The after effects of Typhoon Mangkhut

Hong Kong was recently shattered by a monster storm - Typhoon Mangkhut. It mauled Hong Kong with 175km/h winds and flood water reaching their highest levels since 1904. One can only imagine the suffering and damage in the aftermath of this natural calamity.

Many essential services such as power, transportation and water was seriously disrupted. The roads looked like a scene from a “world-coming-to-an-end-movie” albeit without any super hero.

Let me change the topic and share a slice of Steve Job’s famous speech at Stanford University in 2005

“About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.”

Steve Jobs faced his own death and that changed the way he looked at life because it quickly reminded him that he was not invincible. Like every soul in this world, his time was finite.

Our mind plays a trick on us by making us forget the eternal truth and pushes us back into the daily routine, pushes us back into securing our future, pushes us back into believing that we can control the world. Otherwise we won’t be so obsessed with making more money than we could ever spend in a lifetime, obsessed with our image and status in the society or obsessed with materialistic pleasure.

This has become more of a problem in modern society which is so technologically advanced where we can speak to anyone in other side of the world, control our daily life with a command to Siri or announce the world about every single act of our day through social media. This creates a fake illusion, making us control freaks.

So now going back to the after effects of Typhoon. We could all see the physical damage but we never received the hidden message – “Memento mori”, meaning “Remember you are mortal”

As people came out of their houses or rather logged into their social media accounts, they were shocked to see the damage - boats washed away, fallen trees everywhere, broken windows and flood debris. Whatsapp, Facebook and Instagram was buzzing with “Are you fine?” messages from friends, relatives and strangers around the world. They quickly started checking if they had to be in the office next day, if schools are working, if public transportation is back up and running so that they can go back into their routine. However not for a moment, did people meditate on the thought of how fragile life is? One may ask what is the point of thinking about death? Death does not make life pointless, but rather purposeful.


Thinking about our mortality creates a real urgency in our life to make big decisions of our life, to think about a day at a time and to follow our heart. As Steve Jobs said “Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.” 

Fortunately we don’t need a near death experience like Steve Jobs to realize that. Remembering how light our grip on life is can help us have a tighter grip on the purpose of life. We may not be able to control death but we can certainly control the way we live life.

When death strikes us, of course we would like to last a little longer but it would be great to make the best out of what was already given to us.

Why Blog?

Just because one starts doing something doesn't mean that he knows the motive behind it or embraces that idea completely. This is exactly my dilemma with blogging? Very often I ask myself "Why blog?" Why do we want some unknown person, in some remote part of the world know about your opinions or feelings in a digital form and in some way relate to us, support our thoughts or even reciprocate to it? Why can’t we confine our thoughts to ourselves?  Is it because we want someone to affirm our ideas or is it just to convey the superiority of our knowledge over someone else or is it just to pen down our thoughts of the day to kill time. Sometimes it is purely for commercial reasons such as celebrity blogs, food blogs, business blogs etc. In some cases it is out of profession such as author’s blog, critic’s blog etc

I'm neither an existing or hopeful celebrity nor does my boring job requires any kind of blogging. In fact I work in an industry where time is money and I’m naturally not living up to its principle by spending my time in typing these blogs. I don't have any interesting stories (at least the ones that I can share without putting a child lock on this website) or any wow factor in my life which makes my blog unique. Last couple of lines also proved how bad I’m in marketing myself and naturally not helping sell my blog.

We have all heard that "we should live life to the fullest and live every moment as if today is the last day of your life". In this beautiful journey of life, there are moments when your mind is loaded with amazing thoughts (usually happens to me when I’m tied to a tiny seat that is floating 35000 feet above ground with couple of drinks down the throat) and you want to capture those thoughts. It’s like photography. You are capturing an experience, a moment and, creating a memory out of it that you can cherish for life. Your thoughts are all like small drops of moments that may fall upon you from experience of any of your five senses, or just wander wildly from some unknown world, and it is great to capture them and share it with your friends and strangers-waiting-to-be-friends. These thoughts can inspire people, uplift their mood or even put them on the right path to follow their dreams. Thoughts are very powerful and Buddha summed it by saying "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world"

My blog is my humble way of sharing my world with you. I hope it will make your world as beautiful as mine. I guess this is a reason good enough for me to spend (in my financial term "invest") my precious time blogging.

Why people don't get what they want?

