Thought for the day
"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept
anything but the best, you very often get it."
-
Somerset Maugham (British, 1874-1965)
Word for the day
Beamish (adj)
Bright, cheerful, and optimistic.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Teaser for the day
Does the practice of writing recommendation for school and
hospital admissions, railway tickets, etc. by MPs and MLAs violate the constitutional
oath of 'Without fear or favor" and Without affection or ill will"?
Sir, we did this!
Yesterday was the annual result day for both my daughters. It
was insightful to speak with some parents whose ward study in senior classes.
It was even more interesting in light of what the Principal claimed in a rather
boastful and boring speech.
Many parents lamented that school teachers do not put in enough
effort. The children have to necessarily take multiple tuitions, leaving them
with no time to pursue any hobby or sport. Even parents have to spend
extraordinary time helping their wards in studies. Most senior students in fact
are encouraged to miss school and study at home.
However, the credit for a good result is claimed almost entirely
by the principal of the school. I found it rather unethical. Though the
aggrieved parents appear to be complaining just as a ritual, absolutely not
interested in putting any effort to change the things. The child scoring good
marks is good enough an outcome.
On my way back home, I saw some hoardings showing how thankful
and obliged some local politicians were to their elected representatives for
repairing of roads, cleaning of drains, and getting the hawkers permits to
squat on pavements.
Back home I heard a minister claiming in the parliament how in
just 10months the government has done wonders to put the country back on high
growth path, brought inflation down, eliminated the current account deficit and
made doing business so easy. In full page advertisements in newspapers, the
government of Uttar Pradesh made similar claims of doing wonders in a short
span of three years.
An unusually large number of research reports on my table and
hard disk appreciate the government in general and the prime minister in
particular for achieving wonderful results. No one cares to talk about the
people who have to toil real hard just for survival.
The parents are making sacrifice and the students are investing
the best part of their life. Two square meals and some meaningless economic
data is what they get to console themselves. The principal gets all the credit.
Duh..............!
If you feel I am being unnecessarily and excessively cynical.
You might be mistaken.
The point I am trying to make here is that as an investor, our
focus should be on the quality of businessmen & workforce and the business
opportunity in the offing. We might miss many good opportunities or mistake a
trap for opportunity if we focus the politics instead.
For example, the conduct of the government so far has not
suggested that it would begin to bother about the interest of minority
shareholders anytime soon. Those seeking an investment opportunity in that
space may very well get trapped, yet again.
We shall talk about the opportunity next week.
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