IT's time to say BYE at 1234 (Company name!)

When we leave organizations we all send out mails expressing our feelings! this was one such mail I sent out to all the people at 1234! Hope you enjoy Reading!

Dear All,

Somebody once said Change is the only thing which is constant!!!!

As most of you know and for some of you it might come across as a shock(exaggerating!!!) that today is my last day with 1234(for this time!!). My stint at 1234 was indeed a Joy of Life. Looking back(in time!!!) the number of people who got trained by me(I did Work!!!) and of course the training rooms which I enjoyed jumping around, the people who bullied me and the person who was my mentor(Read ABC!!!) will be memorable.

I would like to mention many people at this moment.

First of all, ABC Sir. ABC Sir you rock and thanks a lot for being my reporting manager, The knowledge and the attitude you imparted on me will be with me for a long time. Thanks for being my mentor. I have cleared my Derivatives Module today with 82%, would like to dedicate this to you.

Dear XYZ mam, you have stood by me through flowing and still waters. In total helped me come up the curve every bit. I will remember the critical points which you have given me and would work on it in future as well. XYZ mam and venu sir you both have been a pillar of strength for me and helped in every point of my existence with 1234.

I would also take this opportunity to thank MNO sir for being a guide.

QRST , the time we worked together is very less but want to thank you for being a strong motivator and for always appreciating the good work I did. Honestly you are one of those people I would look up to for inspiration for hard work. Thanks to DEF sir and JKL sir as well.

Even though I would like to thank many people who have been there for me and cherish there memories with me. I know they all understand I’m thanking them.

I’m sorry to disappoint all the people who have opened DEMAT accounts trusting me, but would like to reassure that I’m just a call away@ adithyaah@gmail.cOM

P.S; The many friends whom I made at 1234 will continue to get troubled as usual by my calls and mails!!!

Take Care and Godspeed!!!:-)

MBA and the Great Indian CAT fight!!!

MBA has been the center of action, Life has been revolving around this 3 letter acronym for the past 8months. Time flies. MBA has been transformational experience. As I write this mail few of my classmates have secured several projects with major companies (Exaggeration!!) ok, respectable organizations across the world. Simultaneously few have also secured probable job promises from people who are plum positions!!! I hope you are getting what I'm talking about!!

Let me rewind my life 4 years. 4 years back, I came out of college after a BE and promised myself to pursue my love for Financial markets and joined into an Insurance Company into sales for 8k per month. That day I was not bothered who joined which soft-ware company and who got the best offer. I did not bother about the number of people who stopped talking to me as a consequence of my job profile nor did I really bother about all the girls who joined into Soft-ware as it was and may be still perceived 'SEXY' industry. Oh and finally how can I forget the ON-SITE opportunities ranging from A to Z (read America to Zimbabwe!!!).

At that time only thing important was to do what I liked, felt like a TIGER (Pantheris Tigris)

However, The last 4 years I have been working like the same tiger, doing things I liked, being with people who mattered, performing at the best level of my abilities, and as well making my own choices of living the way I wanted. So what? As a person of this behavior I belonged to a group which is quite unique and exclusive group.

Taking this behavior to the next step, I took up MBA and decided that I had to benchmark myself against the world an international experience, global in perspective (If you like such terms, god bless you!!). During MBA every one of us have gone through a phase of metamorphosis, gene-modification. Where everyday we get with the fear of another class mate securing a great job, good opportunity and finally beautiful chick (if unmarried), am I becoming a CAT??

This is what I called the great Indian CAT Fight, Am I getting domesticated by all the expectations to do well? Repay a huge student loan? To get a good job and a great salary? I see people talk on phone as if they are RAW or MI agents, printing off sheets and hiding them in suitcases which have locks!!! More over I came here with a MBA dream of getting into Finance but somehow I have applied to Projects and Jobs which are as irrelevant as Deepika - Siddharth Kiss and Kingfisher stock price performance!!!!

However, I get up everyday to fight such internal cat fights and in zeal of saving the TIGER in me, I reassure myself to focus on the big picture. There is a silver lining to all this. If securing a Finance project after rejecting many Marketing and Operations Projects is the first step of keeping the TIGER alive then the TIGER has survived in ME!!

If at anytime you feel being converted from a TIGER to a domestic CAT, Stop and think again!!! Love all the people who stood by me!!!!

" LET THE TIGER IN YOU SURVIVE!!!!"

