Get Invested In
April 12, 2015 Leave a comment
Cultivate Family
March 14, 2015 Leave a comment
As regular readers know, I have been watching the new advertisement efforts of housing.com with some interest. And yesterday, I saw two huge billboards with their ads outside the Siddhivinayak Mandir with the togetherness and help theme which provided the stimulus for this post.
Shri Siddhivinayakji is widely believed to be the remover of all obstacles and so worshipped. Ganpati is also believed to be the creator of obstacles in his attempt to keep us on the path we are meant to follow in this life.Failures are hard to live with, I deal with them by believing that its the universe’s way of saying that I am not engaging with the right thing or going about it the right way. So, I like to start all new ventures with a prayer at this temple for Ganeshji to help me go about things sensibly to attain as much success as I possibly can, in the simplest, swiftest manner possible. And yesterday’s was one another such visit to this temple.
Now,I like to pray in isolation. In a crowded temple such as Siddhivinayak,I can focus my thoughts inwards and isolate myself, as long as I am not accompanied by friends or family. Unfortunately, my mom is firmly of the school that believes that people should not go to temples or set out to engage in any auspicious activity in a group with an odd number of members. So, no way was she going to let me go by myself. Worse, she was already complaining of a backache. And my mom doesn’t believe in suffering in silence, especially when it comes to my company. So, I was slightly put off, knowing I was not going to have my wish for a few seconds of peace communing with the deity. Read more of this post
On Practicing Gratitude
March 5, 2015 Leave a comment
For the last couple of months, I have been practicing gratitude. I believe that doing so forces us to ‘be mindful’ as the Buddhists put it. That way we become more aware of what is happening to us at any given moment and we start living each moment more consciously and so get more out of life. Also if we get into the habit of being grateful for something, we will be conscious of its importance, and so unlikely to do or allow anything to be done to destroy what we regularly give thanks for. So, if we are regularly grateful for the food we eat, which we are aware of comes from our farm, and so and so helped grow it and transport it, we are likely to value the farm and the people who work there and their skills. We are unlikely to let the farm run to ruin or sell it out of hand. We are unlikely to disrespect the people who work there and lose the benefit of their abilities. And ultimately, all these things that we surround ourselves with are symbols of our wealth. If fact our wealth comes from these production systems we control. So, if we’d rather be wealthy and remain wealthy, practising gratefulness is a good exercise. Just, set aside a few seconds a day to mentally count the many good things you have enjoyed in the course of the day, and get started on practicing gratitude. Read more of this post
Virtual Equity
January 4, 2015 3 Comments
Have you ever wondered how billion dollar infrastructure projects are financed by the private sector in India? Here is the story:
Say there is a Rs.10,000-crore project, with a 70:30 debt-equity ratio. The promoter needs to put up Rs 3,000 crore as equity . Suppose he can scrape together Rs 1,000 crore. He will inflate the project cost to 15,000 crore.
His required equity contribution now goes up to Rs 4,500 crore but he gets credit worth Rs 10,500 crore, more than enough to finance the entire project.
During implementation through promoter-owned companies, money will be taken out of the project, to fund a part of his equity contribution and to grease the palms that allow such an inflated project cost to go not just unchallenged, but actually blessed.
While implementing the project, he will start another project, take money out of it to fund the remaining part of the original project’s equity contribution and to service the loan on the first project once its construction is over. Then he will start yet other projects, to actually finance the second project, and so on. The first project will turn into a cash cow, if this string of loan-financed projects can continue to mushroom long enough for the loan on the first project to be fully paid off. Read more of this post
Apple’s Negotiating Formula
December 26, 2014 Leave a comment
Apple wants what Apple wants, when Apple wants it and how Apple wants it. And Apple will pay for it. If they don’t get what they want, they just say no. And they typically don’t come back a second time. And they may declare war on you. – Ryan Lokey
wealthymatters 