking you to think of the process that you employ to solve any problem. Not necessarily a mathematical problem but any problem, could be as simple as your weight problem. One thing which I have noticed while solving problems is, no matter what type of problem you are solving and how difficult or easy a problem is or whether its a business problem or your personal life problem, all of them follow the same process. This process can vary from person to person but for a person its the same. Its the way the person is trained to think or the way the person's mind work. The way a person approaches any problem does not change with the nature of the problem or the complexity of the problem but its pre-defined for him/her.
The first and most important step of any problem solving is to acknowledge the problem. Half of the problems in the world exists because people refuse to acknowledge the problems! Indian government refused to acknowledge that there is problem in Kashmir and then the things went out of hands. Lehman Brothers refused to accept the problem with its portfolio and it went bankrupt. This is the first and the most crucial step because it initiates the process and make you think for a solution.
But you can't find a solution unless you know what the problem is. So, the second important step is to define the problem. A problem has a subjective view. It appears differently to different people and each version might be as correct as any other. Defining a problem is a skill which can be developed with practice. This is that stage of your problem solving process which will impact the quality of your solution. Skilled problem identifiers can define the problem in such a way that the solution will itself become apparent from the problem definition.
Defining a problem correctly or rather appropriately, as there is nothing correct or incorrect definition of problem, will help you to decide the data that you need to gather to better understand the problem and find out the gap areas. But from where will you gather this data? There might be several sources available with you. You should chose the one that provides you the most relevant and reliable data. Relevance and Reliability are the crucial factors and you might need to make a trade off between the two.
Once you have the data, you need to analyze it to understand why the problem is there. You will be able to understand your problem better and will be able to trace out the reasons for the same, which will help you to define the solution. Once you have identified the gaps your objective becomes closing those gaps which will ultimately lead to the solution of your problem.....
But sometimes there are problems for which there are no apparent solutions.... Well, in such cases you have just 2 options left: either learn to live with the problem or change the rules which gave birth to the problem in the first place.... I prefer the 2nd one.
The first and most important step of any problem solving is to acknowledge the problem. Half of the problems in the world exists because people refuse to acknowledge the problems! Indian government refused to acknowledge that there is problem in Kashmir and then the things went out of hands. Lehman Brothers refused to accept the problem with its portfolio and it went bankrupt. This is the first and the most crucial step because it initiates the process and make you think for a solution.
But you can't find a solution unless you know what the problem is. So, the second important step is to define the problem. A problem has a subjective view. It appears differently to different people and each version might be as correct as any other. Defining a problem is a skill which can be developed with practice. This is that stage of your problem solving process which will impact the quality of your solution. Skilled problem identifiers can define the problem in such a way that the solution will itself become apparent from the problem definition.
Defining a problem correctly or rather appropriately, as there is nothing correct or incorrect definition of problem, will help you to decide the data that you need to gather to better understand the problem and find out the gap areas. But from where will you gather this data? There might be several sources available with you. You should chose the one that provides you the most relevant and reliable data. Relevance and Reliability are the crucial factors and you might need to make a trade off between the two.
Once you have the data, you need to analyze it to understand why the problem is there. You will be able to understand your problem better and will be able to trace out the reasons for the same, which will help you to define the solution. Once you have identified the gaps your objective becomes closing those gaps which will ultimately lead to the solution of your problem.....
But sometimes there are problems for which there are no apparent solutions.... Well, in such cases you have just 2 options left: either learn to live with the problem or change the rules which gave birth to the problem in the first place.... I prefer the 2nd one.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
3 Years Down the Line!!!
Has anyone ever asked you this - Where do you see yourself 3 years down the line? I am sure more than once you would have come across this question. Most probably during an interview. I have faced this question a number of times and each time behind that smile of mine through which I would be giving some hypothetical diplomatic bs, I have fought the craving to ask the questioner, What the hell do you mean by it? Better first tell me if you know where will you be in 3 years down the line and then ask me. Its such a pathetic question yet all interviewers are in love with this. Its a kind of a ritual that they complete by asking this question. But WHY!
I know the theory behind this question. Its to see how clearly you think/plan and if the job matches your long term career plan. Blah blah.... another bs. All you get from this question is how well someone has memorized the response so easily available on internet. If I am there then it means that I need that job... I NEED IT. So, I will form my answer to suit your liking. You know the concept of solution selling? Tell the customer what (s)he wants to hear. I will tell you what you want to hear. Its a mockery to the whole concept of interview.
I never prepared an answer to this question. I consider it as an insult to myself to do so. I don't know where will I be 3 years down the line and what I want to be 3 years down the line, that you don't want to hear. I want to be a billionaire, driving a Ferrari, living in a palace and being someone famous and important. And why wait for 3 yrs! I would like to have that just from next moment. Now, tell me who doesn't want it.... Don't give me, I want to be a Project Manager in 3 yrs time... If thats what you really want in 3 yrs... man, you are more pathetic than the question itself. But thats actually most of the interviewers want to hear. If you want a practical answer to this question, which actually is non existent, then boss, I want to grow at the rate fastest possible that you can offer me. This is the blunt truth, but you know what, you yourself are not able to give me that rate through which I can determine my growth. Hence you won't like my answer. So the problem lies with you....
I never say any of these to anyone asking me this question. Partly out of courtesy and partly because I need the job... but whatever I wrote is what I believe in. I have also taken many interviews but I never asked this question except on one occasion where I need to confirm that this person would be committing a suicide by taking up this job, which I told him too... but it didn't affect my decision whether to recommend him or not. He was good and he needed the job, so I recommended him.... Its up to him then to commit the suicide.... But I swear to God, I hate this question!
