Life and it's Purpose

Life and it's Purpose

Remembering the life of Arjuna, being a prince and son of Lord Indra and friend of beloved Lord Krishna, had to live life on alms after varnavat. Then was exiled for 13 years to live in forest and 1 year a life of servitude. Even prior to the start of the epic battle with Kauravas he told Krishna that he wants to give up Kingdom and instead of killing his relatives and guru would like to live a life begging. 

During the kurukshetra war Arjun lost everyone, including all his sons and Abhimanyu, who was brutally murdered. It makes me ponder if this life is meant for all the pleasures and wealth that the world has in store? Is it just that we need to pursue wealth? and does it ensure happiness? However, Duryodhan and Dhritrashtra were never happy despite having all the wealth and Kingdom of Hastinapur, and later after ousting Pandavas, even after taking Indraprastha.

Let's look at Lord Krishna, he lived on earth to perform his duty. He did not seek revenge on Kansa who killed his brothers and imprisoned his parents. He only annihilated Kansa and his demons only when they attacked him. Krishna had only one purpose which he describes in Gita, to protect the sadhus (good people), to annihilate evil forces, and establish righteousness (living by principles for the welfare of society/humanity).

Listening to lectures from Ramakrishna mission and reading works of Swamy Vivekananda, I often come across the phrase “Shiva Gyana Jeeva Seva” The knowledge of the divine is to serve other living beings. 

I think it is definitely important to pursue the four key goals or pursuits for human beings, as described in the Vedas which are:

Dharma (live life by principles for welfare of others and self)

Artha (pursue knowledge, wealth, and prosperity)

Kama (desire pleasures of the world through your senses eat food, listen to music and marry) and 

Moksha (seek the knowledge and practice of liberation) 

While in pursuit of the four goals don't forget to work for the welfare of others, don't get stuck in any one pursuit all your life. Even if you get stuck, pray to the Lord to get you back to the pursuit of purposeful and conscious living, which helps you achieve true happiness - and it is only achieved through peace and in service of others.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti!

Amit Baghel

Outcome and choices

I can never reach on time despite my best efforts! 😔 the other day I started early but was stuck in traffic hence I got late 😏 well this time I got this last minute call I had to take 😧. I always have reasons to justify my inability to achieve an outcome. I have become an expert at giving reasons and mind you the reasons may all be genuine. However, the emphasis on reasons is so much that the outcome/result (in this case reaching on time) gets lost in the woods. Primary reason why this happens is because I am not committed to the result or outcome. 

I cannot expect to get different results by doing the same things. Hence, it is important to determine what is the result or outcome I want. The next step is to ask myself and get an acknowledgement that I am fully committed to the result. Following which I need to plan and make conscious choices to accomplish the results. 

1. Setting up of goals/results/outcomes
2. Acknowledge the importance of these goals and commit to the result
3. Develop a plan of what choices/alternatives exist regarding my behavior and actions
4. Select the choice(s) and implement
5. Stop and check if my choices are leading to the results/outcomes I want to achieve, if not then re-assess choices and change course
6. In the end, make a note of learning - what worked well? if in a similar situation what choices will I make knowing what I know now?                 

Be conscious of your choices, am I on an autopilot mode? am I doing things like I always do? choosing the same path, the usual approach which got me where I am today? Do I always say yes? Do I always behave in this manner? It is true that my methods, behavior and actions has got me where I am today, but will it now help me in achieving the outcome/result I want? This is what I meant when I said "we cannot expect to get different results by making the same choices with regards to our behavior and actions".

Summarizing by quoting Sadhguru:

Everyone is making choices, but choices made in unawareness are compulsions. Let us say you get angry right now. It is actually your choice to be angry. Somewhere, you believe that is the way to handle the situation, but the choice is made in such unawareness that it is a compulsion. It is happening compulsively on a different level. So you are living by choice, but choices are being made without awareness – unconscious choices. The whole thing is to shift into making conscious choices.

Link: https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/wisdom/article/cultivating-awareness

Life as I Know It

All that I have seen, read, experienced in my life has led me to believe that whatever has to happen will happen no matter what. 

for (i = 1, i > ∞, i ++) 

God

1. Creates (living beings and nature, only restricting to Earth for now), 
2. Preserves which is the process of sustaining life (which happens through interactions between living beings and between living beings and nature) and 
3. Annihilates (the cause of which is same as that in step 2)

Each one of us gets to play a small part in the above process considering the enormity of the process. We take part in this willingly or unwillingly and with the knowledge of it or in ignorance. What we get in return for participating in the process? It is the moments of experiences, that of anger, fear, joy, faith, sadness, disgust, love, friendship, trust, anticipation, suffering, surprise, indignation, and envy, to name a few (I might have named it all). These moments and the way we respond to them are unique to each one of us, which is nothing short of a miracle.

