An Evil named Liberal

It was August 2013.. I had completed 3 years of my return after graduating from a New York based university. I had voluntarily decided to come back home even though many believed that I was forced to come back as I couldn't land up a job there.

I had almost completed 3 years into my job as well and having made a reasonably good progress within the organization I could never really feel happy about coming back to India.. That even though I desperately wanted to feel so. I have always liked to be in my own country, among my own people, discussing things that matter to me and my own people.. Yet I was exasperated. Left longing for a change.. What kind of change, I really wasn't sure.

Then I decided to take a plunge.. Deep within me. I found that the darkness that was pulling me back was really all about the nation , it's economy, poverty , lack of opportunity and the biggest evil among the mankind called 'corruption' .. Somehow even unknowingly the political affairs had set inside me a great displeasure.

Thankfully just then a 'sun' was rising on Indian political horizon who promised to change all of this. His name was Narendra Modi. Over next 8-9 months, he did exactly what he was known to do and what was needed of him. He connected with the masses, ignited a hope within them, provided them a glimpse of their bright future and won them over.. Quite literally so!

That brings us at a crossroad which I personally believe will lead India not just in the right direction but will also give it a sense of purpose.. Yet there are many within India, the people who profoundly call themselves 'liberals' (whatever that really means) who are opposed to very idea of Narendra Modi.

Much of India, which includes common habitants like myself, who voted for him know that the real worry of the country today is economic prosperity for lower as well as middle classes much less the religious divide. Religious feuds usually thrive in poor nations. The country who are alleviated from poverty automatically rid themselves of this so called 'secular trap'. The liberals however by virtue of being rich and well to do themselves have time enough to think and promote the notion among common people that they were wrong in their choice. The intelligentsia ( another jargon beyond me ) is obsessed with the idea that Modi will divide nation into pieces and think no more beyond it. Their future is not linked to the destiny of the nation and common people. They know very well that they are assured of a comfortable life whether it's congress or the BJP in power. Hence it's not a matter of existence for them but about displaying their wit by bringing forth a perspective that is not 'commonplace'. After all, that's what stimulates them in their life and not the thought that millions can earn a lot more than they do.

So that brings us to demystifying of this term called ' liberals'.. To me this is a group who has constant insatiable urge of being called 'different'.. It rarely matters to them whether that 'different' is what the nation needs as long as it fulfils their desire of putting forth a perspective that satisfies their snobbish intelligence. So they go on, abusing the democratic right of 'freedom of expression' to such an extent that it makes a common man feel sick to their guts why such right even exists.. For many it leads to call for an autocratic government who will suppress these seemingly anti- national voices till they choke for their existence. Are such calls extremists? Off course they are ! But so are these relatively smaller and wealthier groups called 'liberals' who prefer to put their own interests way ahead of national interest, knowingly and willfully!

Alas, it's not possible to suppress these voices by force as they represent the same democracy which has empowered us today to elect a person who represents our common aspiration to grow.  We however need to resolutely ignore these cries till they become redundant or even change themselves!

Liberals may well be suited for developed economies where their views may not affect millions of poor people's existence. But they are the last thing this nation requires at the juncture we are ! As the nation marches ahead they will then run for shelter or even run away to the places where they can exhibit this unwanted talent they possess !

Underdog or Favourite...

Often enough I find myself supporting underdog; sometimes even unknowingly .. Sometimes in process of supporting favourite I switch back to the underdog side .. It's funny.. It's all in the mind!

Personality and background plays a lot of importance on your choice of supporting between a favourite or an underdog.. Most people with a rather humble background and less aggressive in nature tend to support underdogs.. Not because they like them but simply because they relate to them easily . On the contrary , people from a well to do background and aggressive in nature often find themselves backing the favourites.