Interesting Phase of Investment

As you have been watching, this is an important and interesting phase of Investment. Macro Economic factors like Inflation inching higher and higher day by day. As a consequence the 'Interest Rates' are also on the up move. Even the 'Gold' cannot be ignored.

However, word of caution on Gold.

Gold is generally treated to be a hedge (Insurance) against inflation. But, the emergence of HEDGE Funds, who borrow money and trade on margins (Buying house on loan type) are pushing the prices of gold higher and higher. Can the prices of Gold sustain at such high levels forever? May be or may not be. However, in all this hype on 'Gold', investors have ignored another metal called 'Silver', which has made more money than gold made. Bottomline: Make sure at least 4 - 8% of your portfolio is GOLD. As the saying goes, 'You hate it or you love it but you still can't ignore it".

Coming Back to INFLATION. In order to bring inflation under control, the RBI has increased Interest Rates. All the Retires, Fixed Deposit Investors are happy. So if you are looking for a long term of fixed income at high interest rates then this is probably the perfect time to LOCK-IN some part of the portfolio. So go for an " FD " or FD like any investment with longer period.

INFlation has been negative for banks (Give higher interest on FD, considerable lower interest on LOAN!!), large companies which borrow funds to grow and other business which borrow regularly. If interest goes up people will stop buying 'Luxury' goods like high end cars, houses, and other discretionary spending will get affected.

Inflation and interest rates increase are directly proportional. This cycle usually lasts for 1 - 3 years based on the trade off between Growth and inflation curb. The BANKS will be worst hit of all this because:

1. High rate on FD, Considerable low rate of LOAN (the difference become small)
2. People would not interested in taking loan at higher rate (Slowing Credit Growth)
3. If not much business, not much profits means lower and lower stock prices.

Based on this 'WE CAN TAKE A CONTRARIAN CALL' to buy BANKS NOW at cheaper prices and wait for the INTEREST RATE cycle to play out. Potential Avenues of investment into banks is to buy the BIG ones like SBI, ICICI, HDFC in no particular order. Or invest in BANKING SECTOR FUND which would give an exposure to nearly all major banks. This can be done either by a short horizon large investment SIP with paying period of 1 year.

Want, need and more.......

Decided not to write a long one, will keep it short. I want this, that and more..... however, what we really want is a meal to satisfy hunger, a place to call as home, loved ones to share and most important inner peace of being yourself. Yeah yeah I know money is important and of course education, love in life, a own house, a good rather a great career, and blah blah blah......!!!!! List seemed never ending, I always thought them to be simple but when listed seem long and never ending.

However, I give lot of credit to MBA (have to give!!!!) This MBA has been quite a transformation for me, i'm sure all my friends after reading this would be wondering WTH, and saying to themselves that he is still the same useless he has been. Lazy to the core. Anyway, don't wanna deviate from what I was digressing about.

As humans, we need some things, we want certain things and Finally the definition of these two would be different for each individual. A want for one is a need for other and viceversa. I was listening to a talk by Dalai Lama and he said, the objective of an individual is not to chase his wants but to make sure the needs of himself and his family be satisfied. A very deep and intriguing thought. However, When Ambani built his palatial house, what was he trying to do? Satisfy his families needs to heed to their wants? It can be a want in my perspective, but can be a need of his family with a 1.6lac Cr. wealth cant it be a need for them? Hmmmm...... the difference between want and need seems so simple until we looked from different perspective.

6 months

Back after 6months, thanks to few friends who motivated me to write. Not much to write though, Last 6 months have been quite a journey, I continued the discovery of myself. It was an interesting time, lots of activities, new people (Everyday everyone is nearly new), a trip to the European region including France. My rendezvous with French. exams, CFA. Wow!!!! I guess I have a serious issue with getting my alphabetical order right!!! Lets try once more, I studied SSLC, then it was PUC, then BE??? now MBA!!! and want to do CFA!! Holy s***. See this is what I meant when I said my alphabets are screwed up.

Anyway, ignoring these, the last 6months has been quite happening. Things are changing fast, studies have been at the center of all the activities. Never, ever thought I would end up studying so much in 6months. In hindsight, if I would have studied the same in my BE!!! I would have BEen much BEtter of in BEing what I have BEen!!! aaah..... nonsense. But, just a thought.

