The Final Lap

Having been in Bangalore for the last 2 years, I can safely say that I really like this place much better than Chennai. This mostly due to the weather because I don't live a comfortable life if weather is not to my liking. This I have seen even during my times in Durham. Now, I have only two weeks to go for my college life to end. It really has been a journey well worth taking in the end.

But the thing I have learnt is that MBA degree should be done only after getting at least a year experience in the corporate world. You get to learn a lot if you come from the industry. I see a lot of people in my class who don't have a clue about even a simple thing which you would have learnt easily if you had worked earlier.

The only disadvantage of doing my MBA degree at Christ has been that most of my fellow mates are freshers. Don't take me wrong that I don't like their company but I would have liked them to have some experience before doing this MBA for their own good. On myself, by the grace of God, I believe I have achieved what I intended to achieve before coming to Christ University. Thanks to my mom who motivated me throughout and gave me the courage to do this course. Accidentally I am writing this on Mother's Day! 

I can see many classmates living a life pretending to be someone's else. Many long for love and affection from somebody. I really don't get it! At this age shouldn't they be concentrating on their careers and making use of opportunities coming their way? May be they are too young to think about this. I really don't know.

I hope to enjoy my final few days as Christite. I had a get together final goodbye kind of a brunch at JW Marriott. That was really good. Sometimes when sitting there, I had some flashes going through my mind of how lucky I am. Indeed God has been too kind on me. Thanks to Rakshitha for her plan. I also had a farewell lunch with my classmates with whom I attend electives. That was a complete photoshoot! I didn't like the food I ordered while the food others ordered were tasting good. That was also a good day.

I really feel like I am into my final lap as a full-time student. But I am the kind of guy who likes to learn new things and gather new knowledge and information. So I know my learning should not stop at this. I hope I exceed my own expectations just like I am doing right now.

In a few weeks I will be moving out of this hostel room and I hope to write the next post happier and stronger on the other side. Cheers!

Give Respect and Take Respect!

I didn't even think in the wildest of my dreams that I would be writing an article on this topic. But of late I have been observing a lot of hatred towards each other in India based on languages. Before starting I would first like to clarify that all these are my own thoughts and conclusions and have not been influenced by anyone or anything! 

Be it the laughter that angered me when a politician from Tamil Nadu spoke Tamil in Parliament or the agitation against Hindi for it being forced on South Indian states, I feel really angry and painful. The media particularly from Mumbai always seem to project South Indians as people who are against Hindi. This is so not true. I would like to speak on behalf of Tamil people as I belong to Tamil Nadu. Firstly, I am a proud Tamilan and I take pride in saying that! Then, we in Tamil Nadu are not at all opposed to any language or culture. To be frank, the one thing that unites people in Tamil Nadu together is the language. So how could we hate another language when we know that languages are the ones which makes us unique! We are not against Hindi but what we don't like is Hindi being forced upon us and our culture. 

Hindi is not the national language of India. Hindi in Devanagiri script is the official language of India. So what do you been by official language? It means, Hindi is to be used for all official purposes of the Union. Thats it! It is almost on par with English for all the non Hindi speaking states. The Official Languages Act of 1967 has provided for the use of English indefinitely. So why is Hindi being forced upon us when we clearly don't like other languages being forced upon us? Why are signboards given in Hindi translation? The majority of the people living do not speak Hindi in South Indian states, then why do we need signs in Hindi? Are we having signboards in Tamil in North India? As a matter of fact we are not even been listened to if we speak in Tamil in Parliament. Is that the respect Indian democracy show to the most purest language and oldest language in India?

I have been learning Hindi from my childhood days partly due to my interest and partly due to my mother. But my love for Tamil didn't stop me from learning Hindi. If anyone is interested in Hindi they are more than welcome to study it, practice it. But asking students to study it compulsorily as a subject in Kendra Vidyalas by the Central Government is not fair. All I am asking is for equality for all languages. Be it Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannnada, Marathi, etc. there is more to a language than just letters and speech. A whole culture is hidden behind each language and it is the duty of the government to safeguard all languages. 

Looking forward!

It's August and we have the start of the Premier League this year. Chelsea are the champions who walked home with the trophy last year with a clinical performance. I wouldn't say they were playing well because they didn't excite me much. The team that excited me the most last year was Tottenham Hotspur. The Spurs were brilliant: played attacking, exciting football. Thanks to Harry Kane & Co.

