Professional dilemma at 30

 It’s been exactly 8 years since I graduated, so I have quite an idea of what the world after getting out of college feels like.

Don’t be a fucking drone!
By this, I mean never join any of the lame companies coming to your campus for bulk recruitment. This includes all IT sweatshops which offer the normal training-bench-mind-numbing-job routine, bulge bracket investment banks which work you like a dog for meager pay (which may seem high at first to some, but you’d eventually realize that it’s not worth it), and every other shitty company which pays like shit, and more importantly, robs you of some of your most productive years by forcing shitty work down your throat.
This is the worst way in which you could possibly start your professional life. You may not realize this then, but you will regret this when you turn 30 and have a mid-life crisis wondering why you aren’t filthy rich, why your job sucks and how your life didn’t quite turn out to be the way you imagined it would when you were a kid.

Steer away from the herd!
Don't just fall for any big company which is talked by most of your friends and folks.
Don’t study further just because every other clueless idiot is doing it. I know idiots who have gone abroad for their Masters or MBA just because their friends were doing it and they wanted to have fun for a couple of years. If you do that, never take an educational loan for that, because it’s highly likely that you’ll end up asking “Would you like fries with that?” or work in some shitty job there just because you want to recover your investment. You might feel great when you convert your dollar salary to rupees, but ultimately, you’re still just a drone. If you have a rich Dad who is willing to splurge on your education, then by all means, do it. Better still, just go for a world trip and then come back and take over your family business. Cheaper, more fun and a better use of your time.

The after MBA journey...
It's been 2 year since I did my PGDM in Finance and it is comletely different then what/how I expected.
If you do an MBA just because you want to “get into finance” since you can’t code for shit, then you need to know that most post-MBA jobs are very fucking boring. And the interesting ones are so few that only a fraction of the top students at the top colleges will be able to get those. The chances are so low that it’s not worth studying like a dog to get a good CAT/GMAT score, and then again for two years to get good scores in your MBA tests. Rather just work at interesting startups in related profiles, and jump on to the job you want without studying further.

Start/Join a startup - It is wroth taking a chance!
In your first couple of years after college, you probably aren’t going to make a shitload of money, so your opportunity cost is the lowest that it will ever be. This is the best time for you to experience the startup way, because "you don’t really have much to lose". If you don’t have a great idea or team or aren’t sure that you can do it, then join one.
Start something, work on side projects, freelance and do whatever it takes to diversify your income sources, so you aren’t dependent on a job, and don’t lose much even if your startup fails.
If your startup takes off, you’ll get to the 'fuck-you-money' point in a few years, and won’t ever need to work again just for money. You can then pursue something you’re really interested in — your passion — which improves the odds of success significantly. This Passion/Talent otherwise is unfortunately smothered in need of basic necessities.
And, even if you fail in the startup, you’ll have learned a lot more than you’d have at any lame job at a BigCo, and you’ll easily be able to get back in a better role at a BigCo than your peers (so its not really a failure). But you won’t want to. Because once you’ve worked at a startup, you’ll never ever want to work at a BigCo again. You’d rather want to build one from scratch.

Wonders of milk - Jo kheer piye so veer thiye...

This post is dedicated to all my sindhi folks out there...


During my childhood days my mother was obsessed with qualities of milk and just like most other kids I hated it too but she gavage me. I still remember, she used to recite a very nice poetry when I refused drinking and am sure most of the sindhi kids must have heard too. It goes like...

Jo Kheer Piye
So veer thiye
Dand zor vathhan
Daadha sunhira lagan
Akhiun ji jyot vadhe
Dadhi sunha thiye
Vathe zor badan
Lighan chust thiyan
Kheer safa sutho
Wah dadho mitho
Baaro acho piyoun
Bhare khir vatiyoun
De khir amma
Pee Parhan Vanya :)

Non sindhi folks, I know you must have stopped reading it after the second line... It means:

The one who drinks milk

Becomes brave/heroic

Has Strong teeth

Looks very handsome

The glow in his eyes increases

Develops strong limbs

Milk is so good

Oh so sweet

Come children

The bowls are filled with milk

Give me milk mother

So that I drink and go to study

As I grew older I started liking it and I like milk till this day. In fact I still prefer milk over coffee or tea. 
I don't know why, today while drinking milk, this poem came to my mind and how my mother used to recite it.
Here is the audio if you would like to cherish your old memories 

