A Chronicle of Sindh and the Sindhi

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Sindh, as of today, is one of the province of Pakistan. Sindh was home to one of the world's oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization which included the cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa at least 7,000 years old. The remains excavated in Mohenjo-Daro depict the state of affairs from civilisation point of view at that period. The region got it's name "Sindh" from the river sindhu (Indus) and the people living here are called as "Sindhi". Since the time of indus valley civilization this region is called as sindh and the people as sindhi. The term Hind and Hindi is derived from word Sindh and Sindhi as the ancient Persians pronunciate "s" as "h" e.g. sarasvati as harasvati, the same way they called the people of this region as Hindi people their language as Hindi language and the region as hind, the name which is used for this region since ancient times and later for whole northern part of Indian sub-continent even today India is also known as Hindustan the name which has nothing to do with hinduism, but related more to a people and their language named after the main river flowing through this region sindhu (Indus).
Indus valley civilization was one of the most developed and advanced city in South Asia, during its peak. The planning and engineering showed the importance of the city to the people of the Indus valley.

The Indus Valley Civilization encompassed most of Pakistan, extending from Balochistan to Sindh, and extending into modern day Indian states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab as we know today. When the Aryans came to India and stood on the banks of the mighty river Indus, they exclaimed in sheer wonder, "Sindhu! Sindhu!" The word 'Sindhu' appears in a number of hymns in the oldest Scripture of humanity, the Rigveda. And India was originally called, "Sindhustan" the " Land of the Sindhu". These Aryans in Sindh virtually the Indus Valley are mentioned in history of having played role in the battle of Hastinapur when King Jaidrath took his army to support the Kurus. The Sindh time line:

• The Sindhis rule the Sindh : 3300 BC - 1700 BC.
• Achaemenid Empire : 522 BC
• Macedonian and Greeks under Alexander the great : 326 BC
• Mauryan empire led by Chandragupta : 305 BC 

And from that time onwards they played the role of refugees. My regret is that many Sindhis - scattered, as they are, all over India and the world, are unaware of rich heritage which belongs to them. In the recent past, after partition in 1947, we left our home and spread out in every part of the world. And we still continue to be refugees. Though we are refugees driven away from our home we are again with our own Aryans who had spread out in parts of the country. The brother Aryans kept the banner of Sindh alive by including our identity in the National Song and recognizing as a positive community whose future lies in recovering the land of our birth and supporting the country as we did in the battle of Hastinapur. For at that time, we learnt that we were part of the central government ruled by Duryodhana. After the partition of India, Sindhis were dispossessed of their lands and properties (as my grandparents told me), they did not give into despair. Leaving their properties and possessions in Sindh, they migrated to India, bringing with themselves their enterprising sprit, their faith in God and their many qualities of head and heart. In Sindh, "there was never a Sindhu beggar". When they came to India, "they resolved that they would starve rather than beg". Little boys attended school during the day and in the afternoon, kept themselves busy hawking on the streets or in railway trains. Sindhi is the language of the Sindh region and is spoken by the Sindhi people over the world. Sindhi has various dialects:

• Sireli : Spoken in upper Sindh
• Vicholi : Spoken in the Centre
• Lari : Spoken in delta of Indus (Sloping grounds)
• Tharri : Spoken in the Thar
• Lasi : Spoken in Baluchistan

Sindhi Surnames: 

Derived from place of origin, caste, title... 1) Many Sindhi's have their surname ending with "-ani" (like mine, "Lalwani") Famous Sindhi scholar Professor Bherumal Advani even claimed that "-ani" surname dates back to Rigveda, According to him, pronunciation of Sanskrit suffix ayan and ayani have changed to -ANI in Sindhi and its meaning is "a descendant of". This means a surname "Lalwani" will mean descendants of Lalchand. 2) Surnames based on place, like from "Aror" has "Arora" or from "Shikarpur" has "Shikarpuri".. 3) Surname based on caste: Thakur, Bhatia, khatri... 4)Surname based on title: Mukhi(head of panchayat), Choudhary(head of village) 5) Surnames based on Nukha (totem): Chawla, Kukreja... 6) Surnames suffixed with "PAL"(protector): Rajpal, Nagpal... Similarly most other surnames...

The ever-changing technology

Recently I had a discussion with my friends on, "How dependent are we on Technology". Few days later, I came across this article on Facebook.

Why Investing in Capital Markets is waste of time!