Here is a story of a three-year-old girl and his father. Every morning, the little girl used to wake up and the first thing she asked her dad was “Papa, can you play with me? You can go to office after you play with me”. As soon as he returned home from a long day of work, she used to ask “ Papa, can you play with me now?” Finally before going to bed she used to ask one more time “Papa can you play with one last time today?”

Most often the father used to find an excuse of not playing with his little girl, but every now and then he used to fulfill her wish. The little girl’s success rate may not be incredible but it is much better than most grown ups. Have you ever wondered why? 

The answer is as simple as it gets; people just don't try hard enough. Perseverance is only the quality that distinguishes winners from losers. You need to try just one more time to be successful. Thomas Edison is famous for saying “Many of life’s failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” This world is full of amazing stories of people who achieved the impossible just through sheer perseverance.

People get bored very quickly. Have you even seen a mouse running on a rolling wheel, equivalent to a treadmill for humans. The mouse can run for hours everyday without getting bored, even though the mouse has no explicit motive to run unlike humans. Scientists have defined boredom as “an aversive state of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity”. In simple terms, humans have a tendency to let their brain’s attention network corrode. 

People like short cuts. Yes the world is unfair. There are few extremely successful people (the definition of success itself calls for another post but we will leave that for another day) who have achieved success due to sheer luck, but that is the reason we introduced the word “outlier” in dictionary, and let me tell you there are few outliers in this world. There is just no way to become a role model without taking that long and uphill road of perseverance and hard work.

The next reason is the most shocking but most prevailing in the modern society. People don't even try because they are educated to adhere to the societal norms, to act within boundaries of limitations, to stop chasing the stars and to be practical rather than passionate. These ideas and beliefs are deep rooted in our education system, and we teach them to our kids every day. Mathematics and science is top of the hierarchy in every education system irrespective of the interest and passion of a person. We constantly thrive to produce more teachers, doctors and scientists even though our daily life is influenced by music, art, food, design etc that has nothing to do with science and math. This education system overtime not only kills creativity but also passion in most people. Passion provides the energy to focus on what excites you. You are nothing more than a headless chicken without passion.

The last reason, as naïve as it may sound, is lack of faith. Belief is the fuel for your dreams and every act to achieve those dreams. Let me tell you a story as told by Azim Premji, founder of Wipro.

An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money left. They were moving to a smaller house because they could not afford to stay in the present house after paying the doctor’s bills. Only a very costly surgery could save him now and there was no one to loan them the money.

When she heard daddy say to her tearful mother with whispered desperation, ‘Only a miracle can save him now’, the child went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jar from its hiding place in the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully.

Clutching the precious jar tightly, she slipped out the back door and made her way six blocks to the local drug Store. She took a quarter from her jar and placed it on the glass counter. “And what do you want?” asked the pharmacist. “It’s for my little brother,” the girl answered back. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle.”

“I beg your pardon?” said the pharmacist.

“His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?”

“We don’t sell miracles here, child. I’m sorry,” the pharmacist said, smiling sadly at the little girl.

“Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn’t enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.”

In the shop was a well-dressed customer. He stooped down and asked the little girl, “What kind of a miracle does you brother need?”

“I don’t know,” she replied with her eyes welling up. “He’s really sick and mommy says he needs an operation. But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought my savings”. “How much do you have?” asked the man. “One dollar and eleven cents, but I can try and get some more”, she answered barely audibly.

“Well, what a coincidence,” smiled the man. “A dollar and eleven cents — the exact price of a miracle for little brothers.” He took her money in one hand and held her hand with the other. He said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.”

That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn’t long before Andrew was home again and doing well.

“That surgery,” her mom whispered, “was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?” The little girl smiled. She knew exactly how much the miracle cost - one dollar and eleven cents plus the faith of a little child.

Stop TWEETING, start LIVING!!

My smart phone just snoozed to signal a new notification on Facebook while the Whatsapp icon is asking me to check the latest message. I still have to accept some invitations on LinkedIn and Asmallworld. While I am trying to get a grip on how to keep up with the hundreds of friends I am connected to, my blackberry is yelling desperately to be picked up to check some emails. I am doing this while I have couple of tabs open on my browser on my tablet and of course, many other applications opened in the background, mostly flashing very frequently for some sort of updates. The beep, snooze, flashing just would not stop. God, why am I so popular. Am I really or people have started living in this digital world where everyone feels like a biggest socialite, where everything is connected with 3 degrees of separation and when we are all connected to each other with 1s and 0s. It is not important of how well you know someone but after initial introduction it is very important to connect on Facebook. Even my 10 year old nephew has about 100 friends, meaning he is making a new friend every month since he was born.

