2023 Experiences

I am a firm believer of having new, interesting experiences almost constantly throughout life.

If not experiences, what else are we living for in this life?

With a firm mindset and curiosity of new things, I have been able to identify new things to do and new experiences to have almost every other week. It is a craving, it is an addiction and get to learn more about the world around me. The thrill of discovering new things, experiencing new things and then sharing these new things to others is something I find joy in.

I hope the list below inspires people to value experiences and look forward to create & share experiences for others to enjoy.

So, let me share with you the new experiences in 2023. Most are bucketlist worthy and some not, but just an interesting experience.

1. Completing the Hyderabad half marathon - 4th time. This was the hardest ever for me as I did it after a 8 year hiatus. With poor training, I somehow managed to complete it much better than expected with going to office half day after the marathon and not taking any leave the next day also. Helped in bringing a lot of self confidence in doing hard tough things. Some of the reasons I run the half marathons: to know my stamina, to develop will power to overcome barriers.
2. Indoor sky diving. Gravity Zip at Hyderabad. The starting of an experience for sky diving in the future.
3. Riding a bike as fast as possible - 122 km/hr. Breaking the previous record of 114 km/hr after a big break of over 7 years in the same bike as before.
4. A bike tour with a gang. An interesting new experience and learnt about the various roles in a bike gang.
5. Watch Maverick - one of the best movies in theater for free. An infinite returns on this one experience.
6. Indoor Rock climbing - Crag studio. Never knew rock climbing is this hard.
7. Axe-throwing: In Madhapur, https://axethrowingindia.com An interesting game and definitely not as easy as one thinks it to be.
8. Foosball, 10 pins. Fun to play with family / friends
9. Visiting a huge mythogical musuem/ theme park - Surendrapuri
10. Experiencing a TEDx event. Definitely some of the best music, live shows and fantastic standard setting level of organising an event like this.
11. Having a flaming drink. Nothing more fun than to drink a flaming Sambuka.
12. Attend a live concert
13. Attend a live stand up comedy show - There are open mics daily in the city. One of the few people to know this and attend this and encourage the upcoming talent.
14. Perform a live stand up comedy show. Last but not the least, the best secret experience of the year. Performed as a rakshabandhan gift to my sister and my wife with others.

A few missed experiences:
Attending a world cup cricket match in a stadium

The cancelled F4 car race in the city

The e-prix car race.

What's up 2024? :)

Business of Transgenders in India

During college days, I used to wonder the source of income for the transgenders as and when I came across them in the road. To be clear, they were much better dressed than beggers even when they used to harrass people for money at traffic junctions, railways, etc.

So what's their secret to their far better living standards than many working class people like watchmen, clerks, auto drivers, etc.?

It turns out harrassment on the road is only one of their small source of income. One of the larger sources of income for them is harrassment/exhortion of shop store businesses and taking baksheesh on festivals also. 

The group is close knit and also very organised to support each other when required to create scenes/ dramas at places. They have clear demarcation of shops, roads and areas where they have their shops which provide their source of income.

With some transgender people becoming even MLA in India, I hope they take up more normal jobs in the society and get themselves acquainted to other people in the society in a better way so that people/ kids are not scared of them. The more they join the society in meaningful ways, the more people would be acceptable of them, removing the stigma attached to them.

Never trust your Bank

Has this happened to you?

The bank promises you a credit card with a limit and at the time of drawal, they dont let you draw.

Backstabbed by the bank! 

The bank in question is HDFC Bank.

From yester years, the synonym of banking or lending is trust, which is the main basis of it.

The recent experience of my "trusted" bank has had me question some of my beliefs.

I have been a loyal customer to this bank from 2005, a pretty significant 18 years. And this has been my primary bank account. They have issued me a premium credit card and they have wanted to increase the limit once a year which I have denied to as I have a decent limit which I dont use.

I was also smart enough to get my wife an add on card on the exact next day after our wedding 10 years ago so that she should not have any problem when the need arises.

Last week, my wife shopped and swiped the card for a pretty big amount well within the overall unused limit and the card was declined. I reset the password online and checked with my banker (on a sat holiday) and he confirmed that the pin generation and limit change was instantaneous. Despite this, the card was declined 3 times with no correct reason specified.

