The Hair Cutter...

One of these days I was sitting in office when Betsy our radio announcer started shouting about some Fiscal Haircuts. Just brought back a memory.

I was 10 years old, in Asansol, before I had ever heard of the concept of a Jawed Habib haircutting saloon. The barber I used to frequent was a gentleman called Lalloo, Lalloo dadu I used to call him, and his hair cutting was exactly like his name. Made me look like a Laloo, such was the brand value. Anyways this barber had been frequented by all my uncles and my dad in days bygone, so by tradition I had to go there too and get my hair cut for Rs.10 only.

There was a new buzz in town though, those days of a saloon called Maya. Air Conditioned it was and supposedly could cut your hair like any Bollywood star you wanted. Anyhow he charged Rs.20, double of my hair cutting budget, so then it was beyond my means. I crossed by it often on my cycle and looking at the dark glass and air conditioning, I wondered what it would be like from inside. I pictured a dude with an Elvis Pressley hairstyle, wearing dark glasses, and cutting hair with the swagger you would associate with a Viv Richards. Air Conditioned saloons were a vogue, and I desired to be a customer.

Anyhow, one fine day, I broke my piggy bank, and decided that enough was enough, I was going to get my hair cut there, albeit at the expense of my entire savings. So go there I did, and dressed myself up for the occasion, wearing my best clothes, hoping to impress the hair cutter enough to give me a Shah Rukh Khan type hairdo.
I was in for the shock of my life.

Air Conditioned it was, most definitely, but beyond that my imagination could not have been more deceived. The Elvis Pressley guy definitely wasn't there, the dark glasses too were missing, Insted brandishing the scissor in their hands like swords, were what seemed like four Bihari gentlemen, each of them completely bald, well not completely, but the tiny pigtail of hair donning the back of their shiny heads, and all of them ready to attack.

For all you do, you definitely do not want a bald man to cut your hair, just out of the fear that maybe they would treat your head like an experiment to express what was expressed on their shiny heads. At least my previous barber had hair, I told myself as I wondered what to do.

I did end up getting a hair cut there that day, and it definitely was no Shah Rukh Khan, but from that day forth, I reverted back to my old barber Laloo, at least there were no false dreams there, to be a Lalloo, is to be a lalloo...

The paan wallah: Part 1

Name: Govinda Chowrasia
Age: Anywhere in the range of 18-22 years
Address: Banaras, Uttar Pradesh
Occupation: Paan and Ciggarette ka thela outside Millennium City, Kolkata
Side Business: Masala Cold drink and Soda Shikhanji on additional thela

Probably one of the most enterprising young paan wallahs of the area, he boasts of a majority of the cigarette smoking population of Millennium city. He specializes in his meetha Benarasi paan, and abuses bengali paan wallahs for not knowing the art of making one.

Intelligent, sharp as a razor knife and always looking for different avenues to grow into, Govinda started a cold drink stall next to his thela, and decided to name it, (as he told me) 'CCD kaisa naam rahega?'.. "CCD?", I asked, "Wo toh wahan hai" and pointed out a Cafe Coffe Day to him. "Arre wo nahi bhaiya, Chowrasia Cold Drinks.. CCD hi hua na?".. Call that copyrighting....

He doesn't allow people to keep udhar, but definitely allows them to deposit extra money when he doesn't have change, so that they come back for more later. As he told me once, "Paise se hi paisa banta hai sir, aaj koi mujhe 2 rupaiye kam diya aur 2 din baad waapis diya toh uske liye toh theek hai, but mera sochiye, 2 din me mein 2 rupaiye ka 4 bana sakta hun, toh mera 2 rupaiye ka loss hi hua na?"
Call that shrewd business sense...

Well definitely a bit irresponsible, he often leaves one of his cigarette smoking clients in charge of his cart while he goes off to catch a byte to eat.

I once gave him the suggestion to start keeping mobile recharge vouchers, but according to him the margin isn't good enough. "Agar sim card bechte hain toh theek hain, thoda paisa ayega, but recharge voucher me margin bhi nahin aur chote chote kaagaz ka is thele pe dhyan kaun rakhega."

Now due to construction of the footpath in the area, Chowrasia ji has been pushed onto the brink of the road, which apparently will be widened. When I pointed it out to him, he told me " Sir, Government ka kaam hai na, toh koi problem nahi. Agar bol rahe hain ki 3 mahine me road ko bada karenge matlab araam se yahan 2 saal baith sakta hun."... Call that total faith in authorities.

Well chowrasia ji is definitely an aspiring entrepreneur and a shrewd one at that...

Don't really know.....

I was watching this game show a few days back.. KBC.. A guy with 1 crore in the bank was attempting to win 5... The downside of course would be to lose all but 3.2 lacs of it.. and he had a lifeline which gave him two bites at the pie.. The problem was he had no clue what the answer was... As I looked at him trying to make a decision, i wondered what I would have done in such a situation...

Looking at it objectively
(i) 2 goes at a question with 4 options, a probability of winning increased from 1/4th to 7/12th... a probability of more than 50% that answer would be correct... More objective thinking.
(ii) If I win.. I get 4 crores... if I lose its just 0.968 crores I'm losing...