I remember myself frustrated by an undisputed Federer era in tennis in early 2000s.. He was the king.. Nobody even came close to beating him except for on clay where he lacked basic skills at that point in time .. Them came along a challenger, a real fighter called Rafael Nadal.. He was a true underdog.. Even when he won at Rolland Garros, people never treated him a favourite.. But I saw a glimmer of hope of ending a rather boring dominance .. And became an astute fan.. It was almost like a personal victory when he beat Federer at Wimbledon. That's the payoff of supporting an underdog.. You feel an adrenaline of winning yourself .. I guess that's one reason people take that plunge ..

Supporting underdog also speaks a bit about the person himself.. That basically shows an ability to separate from herd.. Not confining yourself to a group of majority..

The big question however is the choice between an underdog and a personal favourite.. And although I don't have a clear answer for that I think personal favourites tend to be a natural first choice .. This basically shows heart's dominance over brain.. Personal favourites are usually connected to a person's heart.. The choice of supporting an underdog is mostly based on mind calculations and preferences..

All in all it's an interesting ball game !

US Cities through an Indian eye..

Its been almost 2 years that I have been in the US. Even when the country is going through a recessionary period and tough times in general....it doesn't stop anyone from dreaming and more importantly from pursuing those dreams.... There are several such things admirable about this country.... One of those is the diversity of the country....geographically, socially and culturally...... ( unfortunately that doesn't quite stop me from going back to my home country... :( )

I was fortunate to be able to travel to at least a dozen different states twice as many cities during my time here.... East and the west.... and it was truly fascinating to see different countries within a country.... Like anywhere else in the world there are special things about each of those places however the top 3 places among all the places are......

3. New York ..... a truly multicultural capital of the world...... The best thing about the New York city to me is no one in NYC can be seen as an outsider....I saw and met people from different ethnicities , different countries of origin and of different races and all of them felt equally at home when they roamed around the Manhattan streets.... When you are at a bar in NYC you will probably see 10 people from all over the world and you cannot say for sure either from their appearance or their accent whether they are American citizens or not... Many people despite being in the city for decades speak in their own accent and feel as much at ease as any of the Americans.... Well if that sounds too idealistic let me tell you that there are bound to be a few people who may not agree with this....but nevertheless its truly " A multicultural hub of the world" and to me a great symbol of this nation......

2. Boston.....at its first look reminds you of (gracious?? :) ) British presence in this country...... The city has tonnes of beautiful British architectures to boast of.... When you stand on the bridge on Charles river while walking from the Main campus of Harvard to the world famous Harvard business school....you cant resist the admiration for the magnificence of the city..... The city however is cursed by a miserably cold temperature during winters.....so much so that you dont dare to stand outside..... The buses here run on electric cable power.... the city is greener and cleaner than NYC.... and the huge student population makes it an extremely energetic and youthful place....especially at nights..... and above all the food and the variety of it you can experience is unlimited.....

1. San Francisco..... as well described by someone...is the " West of the West"..... Its a clear number one for me and most people travelling to this country would tend to agree with me on this one..... The first noticeable thing about the city is that people here are so much more conscious about their appearance.... the general sense for fashion seems to be way higher than any other place in the US....also some parts are very similar to that of Europe in their eco-friendliness.... on one side of the Golden Gate bridge on both sides of roads are beautiful spanish type houses....a typical limestone view with colorful walls...... The marketplaces are truly like old marketplaces with crowd all around and shops flooded with visitors.... The city is built around the hills which makes the roads extremely steep....which was kind of a trademark for me of the city..... The traffic is not bad at all for the scale of the city and the population living in.....and again the best of all is the food you get to taste here is nothing but awesome.... Ethiopian, Greek, Lebanese, Cuban, Indian....name it and its there..... :) San Francisco for me is clear winner.... !! :D

P.S. the blog is a little biased towards the cities which offer good food as I am a great foodie...ha...ha...

