Short dollar, long rupee

Time for reversal. The dollar has appreciated significantly versus the INR over the last few months. I believe that things converge to the mean. Euphoria ends - today or tomorrow. And the euphoria around the dollar is over done. Yes capital outflows on account of poor domestic macro economic data, fiscal deficit, current account deficit and blah blah. However me thinks that the INR will start to appreciate back to 51 levels.

Life transforming

The 3 life transforming learning's from my life till date are:
1. Detached involvement
2. Taking responsibility for all actions, feelings and thoughts
3. Guilt free living

Persist

Whatever you resist, persists

3 all time favorites

“Character cannot be summoned at the moment of crisis if it has been squandered by years of compromise and rationalization. The only testing ground for the heroic is the mundane. The only preparation for that one profound decision which can change a life, or even a nation, is those hundreds of half-conscious, self-defining, seemingly insignificant decisions made in private. Habit is the daily battleground of character.” ~ Dan Coats

“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside them was superior to circumstance.” ~ Bruce Barton

“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; Who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” ~ President Theodore Roosevelt

India economics - June 2012

Id like to begin with a line from some singer's song that says: This happens only in india..

Policy paralysis, interest rate cycle at its peak, a seven year-low on full year GDP, slowing growth impacting govt revenues, inflexible on govt expenditure, subsidies (oil, fertilizer), fiscal deficit being at ~ - 4.5% of GDP (and that is without including the off balance sheet items), waning global risk appetite, declining forex reserves, tight domestic liquidity, current account deficit, scams, corruption, fiscal mismanagement.

Action

The dictionary definition of an action is - the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim. For me action is when you do something, not decide to do something. It involves bravery. It involves the unknown most of the times. It involves in taking the pain to make that step. It involves taking a risk. It involves uncertainty. But mostly it involves - a step forward. Act. 

B1 - Perspective

There are people dying to throw/push you down. They want to steal from you, cheat you, deceit you, scorn you, ensure you fail – you name the nasty things, they want to do all of it. They want to cut corners with you despite the fact that you have done your job well. They want to take you down. Your angry, irritated, frustrated. This life in Mumbai, this terrible traffic, this fucked up lifestyle, sedentary, tiresome, struggle-some. Is it worth it? For every 1 good person there are 5 nasty ones, who want to put you down. What should you do?

Fight, scream for your rights, go to court, or atleast threaten to go to court, protest, morcha, strike! If your somebody as strong willed as Anna Hazare your voice is heard, but then again he is an exception; if you’re a big guy with connections all over the place; a reasonable chance that you will be heard, but if your a common man like me in this struggle-some life, you have to find ways to threaten X company’s reputation, pretentiously make noise, pretend as if you can run their reputation, maybe the company will listen, maybe they wont. But you do stand a little less than 50% chance. But if you are my house help, you don’t stand a chance. Unfortunate for him, and I say it with all my heart, he was not as lucky as me to be born to a struggling middle class family where he could be educated. You think he will be able to make a difference. He works extremely hard to earn his bread butter, not to say that, you and I and the big guy with the connections doesn’t, we all do. But he invests his body and mind, and his returns are significantly disproportionally to ours.

What should be done? This bastardly act of people all around who want to put you down, teaches you one of two things. Join the crowd and do the same else stand up tall. If you stand up tall, it requires balls of steel. There is only and only misery and suffering all around you. People around you will make fun of you; your life will be terribly difficult because you chose to walk a lone journey of sticking to your morals and not joining the crowd. Your very own loved ones will not understand you. Not because they don’t want to. They want to. But how can they, they aren’t looking at the world they way you are.

Imagine this. Your one family traveling going from place X to place Y. The car has place for 5 of which all 5 are occupied. Despite the journey being the same, the same car, each one see’s a different view. The driver see’s cars coming head on from the other side of the road, the person seated behind him, is able to see a glimpse of the same car passing by. Same car. Same place. Everything is the same. Just a timing mismatch. The driver see’s it in a different perspective only 1 second before the person behind him. Both are never on the same page. One saw it earlier. One saw it latter. One saw the full car, one maybe saw half the car. This is true in the case of humans as well. Parents have experienced their life, and maybe have been at the same place where their child is today. They want to explain the child their wisdom their learning’s, and they try to. However, the child is the person who was sitting behind in the car. How can he understand that there is a car passing by? Only when he has a direct experience of it, he will be able to respect what you were saying to it. Till then it means nothing to him.