Jo kheer piye

Money is not Wealth

Most of us wake up in the morning and go to a place called 'work' in order to earn money.  And most of us surely spend money every day.  In essence, money is a medium of exchange that helps us get the things we want and need.  In other words, you provide your labor in exchange for this medium called money, which you can then exchange for others goods or services you want. However, it’s important to note that money has no intrinsic value (unless it’s commodity money).  Is money, then, really the thing we want?
The father of modern economics, Adam Smith, once wrote: "All money is a matter of belief."

Wealth is not the same thing as money. Wealth is as old as human history. Far older, in fact; ants have wealth. Money is a comparatively recent invention.

Wealth is the fundamental thing. Wealth is stuff we want: food, clothes, houses, cars, gadgets, travel to interesting places, and so on. You can have wealth without having money. If you had a magic machine that could on command make you a car or cook you dinner or do your laundry, or do anything else you wanted, you wouldn't need money. Whereas if you were in the middle of Antarctica, where there is nothing to buy, it wouldn't matter how much money you had.

Wealth is what you want(both tangible and intangible), not money. But if wealth is the important thing, why does everyone talk about making money? It is a kind of shorthand: money is a way of moving wealth, and in practice they are usually interchangeable. But they are not the same thing, and unless you plan to get rich by counterfeiting, talking about making money can make it harder to understand how to make money.

Money is a side effect of specialization. In a specialized society, most of the things you need, you can't make for yourself. If you want a potato or a pencil or a place to live, you have to get it from someone else.

How do you get the person who grows the potatoes to give you some? By giving him something he wants in return. But you can't get very far by trading things directly with the people who need them. If you make violins, and none of the local farmers wants one, how will you eat?

The solution societies find, as they get more specialized, is to make the trade into a two-step process. Instead of trading violins directly for potatoes, you trade violins for, say, silver, which you can then trade again for anything else you need. The intermediate stuff-- the medium of exchange-- can be anything that's rare and portable. Historically metals have been the most common, but recently we've been using a medium of exchange, called the Rupee/Dollar/Euro..., that doesn't physically exist. It works as a medium of exchange, however, because its rarity is guaranteed by the respective Government.

The advantage of a medium of exchange is that it makes trade work. The disadvantage is that it tends to obscure what trade really means. People think that what a business does is make money. But money is just the intermediate stage-- just a shorthand-- for whatever people want. What most businesses really do is make wealth. They do something people want.

Startups are hard!

Startups are hard. No, startups are damn hard.

Contrary to popular belief, there are no clouds of money that float around and rain on anyone that utters the phrase, "I'm a founder!" Unfortunately, starting a company and raising money is just as hard as ever; it's just that the investors don't have as much leverage as they used to, but they still have a lot.

Most reporting on startups suffers from a terrible case of success bias. Nobody wants to report on a dying startup unless it is to highlight another company that has come along to kill them, but that actually turns into a piece about the better company and not the dying one.

Startups that die, rarely talk about it publicly because it is frustrating, embarrassing, and most of the time the people involved want to forget the whole mess and move on rather than sit around talking about the fact that they failed.

Most people don't want to admit that startups are hard, either, because to admit something is hard is to admit that you don't know everything there is to know about a certain topic and to display weakness. If there's one thing you do not want to do as a startup, it's appear weak. Only the strong survive.

But guess what: startups are hard. At times they are soul-crushingly hard. I am not afraid to admit this anymore. I am not afraid to talk openly about it with peers anymore. So, this post serves as a counterpoint to all the recent postings alluding to the fact that anyone can suddenly decide to be a founder and the next week find themselves swimming around in a kiddie-pool full of money.

Excellent Quotes by Warren Buffet

On Earning: "Never depend on a single income. Make investment to create a second source"

On Spending: "If you buy things you don't need, soon you will have to sell things you need."

On Savings: "Do not save what is left after spending, but spend what is left after saving."