Behind the backdrop of Financial Crisis

While people are doing the mudslinging and playing this blame-game of what is to be held responsible for the current economic debacle... if you really see in detail people currently criticize things like Derivatives market regulation, Hedge fund regulation, Credit Default swaps, Mortgage backed securities etc etc.... When everything was going alright no one seemed to pay any attention to these things ever. This gives a rise to the question that why these things are ignored when all is going well.... one answer could be that the generation of wealth because of these things probably at the time of normal economic conditions must be at least at a level people don’t even want to consider giving a thought to these things and its implications if those go wrong ever. Won’t it be interesting then to compare the wealth created by such products for society to the cost of fallout if it ever fails?

 

I get a feeling that this study could be based on a wide every day perception of general people that " if advantages of a system are more than the disadvantages of it we tend to settle for the advantages offered often ignoring the disadvantages..." and the risk they pose which seems very remote and distant possibility as of now....and in a way we (the very society deriving benefits out of the prosperous economic conditions) lay a foundation for the doom day..

 

Imagine of it as the plastic waste we are creating today....plastic is cheap.... and so convenient to use.... and offers so many advantages than the apparent disadvantages... So while deriving these benefits we deposit our share to the foundation that grows in size and strength little by little....a foundation for a mammoth disaster that has a potential to devastate us but we hardly care about it as long as we are all happy today...

 

It would be interesting if we can choose 2/3 such products like say currency products of a hedge fund....and credit default swaps of insurance companies and carry out a study of wealth it has created for an average investor within a time period....and now after it has hit back in a form of crisis....the cost of such a disaster to that same individual.... we can possibly establish the rationale behind such a behavior which leads to such a crisis situation....

How to compensate the executives?

Executive Compensation

 

Over past decade the debate regarding executive compensation has taken a centre stage with people against the existing system arguing that the goals of the owners of the company (its shareholders) and those of the managers should be congruent in nature. This argument in turn has led to broader implications upon the methodology used behind the executive compensation by many corporate. Traditionally used stock options came under wide scrutiny for their implicit nature of not expensing the same from earnings after the accounting scandals were unearthed. Since, then companies have been forced to become more transparent in how they represent the compensations on their income statements. Many of the companies revisited their strategy of using equity compensation. Thereafter many companies went for other alternative which enabled them to help reduce the stockholder’s equity dilution. However, it’s a point of consideration whether those alternatives have really served to the best of the interest of the stockholders overall. Many of these alternatives tended to compromise the basic intention of enhancing the value for the company’s shareholders. The companies thus far have been in dilemma of choosing between the shareholders and the employee retention.

 

The companies across the US and the rest of the world have more or less failed to establish the link between the performance and reward. With the spectacular downfall of the capital markets across the world during the second half of last year the gravity of the “reward for performance” issue came into broad daylight. Many of the companies went bankrupt or are at the brink of facing one. However, the top executives of the companies have not had to face any heat at all and it’s all turned onto the common shareholders with the executive continuing drawing their hefty pay-cheques from the shareholder’s pocket. The single most important aspect from any shareholder’s perspective is the appreciation in the stock value through the means of performance of the company they invest in. Stock options, although very popular with the employees; don’t perform too well on this aspect as irrespective of the company’s performance over a period of time the employees get their share of the options. Restricted stocks are absolute giveaways when considered under this parameter alone. Under such challenging conditions, it’s about time now for the companies to consider the use of Indexed options as the means to compensate executives as opposed to their traditional counterparts. This will surely form the much required linkage between reward and performance by compensating employees only for their performance and not for non-performance.

 

The Indexed option as opposed to the stock option will be granted only when the company outperforms a pre-decided index (e.g. S & P 500) ensuring that the goal of the shareholders and the managers are aligned. The argument against the use of Indexed option could be that the challenge it poses in terms of retention of the employees. The cost to the company in case the key people leave the organization could be much higher than the expense it makes for retaining them. However, this alternative is still better than a “performance share” which is awarded sheerly on basis of the company’s performance and not the comparative performance. The managers will be better off being rated on a relative basis than sheerly against performing on the pre-set targets. The Indexed option thus is that “In between” alternative which could help companies in their dilemma of weighing among shareholder’s interest and the employee retention.