I will play my tiny but not so in-consequential part in the process, I will try not to judge people for their unique moments of experience and the manner in which they respond to these moments. I have been too concerned about what was and what will be, as the famous quote by 'Alice Morse Earle' goes - "The clock is ticking. Make the most of today. Time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present." Let me unravel this box of present each day and every day till the day I am allowed to and discover what is in store for me. Let me live and relive my moments as long as I am here.

With great respect and love for all :)

Amit Singh B 

BYOD

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Model for Enterprise Mobility

Introduction

Enterprise mobility is about providing swift information access to employees on the move. In order to cater to the fundamental changes in the working environment, wherein more and more individuals are opting to work virtually, organizations are providing access to their enterprise applications through mobile devices. Traditionally, companies have armed their mobile workforce with devices such as cell phones and laptops equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity. These devices remotely connected to the organization’s network through a secure VPN solution accessing enterprise applications and data.

Enterprise Mobility Evolution and the Emergence of BYOD

Over the years deployment of mobile devices has been on the rise across companies and the traditional concept of company provided devices has given way to the new concept of ‘Bring Your Own Device’, popularly referred as ‘BYOD'.

In the BYOD model employees use their personal mobile devices to connect with their company’s wireless networks, thus enabling them to access data and accomplish their tasks. With rising affiliation of individuals to their latest mobile devices (the likes of smart phones and tablets), harnessed with the power of cutting-edge technologies and applications, BYOD has become a rapidly growing trend in today’s business environment.

BYOD Model - Benefits and Challenges

One of the major benefits cited by the advocates of the BYOD model is the reduction in organization spending on the purchase and support of mobile devices. The tech savvy users of latest mobile devices are usually capable of configuring these devices, the onus of which typically remained with the IT support personnel. Further, the BYOD model empowers the workforce with greater mobility which in effect leads to improved productivity and efficiency at work.

For organizations the appeal of the BYOD model also remains in terms of retaining and attracting high performing and innovative workforce, who usually look for flexibility and often work beyond working hours. In such a scenario, implementing the model can serve as a competitive advantage to companies.

The BYOD model is not without its share of challenges, an imminent challenge an organization faces in the decision making process to implement BYOD is that of data security. Companies adopting the model may not have a total control over the devices and how they are used. In the traditional model, the devices provided by companies came along with agreed upon usability and security guidelines. However, in the BYOD model it is not easy to impose requisite usability standards on devices owned by employees. Another challenge is of data segregation and retrieval, which surfaces when an employee quits the organization or is discharged from his services.

Costs Involved in Rolling Out the BYOD Model

Organizations need to estimate the costs involved in implementing the BYOD model.  A direct implication of providing connectivity to additional devices is the cost of installing network equipment to handle mobile data traffic. Although the issue of data loss can be minimized by using device management software, the company will incur software licensing cost for each mobile device. Moreover, providing access to enterprise applications on multiple devices would mean buying additional licenses.

Implementing the BYOD Model

An organization can follow two approaches to implement the BYOD model:  one involves allowing employees to bring their own devices and the other known as the stipend model, wherein the organization shares the cost of the device which is used by employees to carry out work-related and personal activities.

A key factor in successfully implementing the BYOD model lies in the organization’s ability to put in place well-defined policies and outline the procedures to enforce them. Stringent information security rules should be imposed based on the level of access an employee has to critical organization data.

The BYOD model is transforming the way organizations are devising and implementing their enterprise mobility strategy. Companies across various industries, such as Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Finance, Healthcare and Insurance, are embracing the model. Organizations inclined towards adopting BYOD model must carry out a cost-benefit analysis, as well as take into account security, legal and policy considerations.

The top down and bottom-up approach to stock investing

Posted here is the article on moneycontrol.com, written by Mr. Nirmal Jain of IIFL, on the two approaches to investing.

The top down and bottom-up approach to stock investing

Nirmal Jain, IIFL


An investor can take 2 different approaches when looking to buy a share, a) top down and b) bottom up. While Top-down research and bottom-up research are vastly different ways to look at stocks, they both try and achieve exactly the same � to pick out the stocks which can deliver the best returns.

Top-down research begins by thinking about the big picture. Top-down investor looks at macroeconomic variables e.g. GDP growth rate, interest rates, inflation, flows, market valuations etc, as the state of the overall economy & valuations play a big role in the investment decision. The investor then tries to identify sectors that will perform better than others, and looks for opportunities in these sectors first. For example, if an investor believes that interest rates are going to come down in the coming months, he would like to identify sectors which will be positively impacted by the rise in interest rates, e.g. real estate, auto. He would then pick out the best performing stocks in that sector and add them to his portfolio.