On Taking Risk: "Never test the depth of river with both the feet."

On Investment: "Do not put all eggs in one basket."

On Expectation: "Honesty is very expensive gift. Do not expect it from cheap people."

Why HTC One X over Samsung Galaxy S3!!!

When I bought my beast, I very well had an option to wait for a month and go for Samsung's flagship Galaxy SIII. Keeping aside my love for HTC here are some reasons which made me again inclined towards the great One X.


1. HOX has beautiful sense 4.0 where it has lot of features whereas, gs3 is touchwiz which looks crappy.
2. HOX has better build quality whereas, gs3 is poor quality (cheap shiny plastic).
3. HOX looks pretty and stylish whereas gs3 is look like 1990's phone.
4. HOX is Tegra 3 powered where you can find lot of tegra 3 game whereas, gs3 is exynos which is also a powerful processor but yet to discover its capabilities.
5. HOX screen is tougher than gs3 , google for some videos on youtube many guys using HOX as hammer to put the nail in woodden bench.
6. HOX is playstation mobile and it is certified now for getting playstation mobile. If you are an gamer then you should get it. I just love playing 3D games on this beast!
7. Last but not the least, BEATS AUDIO!!! how can I not mention this. For all those music lovers out there, it is a sheer pleasure listening to music with Beats.

And I have seen people saying that HOX has 1800mah battery and GS3 is 2100mah battery and removable. Which makes no sense.
HOX is tegra 3 powered where it saves a lot of battery when in standby. I have experienced my phone is in 100% even after 6 hours of standby and many people who bought GS3 crying that it is loosing battery upto 30% in 10 hours of standby time, so whats the use of 2100mah battery???? HOX last longer than GS3 in every aspect, even if it has less capacity battery. And if you plan to carry extra battery then you can just carry a travel charger instead.

And for those saying gs3 has additional storage , do you carry data more than 32gb ??? If you carry more than this then you should buy a laptop not a phone. 32gb can hold most of the movies and songs where you can use it for atleast a week. If you need more delete it and add the rest. Be more managed!

BTW, what new thing samsung has done to its new flagship phone??? They just copied all the thing which HOX has; And done some changes to show some difference to it new flagship phone. They just added additional storage, which to me is not really required.

Popup play, it not an samsung feature. You can get that using "Stick it" app from play store any way you are not going to use this.

S-voice - "GS3 hears what you say !!!" every phone hear what we say. You can have many alternatives for s-voice and also s-voice is ported to HOX too.

Smart eye - definitely an app can do this. And also I have seen people using it, but I forgot the name. I will add the app name soon as soon I get to know again.

GS3 - "Inspired by nature" who needs the crap phone inspired by nature?? I need the best phone and am inspired by HOX!!!

Share your thoughts if you agree or disagree!

Source : http://www.forumhookers.com/topic/1192-why-to-buy-htc-one-x-over-samsung-galaxy-s3/page__p__5319#entry5319

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

How to ROOT your HTC One X

Now, once you have successfully unlocked your boot loader, the next step is to ROOT your device so that you can install custom ROMs and MODs.
If you haven't unlocked your boot loader yet then follow this.
There 2 methods to ROOT your device:
Method 1: (Noobs follow this)
This considered the safest and the easiest - Flashing ClockWorkMod Recovery and then flashing the SuperSU.zip through recovery.
You should need Android SDK Installed on your machine or Download Fastboot from here. Create a folder called Fastboot on your C: (C Drive) and extract the files into that folder.

1. Download latest ClockWorkMod recovery.
2. Now download latest SuperSU.zip file.

3. Place both these files on your phone's sdcard.
4. Place the clockwork recovery file in the C:\FASTBOOT folder.

5. Open command prompt (Type CMD in RUN or windows7 search and ENTER) and point to Fastboot folder.

6. Turn off your device.
7. Turn on while pressing Power button + Volume down key to get into the bootloader.

8. Use your volume key to scroll down to "Fastboot" and press your power button to select it.
9. Type in "Fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-5.8.3.1-endeavoru". Once this is finished.
10. turn off the phone and restart in boot loader mode.
11. Goto recover and hit the powerbutton. You should have ClockWorkMod Recovery installed :).
12. Use the ClockWorkMod to install the SuperSU.zip.
13. Restart phone normally and ENJOY!!!