The growing usage of social networking map summarizes the problem at hand (http://socialmediagraphics.posterous.com/the-growth-of-social-media)

We are not far from the day when we will start trading friends and connections online because the social status of an individual would be determined by the sheer number of connections on social networking sites.

People are now so busy in their digital world that they have stopped communicating face-to-face. Even when someone wants to speak to his colleague sitting next to him, he would send a message that makes a world trip hopping through various sea cables and satellites before reaching the colleague. People feel a strong urge to know every minute about their friend’s status. I think the status of most FB users should be “I’m not addicted to Facebook. I only use it when I have time: lunch time, break time, bed time, off time, this time, that time, any time, all the time.”

People forget to enjoy a single moment of their life because they are busy declaring to the world about the very moment that they lost in the digital odyssey.  Social networks are trying to mimic every sentiment, every gesture, every act that human beings are capable of, but do you really think you can convey your true emotions digitally? Can you really express the sadness of lonely eyes or the jubilation of achieving something in life or the love you feel for someone or the even a simple hug that can melt the heart away? The charm of oral communication is that you do not have a chance to hit backspace.

Various research studies concluded that social networking has led to a new way of communication, not only with the newly formed friendships but also with their existing friends and relationships. This new form of communication lacks social skills and effective verbal interaction.


Lack of communication is cited a common problem in relationships, team sports and even organizations. The lack of this key skill is only growing with the habit of texting. Of course, the entrepreneurial minds have already started promoting various books and courses on “Art of communicating online”, which also illustrates the growth of cyber communication.

We are wasting hours (a study concluded that people spend on average 6 hours a day on social networking sites) tracking people that we barely know but do not take few minutes to sit down and talk to our family and friends. Most dinner tables are now occupied with smart-phones and tablets. I am sure that there are many positive effects of social networking and it enriches our lives in many ways but the cons far outweigh pros at the moment.

People are said to be social animals, but I guess we have dropped the word social in our life. 

Many mistakes of my life

What do mistakes mean for human beings? Are we supposed to count them, dwell on them, or as a wise man learn from them? In my case, there are many instances when I feel guilty or regret my mistakes. However when I muse over the same “mistakes”, it certainly does not feel like mistakes. In fact it brings a happy grin on my face, a feeling of joy and triumph. I probably made countless mistakes but with every mistake I recollect an equally ecstatic and enriching experience.

Mistakes are part of me because it symbolizes my actions in life. It reflects my temperament, my spirit and my soul. My mistakes bring me some form of joy that is difficult to explain. Mahatma Gandhi once said “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes”. The journey of life calls for continuous pursuit of success and happiness that cannot be achieved without making mistakes. Big wins call for big mistakes. However for some strange reason, as we age, we preach the younger generation on how they should learn from others mistakes.

Do you remember when you started swimming? You made mistakes. You violated every code of swimming. Your parents and friends probably had a good laugh. And when you made all the possible mistakes without drowning, what happened? You learned to swim. The same goes for life.

The world is full of information on mistakes people made in life, and how we should avoid the same pitfalls. We are constantly warned on mistakes, categorized as financial mistakes, relationship mistakes, life mistakes, career mistakes, stupid mistakes etc. For everything that is done right, we exemplify 100 things that are done wrong. We cite history to show mistakes that our great leaders made and how we should avoid it. But one needs to ask on how ordinary people became great leaders? They became great because they dared to make mistakes. Success is a by-product of action and every action calls for mistakes.

Every act of man is done consciously or sub-consciously. When people gamble in a casino, the odds are always against them, so loosing in a casino cannot be a mistake. Similarly killing someone after drinking and driving, or shooting someone it certainly cannot be excused as a mistake. And even if one did, then one has to bear the consequences of such action.

Should we repeat our mistakes? We should not be afraid to do so. Falling in love with a wrong person does not mean the end of love. You most certainly should fall in love as many times as you can. Making a wrong investment does not make you a fool.

Don’t be scared to make mistakes.

Don’t be scared of the outcome of mistakes you make.

Don’t be scared of repeating some mistakes.

Don’t think that your birth was a mistake that you need to correct all your life.

Nothing is more fun than living life - a journey full of beautiful mistakes. 

What is your number Mr.Banker?

How best to describe investment banking industry is a million dollar question? Is it a roller coaster ride that makes you feel jittery as it goes up, like you cant breathe without screaming but still smiling, it is scary yet fun, an adrenaline rush; or is it like playing a video game where losing to your competitor bestows the darkest reputation, where winning is everything and where you constantly strive to move to the next level?

