The bullion market & SENSEX

The other day I had little work on my desk. Grabbing the opportunity I tried my hands to learn the basics of trading in the share market, online. So I took help from my colleague Sanjiba N who has experience in trading for over two months now, a sort of knowledge reservoir for me in this field. As he started teaching me some nitty-gritty of trading with his hit and trial methodology, Gurpreet who was glued to a newspaper cropped up a sudden question. “Sanjeev, where the present day rate of gold is mentioned in the paper; I can't figure out?”

Her out of the blue question, got us into a laughter riot. Sanjiba remarked, “Kya office hai! Koi share to koi gold. Wah! Dalal Street on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg… certainly not a bad idea at all.”

Now whenever we three come across each other, we at least ensure to discuss, which stock to look forward to and whether to invest in gold or not. In mockery we now find a RETURN, which surpasses the SENSEX of our imaginations. I intend to invest on these stocks that life offer; where the RETURNS are sure shot and instant. Interestingly, there is a provision of DIVIDEND too, when we sit down to relax and recall those moments of trading. A smile on our face is what we need and I crave for it more than ever.

Backseat for Bengal’s nano vision

A much has been talked about by the learned class on the wrong she is doing to WB. Holding back the state from development for a ransom after colluding with the 440 acres land acres is not right for the bhadralok samaj. So much so that the security personnels checking bags at the Delhi metro stations reflect the sentiments. “Mamta ko kya khujli hai pata nahi. Agar factory banta hai to kitne logon ko rozgar milega, prodyogikaran hoga. Bekar ke drame kar rahi hai,” they discuss.

But can the general perception be taken as an obvious choice, is the key question. I am one of those, without having knowledge of the ground zero, that the Tata factory could prove boon for the future of the state. It might just change the way youth grow in the state, I closely know, and look for survival (professional) opportunities. No doubt, IT has entered it the state. So have retail, hospitality, pharma and real estate. But not comparable enough to bridge the divide of urban/rural educated youth and the employed class. The majority of former are unemployed. The debate has actually given the scope to identify state’s policy for the future from agrarian to industrial driven.

Setting up a factory on a wrong precedence (i.e. acquiring land with force) can change the perception of the investors. This is the only danger WB government has to look at. Mamata is also true that nobody knows the intricacies that lead to the deal between Tata’s and WB govt. Both sides should have taken into account complete the owners of 997 acres as a whole before the landmark step. Stepping into farmers’ shoes offers an even grimmer picture of the situation; ones who have sold land to Tata’s as well as those who didn’t.

The situation reminds me of IC 814 hijack, where the Centre had to deal with the national security versus lives of its few citizens. Govt made a mistake by taking too much time and reading the situation from the pilot’s perspective then. I don’t know who has donned the roles of pilots, hijackers or the government (remind you, govt is of, by and for the people). But farmers for sure (on both sides of the deal) are sheer hostages of a planned act that could go either way in deciding their future stake of their existence, with land or without it.

Two perspectives, for sure, are driven by red tape in some manner or other. Nonetheless, I pray for the state that knows red tapeism (nanoism) better than anything else to get over this one in a manner that increases the scope for people to taste the opportunity of global economy and proves state’s latent potential to take the country ahead. Now, Mamta should give up her “nano” vision and take the state towards a desperate growth through Tata’s NANO vision the world is bowing to.

Life without exclusives

It was on NDTV Profit during the Monday late evening gone by. An interview show with Shankar Sharma, VC and director – strategic affairs, First Global about the economic trends, share market, which sector is doing what and which companies one should invest in and so on. While surfing the channels I got hooked to CNBC TV18 where the same person was being interviewed. It is not uncommon these days to see a same person being interviewed twice uttering the same thing, well almost, for the same set of audience but for different channels. I checked and found that both channels were sensible enough not to flash “exclusive” which has now become a very “common” thing for a journalist has to live with and die for.

This brings me to recall one of my friend’s incident who reports for The Economic Times. One day that friend of mine got a story. She filed it diligently. And it appeared in the next day edition. After that she had a bad time because the same story was carried by its competitor Business Standard. She was asked how come BS got that!!?? She was clueless.

My friend’s point was - in an interaction case, if the company wishes to dole out info to each and every media house, they are entitled to do so. What can one do as a journalist? If PR craves for mileage through col cms, we journos crave for exclusivity. The friend was told to ask that person to give ET only exclusives. That’s it.

I recall myself telling to so many people whom I meet to offer me with exclusive info each time there is a scope for one. Interestingly, it really becomes difficult to keep track of that person thereafter. This also highlights how difficult the life has become of a journalist. You are constantly under scanner. As a print media person, life seems to be revolving around deadlines, word counts, meetings, PR relations and incessant phone calls. Not to mention, in that very structure of survival, we have to ensure there is individuality as a reporter through the exclusivity of information I provide to my readers.