Similarly you can install any custom ROM zip using ClockWorkMod Recovery.

Method 2:
This method you can flash the Pre-rooted Kernel directly to acquire root. This method you will not have Recovery it’s just root.

1. Turn off your device
2. Power Button + Volume key to get into Bootloader
3. Use your volume keep to scroll down to “Fastboot” and Press your Power button to select it.
4. Download the Boot image from Doom’s Advance Stock Kernel
5. Open command prompt and point to Fastboot folder
6. Type in fastboot flash boot boot.img and press enter and reboot your device
Now you have acquired root.

List of Custom ROMs and Kernels

=========================================================================
Disclaimer:
I am not responsible for any kind of damage you make to your device while following the above post.

How to UNLOCK bootloader on HTC One X

I know many of you out there who have this beast (HTC ONE X) would definitely want to try its real power by going out of the boundaries and installing the custom ROMs. However, you may not be aware of the procedure on how to do it and / or scared on bricking your phone or losing warranty.

TAKE IT EASY GUYS!!! I've been doing this for years now and will guide you on how to root, flash and mod your device safely!

Now, the very first thing you need to do is UNLOCK your boot loader.

NOTE: To access Boot loader, Press the Power button + Volume down key.

As of now, the safest and easiest option to unlock your boot loader is through HTCDev.com.

1. Go to HTCDev.com website.

2. Firstly, you need to register yourself there. Go ahead and complete the registration.

3. Click on the Unlock Bootloader option.

4. Select "All other supported models" (One X is not listed yet)

5. Follow the steps as shown on screen. (It is pretty straight forward)

You can refer this video for better understanding:

In case you are stuck or need more info post comments here.

If you are done with unlocking your boot loader, Congratulations! follow the next post, How to ROOT your HTC One X.

Working at a Startup vs Big Company

Quite often you hear people boasting about their employer(or themselves), "I am working with Infosys..., I am with Wipro..., Cognizant...". I've been working for more than 6 years now and of-course, I have my own reasons for vouching on Startups compared to these big companies. My career started in a small start-up where the CEO/MD of the company knows every employee by his/her name; and every employee knows his CEO not just by name!
A year ago, I linked up with one of the big organisations and the professional and cultural difference made my mind think and compare my present and past experiences. It tried to create a poise but I was more inclined towards the Startups for many reasons:

1. Responsibility, Accountability: 
At a startup it’s unavoidable to have lots of responsibility and accountability. There’s no doubt, too, that being at a startup will put you in a position to make a huge impact. If you do amazing work the entire company and all of its customers will benefit from it. And you’ll be loved for it. You’ll get notes from the CEO and other leaders complimenting you on how awesome your work is. On the flip side, if you make a big mistake, the whole company pays for it. But keep in mind that most startup cultures prefer agility and speed to cautiousness. It’s likely that your mistake won’t actually get you in trouble, as long as you were trying to do the right thing.

2. Risk: 
working at a startup is riskier. The startup likely isn’t profitable, and probably only has at most 12-18 months worth of money in the bank (this is called the startup’s runway). If the company does very well, the CEO will raise more money and extend the runway. You’ll still have a job and each round you’ll get a salary closer and closer to market rate (more about this later). If the startup doesn’t do well, you’ll be out of a job when the startup runs out of money. But you’ll be forewarned if the CEO is transparent — most of them are in earlier stages. A startup is risky because you’re building something from nothing. You’re doing something ridiculously hard because you believe in it and want nothing more than to see it succeed (this part I love the most). You’re not failing even when all the odds are against you. You’re the underdog in many ways.

And by the way, if you’re a good engineer you’ll have zero issue finding another job. Zero. Every company in software, big and small, needs more good people. This trend won’t change for a long, long time, either.