 I think investment banking is nothing more than a number game and every person part of this industry is a number as well. If you are a banker, your only identity is a number; it can be the bonus number, the grade number, stock options number, the profitability number, the head count number or the pink slip number. You are a headcount, you are a cost, and you are a money-making machine. You are everything but human.  
 
In a good year, you are million-dollar something and in bad times you are a cost that needs to be cut. In recent times, many banks around the world have been “cutting cost” to keep the bottom line profitable. It is very cyclical process and anyone who has worked in this industry for few years has been part of it, either as a player or a spectator.  
 
On a chop-chop day, there is a pin-drop silence in the office. It’s like watching a suspense thriller when you are scared to death but do not want to be the first one to scream.  Then your phone rings and you are called into a meeting room; the room that you never knew existed. You meet the HR person; the person that you never knew worked at your firm. You are given the same standard old crap; the crap that you have heard or told many times. If someone could echo your mind in the room, it would go like this: "You have been a valuable part of this firm” (right, what you do know of value?), "Times are tough and company has no other choice" (why aren’t you fired, you do nothing valuable), "I’m sure you understand” (jeez, I just paid for my new Porsche) etc. I think you can pretty much write a standard script and let a robot read it out. Then you are given the magic number, something called "severance package" and the HR strikes off one more number from the list. 

For the next few months, central banks around the world comes together to save the doomed world.  Money is printed so that banks can make money. Banks become extremely bullish and everyone starts fighting to hire everyone on the street. Head hunters are calling the same person they placed two months ago. Anyone who walks in for an interview walks out with a job offer. Everyone gets hired, and rehired, with bigger dreams than they ever dreamt. They all start buying million dollar villas, fancy suits, expensive cars and flashing their business cards to girls in bars. It’s as cyclical as it can get. 
"Its all about bucks kid, the rest is all conversation". 

Reminds me of Mr.Gekko from Wallstreet: 
“How much is enough” 
“It’s not a question of enough, pal. It’s a zero sum game, somebody wins, somebody looses. Money itself isn’t lost or made, it’s simply transferred from one perception to another” 

 


Here is another interesting story from the fascinating world of investment banking about a girl who switched to exotic dancing post-Lehman collapse. 
http://hereisthecity.com/2012/02/16/investment-banker-to-exotic-dancer-chapter-1/

The quintessence of Togetherness

One of my dear friends asked me to pen down my thoughts on togetherness. I really don’t understand the concept of this word. It is an abstract notion which can only be symbolised through gestures such as holding hands together, eating dinner together, having a drink together and so forth. So I was really struggling to find true value of this word, especially in this age and time when the world has started shrinking from larger open communities into nuclear families.

Why do people crave about togetherness if it is such a simple gesture? Why id our great leaders of past quote togetherness thousands of time?

Having meditated over the thought for few hours, I went back to my social network browsing, and just while I was accepting some new connections, I realized the concept of togetherness. Mankind has made tremendous progress over centuries, but the emotions and feelings that human being is born with, still stays the same. We may not be living together with our extended families but we still push ourselves to know our family tree, we still find ways to get in touch with our high-school friends and we still try to find new people who may be our soul mates. The success of social networking sites is a clear validation that people want to stay connected with one another and it is this desire, though in digital form, that brings them together. We may have changed the form of gestures of hand holding to digital likes, but the basic premise of togetherness remains the same. It is still an antidote to loneliness.

The foundation for togetherness is based on commitment, which for some, means end of freedom. In pre-industrial era, families were tied together with common social obligations but in the modern world, families have moved apart due to reasons such as better prospects in other cities/countries, need to get away from traditional routines, need for privacy, becoming independent etc. Sometimes people think that living together means end of freedom to choose what constitutes their personal happiness and rights, that they might be forced to devote their life for the collective happiness of the house hold. This is obviously not true and relationship based on such foundation is weak at best.

The way relationships work may have changed but the essence of it remains the same. People still fall in love, people still crave for intimate partners and people still wish to be blessed with parenthood. The number of divorces may have increased but so has the number of marriages, including the second and third marriage, because at the end of the day, people still believe in “happily ever after” stories and people still wish to be with someone, though the gesture of love may be through SMS, Emails or WhatsApp. People still carry family names, accentuating the association of an individual to a larger group called “family”.

Ideas are born out of an individual’s mind but ideas are brought to life by a group of people. The very origin of man-kind is conceived by bringing two souls together. No natural wonder on this planet was built by an individual, no battle won by an individual.