The trouble is ---- there is no end to it. Every week approach with a new set of challenges (that is actually the life of professionals irrespective of job profiles they are up to). I remember my dear friend Anshuman Gunjan Dutta, who was covering Aarushi murder case for a daily over a month, was so exhausted that he even dreamt Aarushi’s murder! He regretted later that he couldn’t visualise the murderer, otherwise he would have solved the case before CBI. Poor guy, I must say.

But that is the reality. Every now and then, the professional life takes over the personal one. We talk work; think about it even when with family, friends, etc. Even sadder part is that people from all walks of life expect a reporter to know each and every thing. My defense: I’m human and I’m learning, and therefore I am bound to err…

A lop side of being in reporting profession is the fight to retain the very freedom of a reporter; work with an individualistic thought process, knowledge and understanding of the subject. Every person has an opinion of what we write, how we do so and so on… as most of the time we are supposed to fill a story with needless word counts, covering those people who don’t make sense of what they talk of and also, keep our professional acquaintances in good books. Yet, in the same breathe I would also add that there is nothing to boast about the quality of work we deliver, which is expected to be delivered on time taking account of all the disruptions we go through. Add to that the obligation of a journalist to retain a healthy relationship with the source constantly, which by no means is an easy job in the world. The silver lining though is that we do make good friends in that course, even if that counts a few.

My social friends often ask me, “Where are you? Aisa bhi kya busy ho life mein. Hum bhi to kaam karte hai, yaar!” I really find myself with loss of words and genuine reasoning. I guess the life of my industry peers is quite same. While a reporter should ideally become an individual through his or her work, we would find more exclusive reporters without individual (read personal) lifestyle.

Our job is after us all the time, irrespective where we are and with whom. The immediate suggestion would be time management, which I agree to. But time hi to manage nahi hota yaaron. I am swinging between exclusivity to individuality, where both are mutually exclusive to each other. I wish to move towards the latter, later.

Mediocre aspirations

Delhi was expanding then in the 1960s. So it is even now. The only difference between the expansions then and now seems to be different politically. My father came here in that period to earn his bread from Calcutta. He had nothing, literally. But with time, he gathered himself and managed to anchor his family. One dream that always eluded him was to own a house (or flat) of his own. He was not willing to invest on land or for that matter in a colony that was not legalized. He therefore resorted to DDA and patiently waited for his turn, which came after 25 years. My point is had he gathered some strength to invest in an illegal colony, we would have been in a better state of realty. In retrospect, I would probably choose to do what he did.

This story of his unwillingness to go for illegal colonies in Delhi has been discussed in our family and how it could have changed our fortune. During every assembly elections of this state, we regret this fact. The point is BJP and Congress has again taken on the mantle to convert illegal into legal for wining votes for the forthcoming polls. I am not happy with BJP, which is talking of legalizing around 1600 slums adding 40 lacs people to the capital and blaming the other one for not fulfilling the promise. I am again unhappy with the Congress party for making such a promise at the first place.

At a point of convenience, these very parties (when in power) criticize and ponder on tackling the ever-growing Delhi population and curbing illegal settlements, kuchha or pucca. The concerns should be tackled but political aspiration in the form of “seats” is not ensuring the state going into the right direction. While illegal colonies are being set up with less investment (real estate prices are always low), legalizing it sets a very bad precedence for all. While people who wish to take a rightful course even when it comes to going for a ceiling over their head, the petty politics make it appear like a loosing proposition. It is as if we are the wrong doers by following a legal way to survive.

This brings us to a standpoint where we need to identify how government should go about deciding what to be legalized, regularized and maintained lawfully. It is not only about slums. This also extends to the number of illegal pucca colonies, which get propriety just before the elections. I demand not much; just that, there should be justified norms for the livings beneath the poverty line. Not only legalization of “slums and colonies without having proper approval as such” is enough reason for builders to be encouraged to structure more such colonies. This also augur illegal settlements encroaching land and forming a community large enough over a period of time to become a strong player to swing the future of petty political battles. Hope, there’s an end to it.

Message relief

The monotony of life gets a break when our mobile pings and shows a message. Some messages on my set are good enough to share.

In life many ppl help u whn it suits THEM; but very FEW help whn it suits u.
Make the FEW ur frnds and be the FEW to the many…
----------- Sunit

Do you knw d diff btw coffee shp n wine shp? Coffee shp is d starting pt of luv n wine shp is the end pt of it. Simple… isn’t it?
------------- Biswajit

Car se takra kar kabutar behosh ho gya. Admi use ghar le gya aur pinjre mein rakha. Kabutr ko hosh aaya to bola, “Aila! Jail? Who car wala mar gaya kya.”
------------ Neeraj

Dua ki bheer mein ek dua hamari, jisme maangi humne har khushi tumhari. Jab bhi muskuraaye aap dil se, humne samjha dua kubul hui hamari.
---------- Trishnendu

Various texts we come across are known; some are new and some, forwarded. Yet the underlining, or shall I say the silver lining, is that each one made my day. Messages are definitely a relief which brings us a smile. Cherish the moment when your cell beeps and lures you to read that message at once.

What else, ciao!!