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