As discussed in my earlier post, How to make money in Stock Market that, it is not so easy to make money in capital markets, am sure you must be thinking, "What a loser I am!"
So, most of the investors today are trying to become rich by either "Active" Investing or Investing in "Passive" instrument.

There are two basic ways to invest your money in stocks:
1. Active
You invest your money in select stocks or in funds which try to beat the market and continually monitor and adjust your portfolio in order to get good returns.
2. Passive
You invest your money in a passive index fund or ETFs which track the index, thus incurring the minimum investing fees and just trying to achieve market returns.

Why Active Investing is a Waste of Time
To be able to consistently beat the market in terms of risk adjusted returns, you have to be either
1. A fucking genius
2. Very fucking lucky
The probability of you being a big fucking genius or at least smart enough to beat the market is very low, tending to zero. There are many very intelligent people who have tried to do it, and have failed miserably, including ME!
There is one who has done very well – Warren Buffett, and he definitely isn’t a proponent of active investing, at least not in the form that most of you practice it. Buffett swears by the power of passive investing, even though he doesn’t do it himself.
Buffett can be considered to be the most successful investor on Earth, and he has always believed in value investing and passive (indexed) investing. If he says something, I’m surely inclined to believe him. Even history shows that passive investing is the best way to invest in the long term.
Coming to the second point, the probability that you will make a good amount of money by just being lucky is also quite low. There are seven billion people in the world. Assuming that there are 10000 people who will be able to beat the market by sheer luck, the probability that you will be one of them is 1 in 700,000. The odds are just too low to even try.
Buffett is probably both – a genius and very lucky, and as you can see, there is only one of him. If you believe that you are smarter than him, or the many smart people who have tried to beat the market, and failed, you need to read this.

The only easy way to make a risk-free killing in the market is to have some informational advantage (inside information), which I assure you, that you as a normal investor, never will.
Here are some other ways to make money in the stock market.
Stop trying to beat the market by acting on ‘sure’ tips by your broker or your grandmother’s neighbor’s watchman, just because someone you know got lucky and made some money in the market, and now you feel that if that idiot could, you can too. Instead, invest in some equities or commodities index, and divert your energy to something productive, and actually create something of value. You will have a much better chance of getting rich that way.
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Note: I know that you probably think that you are the next Warren Buffett, and that you are smarter than all the idiots who couldn’t make shitloads of money in the stock market, including me, and that you are going to take a shot at it anyway. Here’s a tip: You aren’t. And don’t.

How to make money in the Stock Market

It has been quite some time now, I've been working in Capital Markets and not that I know much but, whatever I have acquired working for one of the Europe's biggest bank (refrain the name).
Here are some foolproof ways to make money in the stock market, since, obviously, investing your own money isn’t a very good option.

1. Start a Broking Firm
Get some idiot investors to buy and sell stocks daily and earn brokerage on their transactions. Convincing them that they are the next Warren Buffett or Rakesh Jhunjhunwala might help.

2. Start a Research Firm
Convince other idiot investors that you have the ‘key’ to becoming rich instantly – your valuable ‘research’ which will point them to the next multibaggers, and sell it to them. It works better if you are also their broker.

3. Start a Hedge Fund
Start a hedge fund, preferably a closed-end one. Convince people that you are the next Warren Buffett, and get them to invest in your fund. Once you have their money, invest in the riskiest securities you can find. Your bonuses are tied to the performance of your fund, and you are playing with other people’s money. Is there any better way to get rich? You have tremendous upside, limited only by the amount of risk you can take, and zero downside. Even if you fail miserably, you will still get a 2% fixed fee. If you do well, you will get the 2% fee + a 10-20% share of the profits.
Note: This will work only if you can convince other people to let you handle their money.

4. Start an Investment Bank
First of all, try to become as big as possible, by actually doing all the boring stuff that investment banks are supposed to do – IPOs, underwriting etc. When you become “too big to fail”, put all your clients’ money in the riskiest shit you can find. Start a proprietary trading division to invest your clients’ funds, and create synthetic instruments no one can understand easily. By the time they do, the world will have collapsed and the system will have to bail you out.
Even if they don’t, and your firm goes under, you still have your multi-million dollar bonuses, right?
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Disclaimer
The post above is purely based on my personal experience and understanding. It is in no way meant to offend any person or institution what so ever!

The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value

The real market vs the expectations market
In today’s paradoxical world of maximizing shareholder value, which Jack Welch himself has called “the dumbest idea in the world”, the situation is the reverse. CEOs and their top managers have massive incentives to focus most of their attentions on the expectations market, rather than the real job of running the company producing real products and services.