Random thought...
But wait... I've won 1 crore... I can fulfill most of my dreams with this.. why risk throwing it away... But if I win 5 then I really can do even better... what should I do...

Ego comes in now... If I win I will be the first guy to have won so much in a game show. people will know me. I will be famous... Come on there are so many cameras here.. the whole world is watching.. and I cant be so unlucky.. Come on i just need one out of the 2 to be correct(So now for me the probability becomes 50%)

Now this is where the mentality of a trader starts to come into the picture.
You can never make money without risking money.. Money makes money, so let me give it a shot. I'll take it this way.. If I win, I've done amazing money management.. if I lose, well I tried hard, I put my risk on the table, and unfortunately it didn't pay off.

But suddenly a story flits into the back of my mind, the story of a certain Mr. Nick Leeson.. He had all the risk worked out, one trade was going to make him and his bank a millionaire, and then at that very moment, an earthquake in Indonesia lead to Barrings Bank being sold to RBS at the royal sum of 1 penny.

And now the host starts saying, ' Aap kaafi duvidha me lag rahe hai.. Aap 1 crore jeet chuke hain.. Agar aap chahe toh aaap game abhi isi waqt chhod ke jaa sakte hain.' And really on the spur of the moment, keeping all the pros and cons and the fact that I didn't know the answer at all, aside, I would have said..........

Well I still can't understand myself yet.... Will be back as soon as I have an answer.....

World Cup Fever... or world economic meltdown..

As the World Cup enters it's business stage we can easily say that this has been the most open tournament ever. Upsets jumping out from all corners. Underdogs over-performing. Perennial favourites underachieving.

Who would have thought that France would be trashed by Mexico.. That Italy humbled by Slovakia.. England held by lowly Algeria.. Germany defeated by the gritty Serbs. And to top it all off the mighty Spanish beaten by a country better known for its Banks than for its football.. Switzerland indeed shock victors....

It shows probably a reflection of the financial crisis in Europe.. Spain or Germany they say should win for the better of the world economy. But since when has economy driven the events on a football pitch.

Italy and France.. Two of Europe's superpowers. Both financially as well as in football terms.. Both on the brink of financial meltdown. Probably the disunity in the French ranks and the lethargy of the Italians reflects in their financial system too..

Greece are in the midst of major financial crisis with the strictest of austerity measures imposed.. And yet they rebounded to their first ever win in a world cup. A sign of resiliance i say.

England's government has just come up with a set of budget cuts and austerity programs meant to reduce their fiscal deficit. A farce I say.. Take a look at the players and it reflects.. The lack of discipline.. the need to enjoy the good things in life seriously reflecting in their football..

On the other hand we have the traditional Latin american nations always been good at their football and bad at their economy...
Well.. it seems there is economic trouble everywhere.. so the Messis and the Kaka's are bringing their football to the fore and letting it inject liquidity into this world cup making up for the lack by the European powerhouses..

And then we have a resilient Asia.. Powering on aiming to be world leaders.. The Hang Seng and the Nikkei outshadowing the Euronext and the FTSE... Good performances by South Korea and Japan showing how the gap is fast closing between the learners and the teachers...

They are comparing this world cup to a world war...

I would rather be an economist than a marksman and say maybe.. just maybe... its a sign of how the financial power in the world is going to shift....

A walk in the night

They say a walk in the night is the best thing to get a perspective n life. Confused as i have been over the past few days i decided it was time to take one.

As I stepped out it was humid and not a hint of a breeze anywhere around. The darkest of dark clouds spread across the sky with not a hint of the moon or the stars. It was really really very dark.

As I enter the park a shiver goes down my spine. You could call it fear or apprehension or whatever, but the darkness loomed all around with not even a sliver of the moon to break its shroud.

Anything could happen. one of those characters looming in the shadows could pounce upon me and mug me. A fearful beast might hinder my progress. I had half a mind to turn back, but i really needed the perspective so i steeled myself and soldiered on.

As i walked ahead the landscape seemed to change. Those shady trees seemed to make way and lo behold a lake appeared. A huge body of murky black filled with enough evil it seems to swallow even the Kraken.

The evilest thing i had ever seen suddenly seemed to transform into great beauty. The clouds seemed to part a bit and a sword of silver appeared in the middle of the evil beast stabbing its heart and creating it into the most beautiful sight i have ever seen. A sign of hope.. maybe

I marched on with hopeful thoughts filling up my mind.. things seemed more cheerful now..

A breeze began to blow lifting the humidity and the clouds seemed to part a bit.. the silver lighting up my path making to look almost ethereal. A path illuminated by lamps of hope..

I walk on and the breeze picks up. The black clouds seem to make way for those of a fairer complexion. Sheets of cotton in a midnight blue; those silver rays and flickering lights in the sky.. the night seemed a better place all of a sudden..

There were people all around me now, reveling in the beauty of the night. The aura of love and belonging, of friendship and hope. There was warmth in the air and a joy in the mood. And i looked up into the sky only to see that the clouds had parted and a moon of perfect dimensions was smiling down upon us..

And as I was ending my journey i realised that life may seem dark and horrible at times but brave them and trudge on for hope will always guide you to a better place..