The next day, I get a call from the transaction monitoring team of the credit card asking if the transaction tried was genuine. Why didnt they call and check at that time? She also told me that the card has been blocked. When I asked why, she had no reason.

In effect, they promised me credit and at the time of drawal, they didnt let me draw. Backstabbed by the bank! 

What if the purpose of this transaction was at a hospital for an emergency? The patient could have died as I couldnt pay. Could I then make the bank a party to the murder of the patient as it was responsible for not obliging on its promises and denied getting the treatments on time?

Few lessons from this episode:
Never trust any bank. Diversify the credit cards and have 2 primary accounts with transactions in each to have good credit limit.

You need to have multiple lines of liquidity (as stated earlier in my blog) to overcome immediate payment needs.

Productivity Tool / Hack 4

Although I am not an Apple fan, I decided to change my laptop from the usual HP / Dell / Lenovo (Microsoft systems) to the Mac.

I think every windows person is scared of the Mac and how things would be.

Turns out, it is just like crossing a road from British colonial countries to the US based countries. Every thing is on the opposite side. Thats primarily it.

The biggest benefit though is putting off the screen and awakening it twice daily for a week with all the websites open in chrome and firefox (about 30 for me), and still working very well.

The minimal model options available in Apple laptops works very well with they having the best product for regular office work.

Productivity Tool / Hack 3

Once in a while, we need a USB drive to move data/ take a print out, etc.

We usually have a good fancy USB drive at home, but dont have it handy when required.

To solve this problem, use the credit card/ debit card shaped USB drive in your wallet and take it around always.

This even comes with personalisation options to portray your perspective.

You can find these here or search for personalised usb or card pendrive:

https://www.yourprint.in/product/custom-printed-credit-card-pen-drive/

https://www.igp.com/p-don-t-touch-personalized-usb-card-pendrive-64gb-139700?

Productivity Tool / Hack 2

The following tool solves the following issues:

1. Having to see whatsapp on the phone and verify/input some data in another app (xls/ doc) in the laptop.

2. Having to keep the mobile handy to see messages and getting it charged while working on laptop.

3. Speaking on the phone with bluetooth/wired earphone or headphone while working on the laptop.

4. If we are forgetful and keep searching for the phone.

This is available at:

https://www.amazon.in/icall-Aluminum-Magnetic-Notebook-Stainless/dp/B09LZL8PPL/

I have bought a similar thing and using for a month. The magnet is powerful and the phone doesn't slip.

Productivity Tool / Hack 1

Most people want to read books but don't have the time for it.
Out of the many options available online, Storyshots is a very versatile, handy and economical options among those available online. At less than Rs.450 per annum, (Rates may slightly vary from time to time) it is very reasonable and with multiple options:
1. Book Summary to read

2. Book summary to listen

3. Long book Summary to listen 

I have tried it for 2 months and have found it to be very useful to get ahead with a few books completed.

I highly recommend it.

https://www.getstoryshots.com

 

Non-value added Airport Check in process

I wonder how well-intentioned systems degrade into non-value-added processes and then take over the entire system and be a white elephant till they eventually stop existing.

A recent trip to Bangalore by flight had me experience this. The Hyderabad airport has self check in with printing of boarding passes and bag tags. This was obviously to divert the crowd from the counters and help the overall efficiency of the system.

However, the self check-in kiosk was very slow and we were not sure if it stopped working or was working silently as it took a lot of time and no notification. Towards the end, the new screen came up and the boarding passes were not printed by then. After a good 5 seconds after the new home screen came, the boarding pass got printed. There was an error about the bag tag that couldn’t be printed and before I could read it, the message disappeared.

Even after this, we had to stand in line and check in at the counter only which didn’t do any good. The counter guy made the bag tags in seconds compared to the 3+ minutes at the kiosk. A net non-valued added process.

The CISF checks your id card, the guy at the check in checks the iI wonder how well-intentioned systems degrade into non-value-added processes and then take over the entire system and be a white elephant till they eventually stop existing.

A recent trip to Bangalore by flight had me experience this. The Hyderabad airport has self check in with printing of boarding passes and bag tags. This was obviously to divert the crowd from the counters and help the overall efficiency of the system.

