~ Reflections ~

In some shape or form, most of us (individuals and organizations) are in a quest of wealth creation.. moolah..... all ways and means to build for the future. The future for self, progeny, family, society.. the aspiration could vary, but the underlying theme remains the same. The ones with a small loci start with wealth creation for self, and extend it to our families. The next level think about the near and dear. A few have the vision for creating for the society, strangers.  But the bottomline remains the same. A recent edition of First Principles  by The Ken, which all about the joy of investing in self, provided an interesting perspective to this discussion. But to me, the highlight was the article by Nipun Mehta  really changed my viewpoint on wealth. Needless to say, all of us underestimate the impact we have on each other, if only we choose to think about it.

We have a help who takes care of our Tiny Human in our absence (albeit when we are doing more important things like running in the corporate rat race). It recently occurred to us that she actually has a child of a similar age who she leaves behind at home just to help us run our race. The irony of the situation still makes me wonder. The rat race is keeping us away from taking direct care of the child, but is enabling us to pay someone to do the same on our behalf. Ofcourse that is forcing her to stay away from her our child and being the direct care giver !!!  Strange are the ways of life !

I understand a person's urge to do certain things.. to scratch and itch.. to click fingers.... to crack their knuckles... I get all that..  But I somehow can't seem to get over this urge hoards of people seem to have to grab a drink on Friday night to unwind....  Don't get me wrong, I am not against the idea of relaxing with friends over food and drinks.. but the primary objective always remains catching up... catching up isn't the excuse ! But now, Friday nights have been presenting a new nightmare... it is the jam close to our place thanks to a new 'state owned' liquor shop.... Every Friday, the place crowds up like there is no tomorrow... needless to say the joy in parking their vehicles inorder to successfully block all traffic.... I wonder what is the basis of these licenses the government doles out licenses for such liquor stores. There are already 3 such stores in a 2 km radius, and this is not including the 'sophisticated' wine selling ...

Modi's current move of demonetization seems to be the current buzz word wherever we go. India’s PM, Narendra Modi, surprised and even shocked many when he announced that Rs 500 and 1,000 notes would no longer be legal currency. This is some 86% of the entire cash money supply of the country. Without getting into the political aspects (though I am sure that is a significant piece of the move), there seem to be some clear positives in this. Finally, the old cash being hoarded by the infinite households of India have finally seen the light of the day, and in some cases a bank account as well. The sudden purging of currency will bring the terrorist activities to a screeching halt. Suddenly banks are seeing a huge inflow of cash. Banks have cumulatively received around 5.5 Lakh Crore Rupees within one week. However, there appears to be a lot of collateral damage. People are having a tough time accessing their own hard earned money which is lying in bank accounts. Nee...

Someone very rightly once said "Health is Wealth". We may be rich or poor, young or old... what makes are life better is a life free of any illnesses. And keeping our body & its wellness intact seems to be becoming an expensive affair... n ot just in India, but globally. People running this business are faced with the problem of deciding between making the business break even v/s doing what the hospital is there for, that is take care of its patients in the best, most efficient way (the two needn't be mutually exclusive though). Since building even a decent hospital/medical care setup takes loads of money, it is but natural for the people taking the initiative to look out to banks.... However, private equities wanting to put in money (and expecting 25 - 30 % returns in exchange) is a dangerous proposition to my mind... Whether it is Max group, Fortis or any of the other ones, one can easily note the trend in their billing...  excessive tests, unnecessary scans...