By contrast, bottom up investing is all about the detail, or the smaller picture. The stocks are chosen based on their valuations and the growth potential of the company, instead of looking whether the company is in the right sector or not. A bottom up investors looks at company specific factors: market size, competitive position of the company, sales, earnings, expected future earnings and balance sheet of the company before deciding whether or not to invest. A bottom investor would study variables like price to earnings   ratio, any debt or net cash the company has and its dividend yield. A bottom up investor would be unlikely to be swayed by economic conditions, instead focusing on whether a particular company offers good value and can potentially generate good returns over a period of time.


Bottom up investing is likely to provide better returns over a longer period (5 -7 years) but at the same time it might show extreme variations from the market returns. E.g. currently we are seeing that the markets are being driven by the top down approach. Indian markets are moving on factors like emerging markets vs developed markets growth vs. valuations. As a result FII money is coming in and going out resulting in wild variations in the market. Further since most of the FII money is index money large caps are doing much better than small and mid caps even though mid caps are trading at a substantial discount to large caps and large caps seem to be fully priced. As a result most of the bottom-up investors are underperforming the indexes like Nifty. 


Markets take their own time to recognize the value of the companies e.g. during 1998 - 2000 PSU banks traded at 0.1 x � 0.5x P/B and < ~ 5x earning when the markets was willing to give a much higher multiple to companies in the IT space (P/E 30x � 50x). They continued to trade at these levels for 2 years and hence an investor invested in the sector would have hugely underperformed the markets for these 2 years. SBI e.g. generated a return of -30% for the period 1st April 1998 � 31st March 2000, while at the same time Nifty generated a return of 32.87%. However if you see the returns since 1st April 1998 to now SBI has generated a return of 10x as against 5x generated by the Nifty in the same time frame.


For investors with a long term view, value investing is the methodology to follow. However for investors with a slightly shorter term view a mix of top down and bottom-up approach is likely to yield best results. Such investors should use the top down approach to identify the current sectors, market capitalization etc to have exposure to and should use the bottoms up approach to identify the companies within those sectors.

High Interest Rates and Weak Currency Augurs Well for Indian Banks

The macro environment in India in 2011 was not conducive for businesses across sectors. In order to tackle the rising inflation in the country the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) hiked the lending rates throughout the year. Adding to the woos was the weakness in the Indian currency, the rupee tumbled to an all-time low of Rs 54.17 vs. the US dollar on Thursday, December 15.

I have been following the Q3 results of Indian banks and to my surprise they have posted good results, both in the public as well as in the private space. Allahabad Bank, a public sector bank, has posted a net profit of Rs. 560.43 crore for the Dec'11 quarter. The net profit figures of the bank increased by about 15% over the previous quarter and about 35%  year-on-year. On similar lines ICICI Bank, which is India's largest private sector bank, posted a 20% year-on-year rise in its net profit for the third quarter (Oct - Dec 2011) to Rs. Rs 1,728 crore.

Despite an unfavorable macro environment, banks have cited that increase in loan growth and high net interest margins (NIMs) led to the increase in their net profit figures. This has led me to infer that 'high interest rates and weak currency augurs well for the banking sector!' 

One explanation I have is that the strengthening of the US dollar may have caused a decline in External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) and in turn might have led to increase in domestic borrowing. 

Please feel free to post your views and comments!

AB

India's rising external debt vs foreign currency reserves

A Balancing Act

Are we in danger of becoming a very highly indebted nation?

A review of the latest balance of payments data should raise the hairs on the back of your neck. In the past five years, India’s external debt has grown from $152 billion to about $327 billion. Okay, we are a fast growing economy, so that increase should not matter much.

But look at our foreign currency reserves: at about $315 billion, they accounted for 138 per cent of total external debt (about $225 billion) in March 2008. At end-September 2011, the equation is the following: debt at $327 billion, versus reserves at roughly $312 billion.

Roughly 66 per cent of that increase between 2005-06 (FY2006) and September 2011 is accounted for by private sector borrowing through external commercial borrowings or ECBs; companies took advantage of lower international interest rates compared to domestic rates; about $137 billion of that debt is due to be repaid in less than a year, mainly shorter-term trade credits.

Which creates a problem, as rolling that amount over could get more difficult given global economic conditions. Blame the current account deficit: at the end of March 2011, it amounted to $44 billion, up from $16 billion in March 2008. We are all familiar with the impact of higher oil prices (an increase of $10 per barrel adds roughly $7.5 billion to the annual import bill).

There is another contributing factor that is less apparent: our love for gold, which accounts for about $23 billion of that $44 billion current account deficit in FY2011. Most of that has been for consumption; viewed against India’s worsening external debt position, all that gold will not glitter.

(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 16-01-2012)