However, the self check-in kiosk was very slow and we were not sure if it stopped working or was working silently as it took a lot of time and no notification. Towards the end, the new screen came up and the boarding passes were not printed by then. After a good 5 seconds after the new home screen came, the boarding pass got printed. There was an error about the bag tag that couldn’t be printed and before I could read it, the message disappeared.

Even after this, we had to stand in line and check in at the counter only which didn’t do any good. The counter guy made the bag tags in seconds compared to the 3+ minutes at the kiosk. A net non-valued added process.

The CISF checks your id card, the guy at the check in checks the id card and the guy at the boarding gate asked for the id card. This is a little too much.

With so many kiosks to help but a non-integrated system, this system will not be used by customers once they use the system and very fast within a few months, these kiosks would be dead non used machines.

d card and the guy at the boarding gate asked for the id card. This is a little too much.

With so many kiosks to help but a non-integrated system, this system will not be used by customers once they use the system and very fast within a few months, these kiosks would be dead non used machines.

My Favourite movies of all time and the lessons from that

Movies shape thoughts and the things we like make us watch certain types of movies. A good chicken and egg situation.

I have always liked to watch action movies and with witty one liners. I appreciate movies with deep thought provoking, emotionally touch but not necessarily like to watch them as I don't like the feelings they give after watching the movie.

My favourite movies and what I learned from them or liked about them:

Action

Top Gun and Maverick - I liked the witty one liners, continuous storyline, speed, the opposite nature of Iceman and Maverick on the same team. "I wont leave my wingman" stays with me.

300 - I loved the courage, the discipline and the gore of the fighting. I was impressed by the women empowerment quotient of the the Spartans.

Kingdom of Heaven: The best one liner: "Your reputation precedes you"

Gladiator: The General's battle strategy, the speech when he removes his full faced helmet at the arena after the fight.

Rambo 3 or last blood: Survival tactics, hit and run tatics, ambush tactics, fighting alone against a group, of an expert guerilla fighter.

Black Hawk Down: Various perspectives, feelings of a real war from multiple people involved in the war. The pressures on the ground force and the things the generals/ command at the top understand and what they dont. Despite all the planning, multiple things can and will go wrong in reality.

Die Hard series: The never scared Bruce Willis using classic fundamental ideas to outsmart smart villians.

Conair: Lesson: Be good and do good irrespective of the evil around you.

The World is not Enough (My fav James Bond Movie): For the classic villians always trying to take over the world by one method or the other. Pierce Brosnan is my favourite James bond. Saw this first James Bond movie as a kid in a theater. 

Fast Five (from the Fast & Furious series) for the action scenes.

Under Siege and Under Siege 2: The profile of the "Cook" described by the villian. The cool & always calm Steven Seagal.

Judge Dredd: The multi-variety futuristic gun of the judge. Slyvestor Stallone movie.

Troy: The first fight scene where Brad Pitt takes on a giant. In one scene, he says he doesn't have to fight as he has no role in it - A person's locus standi in the scheme of things, not to get involved in everything.

Desperado: Description of the protogonist, the guitar cases, the bar joke, witty one liners (Did I thank you? No! I will!), shooting while falling backwards from a building, the initial song and Salma Hayek.

Thriller:

Italian Job: The thriller with a lot of thought on planning and executing.

Face off: Both the villians' versions Nicholas cage with his golden gun and John Travolta at their best.

Fight Club: The end changes the entire perspective of the movie. What is reality and what is Delusion? How can we make sure which one we are in?

Double Jeopardy: Brings about the case of Diplomatic immunity and how you can never be punished twice for the same crime. Good crime thriller.

Speed: Good looking Keanu Reeves in his youth and the thrilling storyline. These kind of movies are not made nowadays.

Professions based:

Lord of War: The video of the life history of a bullet is breath-taking. A few great philosophical lines in the movie. A unique story line based on the business of an international weapons dealer.

The Firm: Tom Cruise movie as a lawyer who pays back using a very basic flaw in the system.

Driven: The awesome storytelling of rivalry between 2 top Formula 1 drivers with their value systems. Their value systems are clearly visible.

A few good men: The end speech by Jack Nicholson on the stand.

Comedy:

Oscar (movie by Slyvestor Stallone): Most people dont know he has done this comedy movie, but it a beautiful classic comedy.