Writing Ass-ignments were a different experience. I felt Ass-ignments were the best of expressing yourself and your thoughts about any subject. I made I was heard in every ass. (for short). Varied topics, variety of issues, thousands of views but still I realized the objective was the same to make students understand a subject. However, me and my fellow Indians, struck by the great Indian competition disease (like AIDS, ICD), did everything possible to write ass. of greater value and good grades of course.

Though flawed, the one thing of education in UK is that there are no preconceived notion about the abilities of an individual to do a good job. I have been a beneficiary of the same. Having completely penalized by the extreme favoritism and exams concept, writing ass. have given me a new lease of life. I recognize that every problem has multiple ways of approaching it, thanks to all the ass.'s I wrote.

Away from studies, I feel sense of maturity has emerged. I am evolving, not liking it at all. But this seems a Emergent (F***** strategy) strategy which has happened in me. I have made friends who would stay for life (I leave the choice to them!!). Thanks to these friends and old ones who have stayed on life seems manageable(MBA effect)!!!!

Next one on Trip to France!!!

I'm Back!!!

It was long time since i wrote a blog. Various reasons!!!! i had even forgotten the name of my blog!!! life has been quite a roller coaster in the last 10months of 2010. 2010 has been quite significant and hay wire for the way it unfolded on me. I was wondering as why i did not write blogs after the starting off. As I did analysis, i realized i was bored, irritated, busy and as well incoherent with my own self.

Anyways leaving all that I'm back to my good old days of blogging. Some notable things happened in last one year:

1. I grew up as an individual to an older kid.

2. Not so important but lost some more hair:(

3. Assumed the responsibility of a training head with a company and left to be back as a student.

4. Traveled for the first time out of the country and currently in Bradford.

5. Joined Bradford school of management to take up a new journey,

6. Made some friends for life, lost some so called friends for life and became closer to the existing friends.

7. And still discovering myself everyday, every minute and.......

The list can go on but as of now. thats it!!! Happy to be back!!!

My Month_DeCeMbEr

December has been a roller coaster month, work was at its highest and personal life was at its normal. I had given myself some targets for the month of december, some of the few were: getting my transcripts from VTU(from Belgaum), Read one or two books, achieve office targets of 100% productivity, buy a nice watch(Edifice_as Shaz puts it), motivate SHAZ for the common objective(Pport!), then as well complete my applications for few universities, two three interviews, watch some good movies....... Etc etc., Small list though.

Month started with a new unexpected responsibility(surprise) of making and supervising the new products PPT at office. I ended up putting more than 14hrs a day, though the PPTs were well appreciated, My boss started loading all these type of work on me, my team is being over burdened:-( Then the trainings started slowly picking up pace, I reached mangalore on the 7th morning to realise the trainings are to be delivered by me. It was a great experience when you deliver your training in front of a person who has been ur silent mentor for last 2yrs.(Read: Suoer boss, Abhi), Then I came back and broke a record of Back to back training record of 12 sessions and being appreciated for all of them was a serendipity.

As the month ushered the books started flowing from all sides, Shaz, Paanwala, Jags, Rash... etc etc all loaded me up with lots of books to study. In less than 3days i had more than 10 books on platter. Very few!!! Started my work with a Book I had heard too much about Intelligent Investor( A book I had dropped once due to too many pages!!!!) finished in flat 4days, then moved on to a book called Eats, Shoots and Leaves(Shaz's discovery) read it, though not my types some digested it in 3days, Then came a book called THE GOAL, by Eliyahu Goldart, A beautifully written and concevied book with all the right stuffs. It helped me to understand the perspective of truth and the importance of goal and the points of goal setting(My Career Requirement!!), Then final read book called 2 states(Paanwala's REco!!!) a truth of lies packed with conviction and the finesse of relationships, sorrows and the truimph of the Strenght of relationships. Honestly the most important thing in a relstionship is the committment and the conviction of staying together in Adversity.

It also gave a strong signal on Forgiving people for all the things they did to you and embrace the truth to reduce the weight of the burden of the mistakes other people have done the loss they suffered of ignoring you. Great Message, Though I expected some Masala, I had more than the platter could have contained. This boook will always be close to me, First I take a lot of inspiration from this and I started reading this book when I started my journey towards My Alma matter VTU in Belgaum. I scary and funny journey, where I made new frens in Belgaum(Vinay and Kavya) though both from bangalore. Probably will write in next about the travel.

A complete month with all the happening keeping a step forward towards the future.

Lastly:

:-) Today is a "GIFT", that's why its called Present (-: