On Imported Books

For booklovers who buy imported editions (like me) , Rupees 49 to a dollar is not happy news. Generally, the GOC rate (Good Office Commitee at Geneva) sets the conversion price when you pay in rupees. This is usually at Rs.2-3 premium. I have been tracking this price since 1989. They meet on 15th every month to decide the rate but in last 10 yrs, the rate has been revised under adverse currency fluctuations out of turns only twice - which happened 2008 and 2009. I think we are getting there again - Lehman moment. For a few dollars less.

End of The World?

Is it the End of the World as we know it? Methinks No. There have been 15 or more Ends-of-the-world in stock market since 1986 in India, life and quality of life marches on. When mainstreet is more pessimistic than the Wallstreet or Dalal Street, something will turn. Newly married Niall Ferguson says: "So long as human expectations of the future veer from the over-optimistic to over-pessimistic - from greed to fear - stock prices will tend to trace an erratic path." When most investors, including the CNBC talking heads, all agree on something, they're usually wrong.

on Gold

Since Gold has corrected a bit (I have been saying the world in which gold is the only asset to invest is not really a safe world) time to remember Buffett:You could take all the gold that’s ever been mined, and it would fill a cube 67 feet in each direction. For what that’s worth at current gold prices, you could buy all—not some—all of the farmland in the United States. Plus, you could buy 10 Exxon Mobils, plus have $1 trillion of walking-around money. Or you could have a big cube of metal. Which would you take? Which is going to produce more value?

Niall Ferguson

Niall Ferguson is an amazing writer who writes about Economic History. Anyone who has read his works from "Empire" (UK) to "Colossus" (US) to "The Ascent of Money" (which makes you shun govt.securities as an investment) will vouch what amazing sweep and sense of history he has or his latest "Civilization". He is interested in anything thats getting older - buys heritage property built only before 1800s, etc. Now, he marries 41-yr old Ayaan Hirsi Ali - another historian. He is putting money where his mouth is and his mouth where... History repeats in his books and family!

On Ruskin Bond's New Book

Ruskin Bond wrote his first book @ 17 and still writes a new book every year on his non-corrosive typewriter. His new book "Secrets"is out. Short-stories full of Vintage Bond - stylish, simple, unhurried and witty with words that can dance. His writing is more consistent than what all the wine-tasters can achieve. Good news is, its getting better after 60 yrs of writing and he's still living a life without regrets at Landour, Mussourie. Writing what seems so effortless and yet so easy to read.

Google+ or Minus?

The buzz over google+ is fast dying. FB with 750 bn users is tweaking and improvising at a fast clip. I have no grudge against google as I use gmail extensively but I knew Market-leadership is a tough fight. Folks who rushed to get invited to google+ realised that content is king and changing address doesn't alter fortunes or life. Even SM experts got smitten. Facebook is an English word much as google or twitter but not google+. You need more than a + sign to disrupt Facebook. When? We'll know.

"The Secret of Nagas"

"The secret of the Nagas" - second book in the Shiva Trilogy - by Amish Tripathi is out and already selling well. In Hyd, it sold 5000 copies already. Its amazing how new Indian writers are discovering their roots and connecting today's ethos to magic fables from Indian mythology. First book - "The Immortals of Meluha" is coming as a movie. And it truly reads like Amar Chitra Katha on steroids. When a whole new generation of writers dig for gold (stories) beneath their roots - sky's the limit.