Laws of Attraction: Witty one liners by both the lawyers, played by Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore.

Sci-fi:

Minority Report: An amazing Tom Cruise movie showing what 2100's could be like.

Paycheck: A very interesting sci-fi thriller.

A different perspective

12 Angry men: A movie of perspectives, analysis, persuasion, change of thoughts. A 1957 movie made in a room.

The Truman Show: The end shocks you with multiple ethical questions on living.

Requim for a dream: I would want every teenager to watch this movie. After this, I think they will never do drugs.

Odd ball movies:

Tattoo (German movie): The first movie I saw free in an International Film Festival while in college. Super impressed with the story line and the story of the market for artist tattoos done on the back of real people. Still not been able to see it anywhere after that.

The Human Centipede 2: I can appreciate the crazy creativity for this unheard of movie series.

I spit on your grave: Brings about creativity in various forms of killing the villians for revenge.

Ringu (The Ring in Japanese): A real horror movie. The first time I felt a chill down my spine.

Forest Gump: Courage

The Truman Show: I was mind-boggled with the concept of this. For all you know, someone can really do this.

A poem to Adani

You took on so much Debt to grow

You became world’s richest with dough.

You stocks had a 3 year hit show

And now this shit-show.

Listing your group companies for stock manipulation,

only aided your debt addiction,

becoming a growth sensation,

But this allegation has brought much aggravation.

The PE ratios of your group stocks are so ridiculous,

That it has become conspicuous.

You got so mischievous,

that you route your funds through Mauritius.

You did all this with the absence of the P-notes,

But, lo and behold, Nirmala has again authorised P-notes.

The report by Hindenburg,

May just be a tip of the iceberg.

For the report has been meticulous,

And for you, it has been strenuous.

The report has gone downtown

The groups’s stock prices have been beat down.

The group’s global bonds are in distress,

While the SEBI seems clueless.

The report mentions your Annual report’s key omissions,

And it has raised suspicions.

It questions your statutory audit,

much to your discredit.

After all this, I wonder why IHC would commit,

Unless you had agreed to remit.

Now that you have cancelled the FPO,

There are now no institutional anchors,

You may soon get margin calls from your bankers.

The Adani Hidenburg boxing match

I heard about the Hidenburg research report over a week ago and read the report on their website 2 days later once everyone was talking about it. While going through the report, the first question remained unanswered: why did they take 2 years for this report? The research seems genuine on all the things dug up, researched and put up.

While the Adanis were busy doing the puppet show to the audience, someone outside the audience saw the Adanis doing the puppet show. This is visible in the counter-transactions shown with the firms outside India and not shown in the annual reports of the Indian companies.

Round 1 goes to Hindenburg! The shock & awe hard punch will hurt Adanis for a long time to come.

The twists in the tale get interesting. Right after the damaging report, the international fund IHC promises to invest $400 million into the accused company. 

Round 2 goes to Adani!

Which company would ever do that unless the other company was a holding company or a govt. nationalising a company or trying to prevent a big bank bust case? This raises a lot of eyebrows and red flag as it is very unusual and non-sensical.

The hidden truth is revealed the next day. Adanis cancel the FPO. This means that the Adanis had to save face and get the FPO successful while ensuring that IHC gets its money back after the jitters of the report. This seems to be a pre-meditated invest and pull back strategy while influencing the other investors into investing into this FPO.

Round 2 was an unexpected double punch going to the Adanis!

I am sure on detailed investigation of the FPO process, the regulators would be able to find this pre-meditated arrangement duping the others (retail investors and few others) into the trap of investing their monies in this FPO only to be forced to get out of it.

Another interesting critique from some people is the timing of the report. I laugh at their questioning. For any investor in a fair market, maximising returns is the objective. This report was timed to maximise the value of the shorts and earn profit. Isn't this is what fair market is all about? Plus maximum visibility for the brand. Who wouldn't do it given the opportunity?

While reading the report,  the Adani strategy to raise funds becomes clear.
Step 1: Keep a number of close set of companies with maximum percentage control on and off the public books. Includes hiring experts in price manipulation like experienced Ketan Parekh.

Step 2: Based on these inflated stock prices, pledge the promoter stocks and raise more loans that is actually possible to fund the investments.

Awaiting to see Round 3!