3. Opportunities for generalists (This point perhaps is more focused on me): generalists don’t do well at big companies. Big companies want you to be really, really good at that little thing you spend all your time on. Not at a startup. Although specialization is still important at most startups, there are far more opportunities at startups for generalists. I’m defining generalists as people that have interests in one field or many fields. For example, if you want to be an engineer and work on the website, the data infrastructure, and the mobile app, you’ll love a startup. Similarly, if you’re an engineer and want to get your hands dirty in marketing or recruiting or whatever, a startup is also a great place for you to learn and grow. To be totally clear, I’m not saying specialists don’t do well at startups — they do incredibly well. Generalists, however, don’t do well at large companies. 

4. Ownership and leadership: 
At a big company you need to wait years and years to become a true leader with big ownership. Not at a startup. If you’re awesome you’ll be able to grow and move up in your career far faster. Mark Zuckerberg would have never been given a CEO role at a big company he started working for after college. The only way he could find himself at the top of an organization is by starting it, or in the general case by joining a super small team. Your career will be accelerated in a major way by joining a startup.

5. Transparency: 
Startups usually have far more transparency than big companies. You’ll know why the CEO decided to raise a new round of funding, or why a VP of marketing was hired, or why the company decided to open a new arm of business, or how the CEO did the recent round of investment. There will always be information that isn’t shared, though, for example salaries and equity compensation, certain board meeting information, and certain sensitive investor information. But in general every other decision made about the company will be transparent. You’ll get to see how the company grows, why certain decisions were made, and how the company reacts to competitors and business plan changes. All of this will teach you about business and prepare you to do your own startup one day.

6. Company culture: 
You get to help define it. A company will be, for the most part, an extension of the founders’ personalities. But especially in the early stages you’ll have a huge impact on the culture of the company as well. You’ll be in a position to define company-wide celebratory goals, or traditions that the team rallies behind. At the end of the day a startup is just a few people in a room. If you’re one of those people your personality will rub off on everyone else and you’ll help create a company that is as much a part of you as you are of the company.

7. Hiring: 
You’ll probably do a lot of interviews, and you’ll be part of the decision to hire or not hire someone. I interviewed candidates more experience then me. Even if you’re right out of school you’ll still be asked to interview. Of course, if you don’t like interviewing, you’ll only need interview potential team mates. If you’re an engineer you’ll only interview other potential engineers.

8. Financial incentive: 
In general your salary will be lower than at a big company, but your equity, or ownership in the company, will be significantly bigger. Depending on the stage of the company you join, you’ll be granted anywhere from a few percentage points to a micro fraction of a point. If the company is bigger, you’ll get fewer shares and your salary will be more inline with the market rate. If the company is smaller, your salary will be smaller and your equity will be far greater. Equity has a long, long tail, meaning the first 5-10 employees get significantly more equity than all other employees that follow, with certain exceptions for executives. This is especially true for the first and second hires, though.

A little more about stock: if you join a company that is already doing incredibly well, you probably won’t get enough stock to retire unless the company turns into the next Facebook or Google. In most cases, you’ll only get retirement money if you’re one of the first five employees. Otherwise you’ll get a large down payment on a nice house, assuming the startup does well of course  . Let me say that all again: except in very rare occasions like Facebook or Google, you can’t expect to join a company that is already killing it and hope that you’ll retire on the money your equity brings.

9. Politics: 
I’ve never heard of a company with more than 50 people that didn’t have politics. Politics are a necessary evil whenever a company reaches a certain size. The point of no return is when the first middle manager is hired — or when the first job opens up that is about controlling people and nothing more. Small startups can have politics, too, but in the early days there’s generally too much camaraderie and too much daily work to worry about power or any other bullshit like that. Oh yeah, and while I’m here, unless the leaders of a startup are lame, there won’t be any bullshit. Everything is pragmatic at a startup, or at least should be.

10. Be a part of something bigger than you: 
At a startup you’re a part of something much bigger than just what your job asks of you. Sure, you need to write code, publish blog posts, whatever, but you’re doing much more than that. You’re building a company. It’s hard to describe what that feeling is like, though. Being a part of a small company is somewhat like creating a community or finding new best friends. You’re making something from nothing, with people who are in it for the same reasons you are. You’re at the apex of what might become something big, something meaningful and different. And the excitement is amazingly powerful.

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!!!

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 Day Trading 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!