The “real market,” Martin explains, is the world in which factories are built, products are designed and produced, real products and services are bought and sold, revenues are earned, expenses are paid, and real dollars of profit show up on the bottom line. That is the world that executives control—at least to some extent.

The expectations market is the world in which shares in companies are traded between investors—in other words, the stock market. In this market, investors assess the real market activities of a company today and, on the basis of that assessment, form expectations as to how the company is likely to perform in the future. The consensus view of all investors and potential investors as to expectations of future performance shapes the stock price of the company.

“What would lead [a CEO],” asks Martin, “to do the hard, long-term work of substantially improving real-market performance when she can choose to work on simply raising expectations instead? Even if she has a performance bonus tied to real-market metrics, the size of that bonus now typically pales in comparison with the size of her stock-based incentives. Expectations are where the money is. And of course, improving real-market performance is the hardest and slowest way to increase expectations from the existing level.”

Continue reading : The Dumbest Idea In The World.

How the Bubble burst?

Just found this little anecdote which explains How a Bubble is formed and how/when it bursts. A simple explanation of the sub-prime crisis.
—
Once there was a little island country. The land of this country was the tiny island itself. The total money in circulation was 2 dollars as there were only two pieces of 1 dollar coins circulating around.
1) There were 3 citizens living on this island country. A owned the land. B and C each owned 1 dollar.

2) B decided to purchase the land from A for 1 dollar. So, now A and C own 1 dollar each while B owned a piece of land that is worth 1 dollar.
Thus,
- the net asset of the country now = 3 dollars.

3) Now C thought that since there is only one piece of land in the country, and land is non producible asset, its value must definitely go up. So, he borrowed 1 dollar from A, and together with his own 1 dollar, he bought the land from B for 2 dollars.
- A has a loan to C of 1 dollar, so his net asset is 1 dollar.
- B sold his land and got 2 dollars, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
- C owned the piece of land worth 2 dollars but with his 1 dollar debt to A, his net residual asset is 1 dollar.
- Thus, the net asset of the country now = 4 dollars.

4) A saw that the land he once owned has risen in value. He regretted having sold it. Luckily, he has a 1 dollar loan to C. He then borrowed 2 dollars from B and acquired the land back from C for 3 dollars. The payment is by 2 dollars cash (which he borrowed) and cancellation of the 1 dollar loan to C. As a result, A now owned a piece of land that is worth 3 dollars. But since he owed B 2 dollars, his net asset is 1 dollar.
- B loaned 2 dollars to A. So his net asset is 2 dollars.
- C now has the 2 coins. His net asset is also 2 dollars.
- Thus the net asset of the country now = 5 dollars. A bubble is building up!

5) B saw that the value of land kept rising. He also wanted to own the land. So he bought the land from A for 4 dollars. The payment is by borrowing 2 dollars from C, and cancellation of his 2 dollars loan to A.
- As a result, A has got his debt cleared and he got the 2 coins. His net asset is 2 dollars.
- B owned a piece of land that is worth 4 dollars, but since he has a debt of 2 dollars with C, his net Asset is 2 dollars.
- C loaned 2 dollars to B, so his net asset is 2 dollars.
- Thus the net asset of the country now = 6 dollars; even though, the country has only one piece of land and 2 Dollars in circulation!

6) Everybody has made money and everybody felt happy and prosperous.

7) One day an evil wind blew, and an evil thought came to C’s mind. “Hey, what if the land price stop going up, how could B repay my loan. There is only 2 dollars in circulation, and, I think after all the land that B owns is worth at most only 1 dollar, and no more.”

8) A also thought the same way.

9) Nobody wanted to buy land anymore.
- So, in the end, A owns the 2 dollar coins, his net asset is 2 dollars.
- B owed C 2 dollars and the land he owned which he thought worth 4 dollars is now 1 dollar. So his net asset is only 1 dollar.
- C has a loan of 2 dollars to B. But it is a bad debt. Although his net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is palpitating.
- Thus the net asset of the country = 3 dollars again.

10) So, who has stolen the 3 dollars from the country? Of course, before the bubble burst B thought his land was worth 4 dollars. Actually, right before the collapse, the net asset of the country was 6 dollars on paper. B’s net asset is still 2 dollars, his heart is palpitating.

11) B had no choice but to declare bankruptcy. C as to relinquish his 2 dollars bad debt to B, but in return he acquired the land which is worth 1 dollar now.
- A owns the 2 coins; his net asset is 2 dollars.
- B is bankrupt; his net asset is 0 dollar. (He lost everything)
- C got no choice but end up with a land worth only 1 dollar
- The net asset of the country is again = 3 dollars.

