Homesick?

Came to India for a 3 week vacation. This is the last week. Somehow I don't know how quickly the time went by... was just wondering if somehow one could get hold of a pause/fast-fwd button... that simply give us the choice of pressing any as the time warrants as the clock ticks...

Well, many things have happened since the last time I posted on my blog... important among the ones - became a dad, relocated to Germany. Both have given me immense pleasure - maybe I will share more during some future blog post. Not now though..

After traveling to different countries I was thinking that maybe I do not fall under the category that is usually susceptible to an oft used term - 'home-sickness'. Maybe, I thought that its more an academic term than one which can be experienced. Somehow I must admit that I did miss being away from home - its maybe the traffic.. maybe the people.. maybe the mundane-ness.. maybe this maybe that.. I was just wondering today when I met Rajesh (a close relative of mine) and we started discussing things about Europe and everything un-Indian about it.

I think, I feel the best when I can seamlessly merge with people around me. Maybe being an Indian outside India doesn't provide that luxury. Well, that could just be it...

Anyways.. back to Germany this weekend. Back to work. But.., it just feels nice to be writing again after a long time. Maybe I should write more often!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Taken by surprise- dividend yielding stocks..

It was after a long time that I was closely monitoring my bank statements.. was surprised to see that there was a steady flow of money (small but decently big to get me interested offcourse..)..

Well, after doing some deciphering, realized that these are some dividend money trickling in.
The beauty of this money is - its tax free in India!

Well.. I am sorry if I am sounding a lil stupid.. but believe me, had never thought that dividends are tax free.. and could get significant.

I guess - its certainly one of the things I will give close attention from now on!
Afterall, now I can show my wife that it's a lil more than phantom cash afterall :-)

Ciao till next time...Harsha

My New year resolutions..

Well.. I know its kind of kiddish to have new year resolutions.. but, it always makes me feel happy to start a new year afresh, have new resolutions, get new ideas and start everything from a clean page..

Here's my 'love to do list':

• Read one book a week..
• Jog at least during weekends
• Learn cooking :-) (my wife would love this..)
• Learn at least one new sport - golf, skiing?
• Learn to be a pessimist (go short) on stock market

I've consciously kept work away from the list.. my hope is to continue the good momentum on work front from yr 2010.. be open to new ideas.. and make sure I execute well to a charm! Always enjoy the fact that- change is the name of the game..

Wish you all a wonderful 2011.. here's my favorite CnH which defines how I feel-


Ciao till next time...Harsha

Why do I fight for newspaper?

Its a curious thing that I have noticed.. I know it is entirely harmless, but here it goes... I have never been able to read the newspaper completely from past 2- 3 years........!

Everyday in morning, I end up fighting for the newspaper with my dad.. or mom or sis or wifey and end up reading either the sports section or the business section or just gossip section about how Salman Khan has built his muscle or how Aish still glows in her 40's or yadi yadi... yadi..... rub*^$h in bangalore times.

You see... the fun is always reading the newspaper first thing in morning from cover to cover as soon as it comes; not in evening because the news is stale by evening and no one wants old news..

I keep wondering how I can catch that elusive 'whole' newspaper in morning!

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Corruption Wala Games (CWG) to Olympics..?

Overheard - Lalit Modi asking Suresh Kalmadi if he needed help organizing Common Wealth Games...


CWG has got many names from different ppl now.. Corruption Wala Games, Calmadi Wealth Games, Common-Wealth Gate (after Watergate)

But.. I just hope this goes off well.. I know many ppl want this to fail so that corruption of such magnitudes (36K Crore) will not occur in future (you see we stand a borderline chance of getting the 2020 Olympics).

Why? Its important to get some start for a nation like ours.. ppl world over (esp West) have a very bad image of India. Most Westerners connect to India of Villages, snake charmers, elephants... illetrate masses who struggle to eat a square meal a day.. etc etc..

I agree this image is not wrong alltogether - Indians have always grown in the midst of dichotomous world divided between have's and have nots... 'Slumdog Millionaire' type images are not totally absent yet..

Yet.. yet I feel this stereotyping is not correct.. we are also a nation of rich people. Top 5% of India's rich would certainly be richer than top 5% of US, Japan, China, etc.. there is a slow yet identifyable transition from being a hopeless nation to one with hope.. there is a slow shift one can see coming... because you see India is a very young nation. The median age of India is only 22 years.. the median ages of other nations are as follows- US 36yrs, China 32yrs and EU/JP over 40 yrs. Ever heard of demographic dividend?? In 2020, the average Indian will be only 29 years old, compared with 37 in China and the US, 45 in West Europe and 48 in Japan. People in our country need to think big.. thats what is needed.

I believe to change perceptions of a nation you need a right forum to showcase the change.. for images of a nation to change from snake charmers to Info tech savvy engineers.. a inflexion point needs to present itself. What better than Olympics? I am sure we can make a decent Olympics even with ppl like Kalmadi & Co. still in the midst of system. Even an 'average' Olympics in India is better than 'no' Olympics right?

For now.. wishing Common Wealth Games all the best :-P

Ciao till next time...Harsha

My theories on investing : Stock Market tips through Calvin

I have always been a keen stock market enthusiast. Being from a middle class family, the idea of making higher than the FD rate of return is like being shown a magical world. I have been following / investing from the time I was a small kid as my dad was one of those people who always liked to tinker with stocks since early 90's.