But as for Manchester United, it was the first year for Jose Mourinho and it would be unfair to judge him on his first season. But still he didn't do too bad either. He made the necessary changes in the club. From the staff to the players, he had full authority to change and bring back the glory days again to the Theatre of Dreams. He delivered us the UEFA Europa League, the League Cup and the Community Shield. To top it off we have the automatic entry into the UEFA Champions League which is very important both financially and for attracting players to come and play for the club. This season we have brought in three decisive signings: Romelu Lukaku from Everton, Victor Lindelof from Benfica and Nemanja Matic from Chelsea. All three would easily enter the starting eleven of the core team. 

Lukaku and Matic know the Premier League well and will get adapted to its physicality and sharpness quicker than Lindelof. So I do not expect Lindelof to start every game at the start of the season. This season we have an almost complete team to challenge in all competitions. We have to put the game to bed by scoring a lot of goals and should not try to protect a 1 goal advantage much like last year when we were trying to protect our advantage by going super defensive only for our opponents to find a loop hole and score. 

I have a lot of expectations from Manchester United this season and I hope we are back where we belong..

A new season to look forward to!

Happy 10,000! NIFTY reaches new heights..

Nifty made history today by breaking the 10,000 point barrier for the first time in its history and is a first for the Indian Stock Market to have its largest stock exchange by traded volume to achieve this feat. I am pleased that I too have participated in this run during its last mile, though I have also lost a lot (not by investing but by trading due to ignorance). I hope this new landmark can serve as a base for years to come.

The thing which we need to be cautious about it is whether the stock price growth is sustainable and whether the price of the share is aligning with the ground reality. In some cases the price seem to run away more than what the company is posting in its quarterly results anticipating a good future. I'm not of the view that we should be cautious but there is some point where future meets reality. One should be a bullish investor into this market as major reforms are happening in India. With the BJP in power in most of the states they are taking control of the economic policies. One thing which I didn't like is the farm loan waiver which has put a major burden on the state government's budget. The Election Commission should step forward and curb this viral disease which has been passing from state to state. 

The lesson I learnt today

I have always believed that greediness produces ill wealth and ultimately destruction. But today I'm surprised that even I fell for it today during my intra-day trading. This is one of those days when I thought of buying ITC stock at lower levels and selling it at a profit of Rs 2 per share. i got a profit of 10,000 Indian Rupees. A regular me would have stopped at that point and been happy with what I got. But it is stock market where greediness overtakes all other characters which you would have built for a long time within you. I put in another trade thinking I could not go wrong this time too. But as it happened I had to come out of the day with a loss of 1000 rupees. What I have learnt today is to be content with what we have at certain times in our life and not to be over confident. Another important thing is to respect the market. A market is a place for making money. Agreed. But there are certain principles which are to be followed. I believe I will learn from this lesson hereon and would be more careful and do the necessary before putting myself in.

My man Federer!

Congrats to my man Roger Federer for winning a record 8th Wimbledon title today!

What a player..! We should all be privileged to have born in this era of athletes like Federer, Phelps, Bolt, Messi, Ronaldo and Rossi. These sportsmen constantly raise the bar and prove that nothing is impossible in life if one puts his mind and heart into it. Today's win is a big motivation for me personally as Federer has proved that age is no bar in achieving goals. When everyone thought that he is finished when he lost last year, he took his time off, worked hard, skipped some tournaments and concentrated on the major one. It would have surely tough for a player of his stature to skip tournaments as he is not used to it and not to forget the tournament organisers pressure. Everyone would like to have him in their tournament, right? He made some tough decisions but has come out with winning colours.

I certainly hope he comes to Wimbledon fit again next year to defend his title just as he said in his interview. Well done Roger! You certainly have made yourself and your parents proud!

After a gap

I have been busy for a while and life has been hectic! I really didn't think I would get this busy during my second year of my MBA. During my summer holidays I had to do my internship and was fortunate enough to work as an intern at Metis Family Office Services in Chennai. Two months flew like anything and in the blink of my eye was sitting in the class of the seniors waiting for the first years to arrive.

Then I had my internship report to complete, CIMA classes in the morning, classes till 4 in the evening and then come to my room tired and exhausted. I am writing this post at 1 am early morning having our department fest the coming day. I am the event coordinator for Business Quiz and it's exciting and challenging to be a part of the fest. I really hope everything falls into place! I have always thought of writing my blog regularly but time is one thing I am feeling I am very short of nowadays. I have thought of writing my blog regularly and writing new posts even though it might be small. I want to share my opinion on some important events happening and a lot have been happening of late right from the crazy IPOs to the 12 NPA accounts which have been asked to find a quick solution or face the consequences by RBI. I hope this letters finds you all in good health and spirit. 

Good night!