Do it yourself

A few years ago, I had to make a visit to a local garbage dump site in Delhi. My wife had lost an earring, which she thought could have been dumped there with the daily kitchen waste. The visit was a revelation for me as it introduced me to a significant phenomenon of our society. A casual discussion with the rag pickers skimming the household garbage to pick pieces of paper, plastic and metal, etc. was quite intriguing. Out of seven people diligently scanning the nauseating dump, some were children under the age of 14, including girls, and many were youth in the age bracket of 19-27. Incidentally, there was a police PCR vehicle standing just 10mtr from the site. The police personnel on petrol duty were blissfully unaware of the laws relating to right to education, child labor, dumping of garbage in open areas etc. On being asked why they chose to do this menial, risky (health wise) and hideous job, when they have relatively decent options driving an e-rickshaw, working at a nearby...

  Chasing multibaggers Identifying and investing in “multibagger” stocks has always been a popular topic of discussion in the context of equity investments. The annals of stock markets are replete with folklore about how famous investors successfully identified and invested in “multibagger” stocks and made extraordinary returns. The marketing pitches made by several financial service providers often include the claims of identifying multiple “multibagger” stocks at the “right time” and riding on these till the end. Drawing inspiration from these folklores and claims, many investors strive to find “multibagger” stocks for investing. However, as the anecdotal evidence would suggest, very few of them are actually able to identify and invest in such stocks. It is also common to find investors lamenting that they did actually identify a potential “multibagger” at the right time, but either did not invest in it; or invested an insignificant amount in it ; or the worst, exited the...