The story ends now, but —
There has been a redistribution of wealth.
A is the winner, B is the loser, C is lucky that he is spared.
A few points worth noting -
(1) When a bubble is building up, the debt of individuals to one another in a country is also building up.
(2) This story of the island is a closed system whereby there is no other country and hence no foreign debt. The worth of the asset can only be calculated using the island’s own currency. Hence, there is no net loss.
(3) An over-damped system is assumed when the bubble burst, meaning the land’s value did not go down to below 1 dollar.
(4) When the bubble burst, the fellow with cash is the winner. The fellows having the land or extending loan to others are the losers. The asset could shrink or in worst case, they go bankrupt.
(5) If there is another citizen D either holding a dollar or another piece of land but refrains from taking part in the game, he will neither win nor lose. But he will see the value of his money or land goes up and down like a see saw.
(6) When the bubble was in the growing phase, everybody made money.
(7) If you are smart and know that you are living in a growing bubble, it is worthwhile to borrow money (like A) and take part in the game. But you must know when you should change everything back to cash.
(8) As in the case of land, the above phenomenon applies to stocks as well.
(9) The actual worth of land or stocks depends largely on psychology (or speculation).

If you are still reading this then probably your would be further interested in reading what and how the real burst happened. Here is the advanced version of it.

Robotics

Since my final year of engineering I was obsessed with the subject "Robotics". I was fascinated with the basic concept of "Robotic Arm" and the fact that I had ATKT in this subject made me get more involved (I believe it was other way round :P).
I knew there was not much scope for Robotics in India then, and I was not so eager to do majors in US or some other foreign country.
Recently I saw this great video of microcopters (Quadrotors) performing complex maneuvers depicting the future of robotics!

Hunt for another beast...

Its been almost four years now with HTC's TyTN II and the time has come to make a choice again!
I still remember the time when I started looking for windows mobile OS in late 2007 and ended up buying TyTN II. People then used to wonder and question why I am so involved in the  phone analysis and some who understood still come to me or have started the same and the rest will never understand (phone is to just make calls, huh!)
It was then I came across this very informative and useful site GSM Arena. It shows me whatever detail I need. And it was then, I fell in love with HTC and soon I realized that, companies like Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson... (rulers in that era) have no future. Ofcourse, it was very hard to convince my parents and friends who where either craving for Nokia N95 or N73 (if I remember correct) and it was quite challenging to oppose or criticize these models but I could foresee the change - a revolution which is known to us as 'Smartphone' today!
I believe the time has come again and this time it is more difficult for obvious reasons, my mind asks why can't I just assemble a phone with all the specification I want (A CUSTOM MADE PHONE,  WOW!!!). But, I am sad I can't do it :(
Now, the question is what is available to select from. I still somehow feel it will be possible to have customized phone but that is separate topic :P For now am looking
OS : Android (WinMo, Apple just can't get out of the patent name game, I believe in freeing the mind)
Processor : "Dual Core" it must be
RAM : worshiped like the Hindu god
Screen : One of the most important and decisive factor, should be atleast AMOLED if not PixelQi. Should also be 3D
I am not so found of high mega pixel cameras in phones. Photography is a completely separate subject for me and I love to shoot with an SLR.
Ofcourse, decent Audio processor is a must since it will also be used as personal music device :)

UPDATE : I have finally found the beast I was looking for, the all new HTC ONE X
OS : Android Ice cream sandwich
Processor : Quad core Nvidia Tegra 3
RAM : 1 GB
Screen : Magnificent 4.7 inch IPS S-LCD2 with Corning Gorilla Glass
Audio processor by Beats Audio
Camera : 8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash, Simultaneous HD video recording 1080p@30fps & capture, geo-tagging, face and smile detection, video stabilization
Camera 2 : 1.3 MP, 720p
Sensors : Accelerometer, Gyrometer, Proximity, Compass
...

UPDATE : just another update to show the power of my HTC One X :)

Why do men marry???

I will be turning 30 this year and apart from my parents even my friends have started interrogating, "Why aren't you getting married?"
I began reflecting on why a man would want to marry at all. What is it that a man could get out of marriage, that he could not get otherwise!
First and foremost, at least in the formative years of a marital life is someone who would share the marital bed and keep the man happy on that respect. After all, we men are all built to function that way. Sometimes I wonder if that is all that is there for all the men to do. I wonder, had it not been we men who carry the million of invaders required to infuse life into the otherwise infertile egg, there would be no need for the creed of man; And with all the accessories available today we are not really required (I don't like it).