I still remember the old physical stock certificates which he used to get home.. The Master gains, master share, reliance, etc etc... It was only after I joined work that I started trading in stocks. My first investment was in the NTPC IPO in 2004 when I bought 200 shares of NTPC @56/share which I sold a few years back at 273. After that, I have been buying and selling ever since.. some with success and some with not so much success.

But I have always stayed ahead of the market and in a way acheiving my childhood dream of making higher than FD rate of interest. Here is a short summary of what I feel about identifying right companies to invest in..

First- I think there is one magical word which you need to be careful off if you want to make money. That word is "GREED". Be afraid of greedy companies - go by the fundamentals.. will the company stay profitable or has it got the potential to stay on and turn profitable in future..


Second- Take time out to follow the companies you are interested in. Its important to learn to ride the "bicycle". Everything is difficult till you learn it.


Third- Form your own theories. Make your own choices.. But, be careful to weigh your theories before implementing it :-) Learn to ride the bicycle before making theories on how to ride it..


Well, hope you liked it my friends. Off late I have not been able to update blog so often.. but I will try to update with info on what seems to be interesting and taking up my mind...

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Hmmmm...

I am copying shamelessly from my friend Yak's blog as this sums up nicely-

“It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed, is you.”

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Sri Lanka, LTTE, Emerald Isles, Coral heaven and much more..

I am not sure how many of you know that I had been to Sri Lanka for my honeymoon. Dangerous place eh? :)

May be not, I would say.

I want to talk in detail about Sri Lankans and LTTE. I want to give voice to Wasantha - the guy who chauffeured our car in Sri Lanka. he had a lot of stories to tell...

More interestingly during our 8 days stay in Sri Lanka, we had varied experiences.. but, wait... this will take more than 30mins I had for today to write (alas..). I need to refer my notes to write on Sri Lanka. I promise to jot down next time I sit down freely..

PS - well, this is a rather meaningless post nah?

Ciao till next time...Harsha

The times.. of MJ. Michael Jackson.

I am one of the last people to listen to English music or videos.. sadly I do not understand English songs. For one.. the beats are too loud or the the lyrics are so fast that I fail to catch the meaning of the song.

As I have said before, I stick on to Hindi videos for most part. I feel happy to be dished upon the masala tracks.. the racy run of the mill songs you see on Channel V or MTV. I fail to feel remorseful for this behavior. I am the perfect target for the present Hindi films.

But, why have I put MJ in this article title? The man they call Michael Jackson. I somehow had fallen prey to the dance numbers of a guy called Prabhu Deva. I loved his Tamil and a couple of Hindi videos.. his moves were different from others... It was only a few years back I realized that this guy imitates MJ.. and thats how I got to know Michael Jackson. I have rarely seen his videos, I dont remember his songs.. I dont even feel a thing that he is gone.

But, the way people have reacted to his death is mind blowing! I even read an article which talks about the number of times he had plastic surgery. http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html

He was a strange guy..
I even read forwards from friends related to his house.. cum wonderland.. cum obsession cum entertainment park.. (or whatever you may call it)..
Heard this guy took at least dozen pills a day...
Made $2Bn in his lifetime and still owes $400M in death
Had a string of failed sex change operations...
Virtually NO nose, no hair, no skin (on the face as some reports suggest it was pure silicone left)?
Hmm... donno what more some of his fans would know...

But, all in all a weird guy.. may be thats why he became such a famous guy.. hated, loved, respected and pooh-poohed at the same time..

May be.. it was better not to be famous, be black.. but alive? may be happy with homely wife and kids.. but not that rich... may be this may be that... but, may be.... more than anything world needs such weird people. You see, they call them legends.

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Europe – the funny, good, bad and indifferent parts..

I had never actually been to Europe before, but for short while waiting for transfer flights. This trip for a week was the first time I have set foot (in real) on Europe. It is a very different place from Asia and America. Europe is all about culture. In every city, every village- you will find some sort of history associated with it.

I felt German people to be very friendly, though they seldom understand English (at least the older people don’t). I realized that I did not carry the address of the hotel I was to stay when I landed in Munich. A rather helpful German lady guided me through the metro station and helped me buy a ticket. It was funny when she asked me if I was a Russian J. I would make a rather short and dark Russian for sure :P

The other thing I was a little surprised about was- the almost laid back attitude people carried with them.. the gentleman who arranged the customer meetings in Spain said that he envied the French who work 40hrs a week, while he worked for 52Hrs.. (now I would like to be in his place!).

Bah.. its so costly to travel and stay! Its almost twice what you would spend in US. Be it for the hotels (a 4 star hotel costing anything over 100euros to 150 euros) to taxi fares and food prices which almost makes Indian prices look like a 90% discount sale..

But, the one thing which surely impressed me was the vast number of museums and monuments spread across everywhere. It might seem a little strange- but people actually go to the museums pretty often- if you ask someone what he would prefer- going to the nearest art museum or the movie theater, the museum would be a hands down winner!

In the US its not a strange thing to be a Indian (except may be in places like Texas because you see.. in California every third person you meet is a Chinese or Indian), but here.. everywhere you go there is white skin all around. People are a little indifferent when they see you.. hey who is that desi roaming around! I couldn’t help but give a smile when I came across a fellow desi in Spain… he returned my smile offcourse (I have never tried smiling at a desi in US, lest he takes offense)!

All in all Europe is a great place.. and I fell in love with the place. I am sure I could do good business with the Europeans..!

PS- Why am I not differentiating between different countries?... Hmm, good question- to come to think of it, though people speak different languages, they all seemed same to me. May be I need to visit again to differentiate..

Ciao till next time...Harsha