I know the theory behind this question. Its to see how clearly you think/plan and if the job matches your long term career plan. Blah blah.... another bs. All you get from this question is how well someone has memorized the response so easily available on internet. If I am there then it means that I need that job... I NEED IT. So, I will form my answer to suit your liking. You know the concept of solution selling? Tell the customer what (s)he wants to hear. I will tell you what you want to hear. Its a mockery to the whole concept of interview.
I never prepared an answer to this question. I consider it as an insult to myself to do so. I don't know where will I be 3 years down the line and what I want to be 3 years down the line, that you don't want to hear. I want to be a billionaire, driving a Ferrari, living in a palace and being someone famous and important. And why wait for 3 yrs! I would like to have that just from next moment. Now, tell me who doesn't want it.... Don't give me, I want to be a Project Manager in 3 yrs time... If thats what you really want in 3 yrs... man, you are more pathetic than the question itself. But thats actually most of the interviewers want to hear. If you want a practical answer to this question, which actually is non existent, then boss, I want to grow at the rate fastest possible that you can offer me. This is the blunt truth, but you know what, you yourself are not able to give me that rate through which I can determine my growth. Hence you won't like my answer. So the problem lies with you....
I never say any of these to anyone asking me this question. Partly out of courtesy and partly because I need the job... but whatever I wrote is what I believe in. I have also taken many interviews but I never asked this question except on one occasion where I need to confirm that this person would be committing a suicide by taking up this job, which I told him too... but it didn't affect my decision whether to recommend him or not. He was good and he needed the job, so I recommended him.... Its up to him then to commit the suicide.... But I swear to God, I hate this question!
Monday, October 11, 2010
We the Indians
CWG is at its peak with just 2 days remaining before the curtains fall. India presently holds the 2nd position with 29 Golds behind Australia. From the topic of this blog you might be misled. I am not going to discuss the run-up to CWG and the negative publicity that surrounded it. That you can find easily on net and that too in abundance. Nor am I going to tell you the story of our glittering past, which again has volumes devoted to it. This post is about something very peculiar that I have observed in this CWG....
As I said, we hold 2nd position with 29 Golds, but you know what would an interesting analysis be? To see the break up of these 29 Gold. The picture looks something like this:
Did you see it? NO!!! Leave Tennis apart, that I will count as exception, and now look at the other sports at which we have won.... Yeap, there you got it :)
We Indians are arguably big foodies of the world.... We eat and eat and eat!!! We believe lot less in physical exercise and put on big tummies. So man! we are literally heavyweights of world's wrestling! Shooting and Archery are in our blood. After all this is the land of Arjun. And coupled with the fact that these 2 sports also require lot less agility and minimal body movement, BANG... We are Champions here too! I don't know whether its in our blood or in the water of our rivers but we tend to excel in sports which require more of body strength, especially the abdomen strength :p, and less of agility. If there is a sport where we have to beat somebody or hit somebody/thing with bullet/knief/axe/shoe or any other weapon, we might be champions of that too. Sports like gymnastics or swimming or marathon which requires agility and/or physical endurance... well, I don't need to tell our status in these areas... We are the laziest human race. We just hate to move our ass off the chair, better if its a bed instead of a chair. And probably thats why we are so good at mind games... thinking doesn't require you to endure any physical pain! Moreover, being lazy, its in our nature to find short cuts to everything... and in process... we beat the world in many gray matter competitions. When Obama asks the American children to tighten their belts for Indian and Chinese, I say.... Feed them rich spicy food, let them loosen their belts and allow them to doze off lazily... someday you might catch us. But sports! well we have proved our point to some extent in some events and in the others I don't think we will be able to prove anything for many years to come.... But we are Indians, so you can never be sure. We did something in Tennis this time and we might do something in Badminton too... so better watch your back.... and take my advise on "heavy" games... You don't stand a chance there.
As I said, we hold 2nd position with 29 Golds, but you know what would an interesting analysis be? To see the break up of these 29 Gold. The picture looks something like this:
| Shooting | Wrestling | Archery | Weightlifting | Tennis | Total |
| 13 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 29 |
Did you see it? NO!!! Leave Tennis apart, that I will count as exception, and now look at the other sports at which we have won.... Yeap, there you got it :)
We Indians are arguably big foodies of the world.... We eat and eat and eat!!! We believe lot less in physical exercise and put on big tummies. So man! we are literally heavyweights of world's wrestling! Shooting and Archery are in our blood. After all this is the land of Arjun. And coupled with the fact that these 2 sports also require lot less agility and minimal body movement, BANG... We are Champions here too! I don't know whether its in our blood or in the water of our rivers but we tend to excel in sports which require more of body strength, especially the abdomen strength :p, and less of agility. If there is a sport where we have to beat somebody or hit somebody/thing with bullet/knief/axe/shoe or any other weapon, we might be champions of that too. Sports like gymnastics or swimming or marathon which requires agility and/or physical endurance... well, I don't need to tell our status in these areas... We are the laziest human race. We just hate to move our ass off the chair, better if its a bed instead of a chair. And probably thats why we are so good at mind games... thinking doesn't require you to endure any physical pain! Moreover, being lazy, its in our nature to find short cuts to everything... and in process... we beat the world in many gray matter competitions. When Obama asks the American children to tighten their belts for Indian and Chinese, I say.... Feed them rich spicy food, let them loosen their belts and allow them to doze off lazily... someday you might catch us. But sports! well we have proved our point to some extent in some events and in the others I don't think we will be able to prove anything for many years to come.... But we are Indians, so you can never be sure. We did something in Tennis this time and we might do something in Badminton too... so better watch your back.... and take my advise on "heavy" games... You don't stand a chance there.
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