the inner voice

This downturn though very scary in terms of job security is resulting in some unexpected benefits.  We have more time than usual in our hands. I have decided to stay positive by making most of this time to visit the gym in the morning and hone my golfing skills. That said; let me talk about my current passion. I got inspired to pick up this game by a couple of events. The first and foremost reason happens to be my pal Rajiv Kapadia, who took me to the range and subsequently to the course, during one of my visits to his place in Detroit. Somehow I had this perception that it’s not affordable and very elitist. As I grew this notion weakened but finally gave it away when I played with Rajiv. Two days to the driving range and then to the course - this act was enough to bury my apprehensions of what people would think if I am unable to hit the ball, what happens if I take more shots than usual, what about etiquette, rules, etc. He said, “just enjoy the game and that’s all that matters”...

We recently witnessed one of the historic events of the century - Barack’s win and election as the 44th President of the United States of America.  With Barack Obama getting elected as the 44th President, it tells many things about American society. Society has now truly become ‘Americanized’. I think this was very important to the spirit called America. Though no one admitted it openly…it was still a white-dominated polity. But things have changed, people’s views have changed and they have backed ‘change’. Barack’s election has changed the landscape forever. Society revisited the ideals around which America was built by its great founding fathers thereby keeping their dream alive.  It revived my memories of the Rosa Park bus displayed at the Henry Ford museum in Detroit. A few years back I had visited this museum and learned about the 'freedom and equality movement. Rosa Park happened to be heading back home on the Montgomery bus and was seated just behind the seats (first te...

The downturn is bringing along with it other forms of casualty besides losing trillions of dollars. It is witnessing steep erosion of moral values. The moral fabric of companies and managers running has weakened. As they get increasingly jittery, they tend to break away from promises made and don’t fight back within the respective hierarchy with the same ebullience as they would in good times.  The concept of morality and justice implies that commitments made in advance must be acknowledged even if it’s to one’s own disadvantage. To one’s own disadvantage is something we are not prepared to live. Why is our moral fiber built so tenuous that a simple sudden tension snaps it? Why do we people start tending to take decisions by popular demand than by principle? Managers try to postpone or run away from the existing promises by blaming the ‘change in circumstances’? Changing times as a reason comes in handy in business like situation and everyone’s exploits that to cover his or her sh...

Came across a very relevant quote in today's context from Richard Feynman while reading one of his books/articles. He was a brilliant, leading post-war theoretical physicist, a Nobel Laureate, a great teacher, terrific original thinker, and writer. I quote:  "There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It is less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers. - Richard Feynman, physicist, Nobel Laureate ( 1918-1988)" When seen in today's context of financial crisis which runs in trillions of dollars, this number looks even smaller. Next-generation will probably start counting from $1BN, $2BN, $3BN....$100 BN. Had he been alive...he may have called them "Infant Numbers". What do you say? Or Can you propose some other name!

Yesterday Sensex lost 800 points and has been on the losing streak throughout the week. Same has been the case of Dow, Nasdaq, Nikkei, Hang Seng, and all the other bourses across the world. On the other side Rupee is on a continuous decline since the crisis intensified. Are we seeing worst of times?  As finance professional the events are overwhelming. How deep this shit is? How long will it continue? How many participants will it gulp? What does it take to get the confidence of players back?  Since nobody has clear answers it’s leading to fear. And fear has no rationality. Further it has dented the trust levels and trust has not substitute. Majority of the business is transacted on trust. Even at work, we deal with our colleagues on trust. If one were to have everything in writing, it would be nightmarish to work. But once you lose trust on someone, then the team cracks. That’s what is happening in the financial markets. With trust taking a knock no amount of reassurance is ...

Oct 2nd, the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, more popularly known as Bapu or Gandhiji, is celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti in India and International Non-Violence Day, the world over. Couldn’t have been more timely with bloodbath all around. Let's see what's happening around the country. India has been rocked by a series of deadly explosions starting with Jaipur, followed by Bangalore, Ahmedabad, (failed ones in) Surat, Delhi, and recently North-East leading to heavy casualties of life and property leaving trust and confidence in tatters. It has managed to instill fear in the minds of innocent citizens and has shattered peace. The whole intelligence and security apparatus has failed, rather failed miserably.  Yesterday Ratan Tata announced a pullout from Singur. He cited violence, agitation, and lack of a congenial atmosphere as the key reason. We can blame Mamta Bannerjee but this is what the Left has practiced for ages and getting a taste of their own medicine. Rule-of-L...

Last week has been a watershed week in many ways. So overwhelming have been the events that all of us have been taken in by surprise and shock. This will definitely serve as turning point in the history of finance. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have been converted to banks, WaMu seized, Wachovia disappeared, Money market funds at below par and the saviour $700BN package getting rejected by senate. It’s tough to digest so much so quickly. Haven’t added the European seizures. For sure it will get real nasty before it gets any better. The crisis is not only the crisis of credit and liquidity, but of trust and confidence as well. Corporates and Individuals both are in bad shape. Corporates are not getting money to run their day-to-day operations, forget long term, where borrowing costs are touching the sky. Return hurdles for lenders have gone up. One wants to lend very very safe. Individuals are in bad shape, with retirement savings, education savings and health savings gone. Shares ar...