Every man is supposed to walk down the path on his own, but having someone walk the path with him can provide strength, happiness and determination. Togetherness provides the courage to carry on your personal legend, as penned in the beautiful song “Stand by Me” by Ben King.

why are people envious of the rich?

I read an article recently in FT that suggested poor people are more generous than rich when it comes to charity. A behavioral study done by University of Berkeley also concluded that lower class give more of their resources away, whereas upper-class tend to preserve and grow their wealth.

It makes me ponder if we take every opportunity out there to stab the rich. After all, one can crunch data in many different ways to define human nature and rising inequality in the society. It can as easily be shown that the richest are contributing most to the tax, which provides critical support to the society. We have seen multiple discussions on higher taxes on the rich instead of giving them a choice to spend their hard-earned money as they please and support the economy.

There are many better ways of forcing the rich to contribute to the society. Promoting capitalism that can create jobs is a much better way to reduce social inequality. As someone rightly said “Capitalism is the worst form of society, except for all the others that have been tried”

Many rich people have worked their way up with sheer perseverance, hard work and risk taking ability. Protecting ones future with financial security is basis of survival ship and there is nothing wrong for the upper class or for that matter anyone, to act in their self-interest. The world has already witnessed that governments, including that of developed nations, are incapable of securing the future or providing any social benefits to its taxpayers, so naturally saving and preserving wealth and future is crucial.

Have we forgotten all about Objectivism (as defined by Ayn Rand) that individuals hold free will, are autonomous and independent; by using reason, they determine their own beliefs and values and thus create their own life? Society as a whole would be a much better place to live if we don’t force altruism on every individual.

Is the society moving towards altruism as the new fashion statement? Do we need to define the moral worth of an individual by his values of egalitarianism?

I certainly agree that the some affluent people have exerted more influence on the government to define policies for their self-interest. Instead of hating the rich, the society should lobby to select the right leadership and government that can create environment conducive to equal and fair opportunity for all. But the political dreams of our so-called leaders rely heavily on the donations from the rich.

Once again, I might be perceived as a seriously empathy-deficit person but I do believe that the core problem in today’s world is government structures and leadership rather than capitalism.

Why women prefer security over love in their partner?

Before you get furious from the headline of this blog, let me tell you that I don’t perceive women as superficial or gold-diggers chasing rich guys. Neither is my intention to portray women as such nor am I rich enough to make that statement. I’m not trying to prove any point or making these comments from my personal experience. It may be a very complex issue that depends on extremely personal interest and I may be unsuccessfully trying to oversimplify it.

The fact that women prefer security over love can be understood by the fact that genetically and behaviorally men and women are designed for different purposes. Nature wants male species to propagate its seeds as wide as possible and so men are overly generous to engage in casual relationships and sex without thinking about the future. Female species, on the other hand, has to bear the consequences of begetting a child; so she is programmed to seek security. This is probably also the reason why men engage in more casual encounters and infidelity than women, who prefers long lasting relationship.

Most women would disagree with the fact that they prefer financial security over love because it doesn’t sound right morally. There is nothing to dispise about it though.  Women probably aren’t looking for the richest guys out there, but their million-dollar-wanting heart is definitely looking for guys who can provide a good lifestyle for rest of her life.

We have all heard about the argument “Money doesn’t bring happiness, love does”. Though this statement holds true in a utopian world when men and nature lived in perfect harmony, and men’s needs were few and desires limited. In the new golden age, it is almost the opposite, so even though money can’t bring happiness directly, it can definitely make the journey to contentment easier. It provides women with the freedom from bills, daily chores and all the drama related to it. Probably it is one of the reasons that arranged marriages around the world have had a higher success rates than “love” marriages as element of security has already been factored into the relationship.

Some women have told me that it depends on the time and age, which may be true. In many cases, women over 40 are career oriented or have inherited family wealth; they wouldn’t care about financial security as much as women in their 30s. However there are reports (including the infamous Newsweek article) that claim that women that are not married by 40 wouldn’t marry forever. We can leave this aside as a separate topic of discussion for another day. Even if an affluent woman did seek a partner, she would be looking more for emotional security than financial; someone who is atleast an equal match to her.

I do agree that it is not always “either security or love” situation. There is always a problem when you select a partner just for money or love, and such relationships always end up at a junction that leads to two different roads.

Women are wise and they know that the probability of making her rich man fall in love is much higher than making her lover boy rich over time.