Coming back to the topic, the second reason why a man would want to marry is for someone who would do the basic feeding, cooking, and housekeeping stuff. Men, I admit, are not socially geared to that role, although more are picking up the basics pretty good these days. But then again, you can always hire a maid for the same purpose (I would like to do the cooking myself anyways).

Third reason, is for that yearning for constant companionship. Somebody who would take up the emotional side of man (yeah, men do have a emotional quotient), listen with a good year. Someone who is smart, intelligent and is able to engage the higher needs of existence. Preferably someone who can also handle the finances (but then you have portfolio managers for that). Again, for this a man can have very good female company that is totally platonic.

There is yet another reason why a man might want to marry. And that is for an offspring. For a child that a man can call his own. For a kid, for which the man can proudly say he has fathered. I think that is the most major reason, why a man would go to any lengths of time to actually search for such a potential wife. And for this, and for this alone, I could not find any counter. I am not able to see what alternative could potentially replace this need (let's leave aside those men that choose to live the life of a hermit out of the society).

After writing such a post, I still hope that someone out there is still ready to marry me sometime in the future, if not now. Since, we men are supposed to be narcissistic chauvinist, I wonder what keeps the women from being so...

DISCLAIMER: The post above is not to offend any women. It is just for light humor.

Disgusted with self!

I have been so caught up with the corporate world of managing things, achieving results and deliverables that I forgot I used to like to learn new things. That I once took pride in the fact that I was near the ideal where if I knew something, I could explain it to my grandmother or a kid.

Lots of people, including myself, think that building an application is like gluing different parts together, without thinking about form, just based on function. And indeed that is how it is promoted today in the software applications world. This approach does indeed work towards delivering results in the form of applications running in today's world.

But I am beginning to realize the difference between a mason and a sculptor. When a sculptor build a sculpture, he has the final form in his mind. It is only he who decides the design and only he who delivers it. And then it becomes a thing of beauty to behold. A thing which lasts for generations. No wonder application architects are respected so highly (and paid highly too).

Jägermeister - The German drink

I had never heard about this drink until an evening with my colleagues at The Dubliner. One of my friends cringed as he quaffed a shot of it, so I had to try it to see if it was really as bad as he made it. Then that was it, I was hooked! Everytime we went out I made sure of Jager shot!
Jägermeister is a German digestif, not a digestive!
It is a drink that is made up from 56 different herbs and spices including; citrus peel, liquorice, poppy seeds, saffron and ginger. Jagermeister is a German creation which literally translated is "Hunt-Master", with a little bit of digging around about the brand it seems that the stag on the front of the bottle with the cross between its antlers has something to do with the stories of Saint Hubertus and Saint Eustace, patron saints of hunters. The drink was introduced to the world back in 1935, so this tipple is one of the more aged ones, yet still somehow it managed to elude me for years!

Ingredients:
Most of it is a secret but of what I know, Ginger, orris, galengal, lovage, chiretta, angelica, elecampane, hyssop, pomerance, camomile, lavender, coriander, pepper, cloves, star anis, allspice, nutmeg, cardamon, fennel, bitter orange, rose hips, quinine, licorice, tumeric, mace, saffron.
Possibly, yarrow, burdock, curcuma, grains of paradise, cubeb, wintergreen, cassia, betony, purslane, borage, sandalwood...

How to drink it?
Well, the fact that this drink is made up from 56 herbs and spices, by nature it is very hot. Thus, there are recommended temperatures this drink should be at, like being kept in a freezer at -18 degrees, or on tap at around -11 degrees. When served it is meant to be served over ice, but I don't know anyone that does serve it that way
JagerBomb - shot of Jagermeister and some Red Bull. Apparently the most popular way of having Jaegermeister. I not only liked the style of preparing it but also the feel and taste. Here is the official world record on JagerBomb

However, I like to take it as a direct shot which goes in like hot bullet burning all inside and it leaves a typical after taste (I love it). To some it may smell like a cough syrup which may put you down initially but once u have it, it will remain in your throat for sometime which is why some like to have it with red bull or some energy drink.
Be careful with this one if you are sensitive to alcohol, as it is one that doesn't hit you until you stand up and try to walk! If you have never tried it before I urge you to try it, look out for it behind the bar it is the one that's in the green round topped bottle, with the stag on the front, but don't be surprised if there isn't a queue of drunk people behind you asking for the same!