a weblog of my opinions, travels, life's woes, interesting stuff i come across on the internet. you are welcome to comment or complement! don't forget to share anything interesting on Facebook, Plus or Tweets. enjoy!
An Equal Music is the only Vikram Seth book I have read (so far). It is always a daunting task to start reading a book of an author of Seth’s stature. As one starts to read – the book comes to life like the music it portrays. Can a book which is solely about classical music (of which I have absolutely zero knowledge) sustain for the length of a novel? It can and does as it flows through chapters describing the perfect music, the love the protagonist Michael is in search of and the fusion of love, music and the life of a struggling violinist and a quartet named Maggiore.
Michael is a narcissist. For him it is perfect or nothing. A butcher’s son from Yorkshire (no, Lancashire), he has started on his journey with the violin with encouragement from an elderly neighbour and inputs from the public library of unlikely Manchester - to make a small place for himself in classical music. As he struggles on in London, he finds his lost love Julia – while his quartet makes some of the perfect music ever. However, Michael loses Julia – and his World comes crashing down – again - as it had once before against the demands of an unforgiving tutor. Woven through Michael’s story – is also the story of the quest for the perfect music and concerts by a quartet, the story of a violin (Tonini), a deaf pianist and concerts in London, Venice and Vienna.
An Equal Music comforts, warms, and in places makes one’s toes curl with the depths of emotions described. As you finish the book – you will definitely want to hear Bach, the Art of Fugue, The Trout, Schubert or Schumann (the wring Schu?) and read the book all over again!
It has been a long time since I have revisited any financial planning concept. So time for rehashing some basic investment fundas!
How many really take an active interest in managing their portfolios? People tend to leave it to the fund manager to manage money in case of mutual funds and tend to put any spare cash in the latest fund that is "in" or as chosen by a "financial adviser", else choose a "safe" inflation beating instrument. The more judicious squirrel away a little bit systematically in "safe investments" and do a bit of active portfolio management while the experts look for gains in the stock market.
But there are some easy to use personal finances tools out there which actually make our money work well with a modest financial planning. However, due to ignorance, overconfidence or maybe simple laziness we tend to ignore them. Value Averaging is one such tool. Its an unbelievably simple financial planning tool that anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge about investments can use to good effect.
Simple Definition
In value averaging one puts/withdraws a certain amount of money into/from investments so that the value of the investment remains the same.
Here's a way to make it work well and work with one's portfolio.
Choose two asset classes - preferably diversified equity and a steady liquid asset. Lets say one has a portfolio of $100,000. You put 75000 into the equity portfolio and 25000 in the liquid asset. On a fixed date every month (or quarter) review the portfolio. If say the equity portfolio has gone up by $3000, book that profit and shift the money to the liquid, low risk portfolio. And if the equity portfolio has fallen, shift money from the liquid asset into equity, so that the value of the equity portfolio remains constant either way.
Advantages
The advantages are obvious. One has kept booking profits and shifted it to a safe investment at every opportunity and rise in equity markets. Also one has invested in equity when at low, unlike dollar cost averaging where one blindly puts in a fixed amount into equity every month, whether high or low.
The trick in value cost averaging is to maintain discipline over a longish period. Its truly a golden way to beat the bears.
After all, you spend so much time earning, shouldn't you spend a little time to make your hard earned money work best...its not really rocket science.
My "Xomba" friends Priya Kanwar and V. Taprial have just published a book "A Beginner's Guide to Blogging". Taprial and Priya are amongst the cream of Xomba bloggers! Taprial, a Naval Commander, has also published a racy thriller "Enemy in the Ranks". Be sure to have a look at both the books! They are both Pustak Mahal publications and can be ordered online too. Both the books sold well at the Delhi Book Fair. Be sure to get a copy if you are in India. Here is the link to get it online.
In a few minutes Super Bowl 2010 will begin. The Colts with their QB Manning will take on the effervescent New Orleans with their dynamic QB Drew Brees. In this second consecutive Super Bowl at Florida - Carrie Underwood will start with the National Anthem. The Who - the rock band from Britain will be the half-time act at the Dolphin Stadium.
Will this be the best Super Bowl in a long time? This promises to be an attacking attacking, attacking game! Definitely, the best two teams on view this season are fighting it out.
Want to know where to watch all the live action? The NFL official Super Bowl site seems to be the best bet!
Is there a Superman in Indian Cinema? Can Rajnikanth, the southern demigod be considered one? Does the one and only Shahenshah of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, qualify? Or Baadshah Shahrukh? One real Superman like characer spawned by Bollywood - the Krisshh franchisee shows no sign of continuing. So, I have come to this conclusion.
THE "ONLY" SUPERMAN OF BOLLYWOOD IS Aamir Khan!
Sample this.
Lagaan
He coaches a team of discordant individuals, one of them infirm, in the village to form a ragged team. A team whose members are always out to cut each others throat! Then he bowls and fields away like Superman. But the icing on the cake comes last! Aamir, with the help of the same infirm teammate, bats like God and hits a last ball six to pave the way for the righteous and downtrodden team to win after much drama! The ultimate triumph of “good over evil”
Here is the last ball from Lagaan.
Taare Zameen Par
A small child has a problem in reading. The parents have given up hope even though the child comes across as being cute, smart, and cool and whose only problem seems to be in studies. The school too gives up hope on the 7 year old and he is sent to a boarding school. There the child is isolated by overconfident classmates and bullying masters (who seem to belong more to the mileu of the village school – than a modern day upper class boarding school). Enter the Superman in the form of the Art teacher. He diagnoses the child’s problem, takes him in hand, counsels the parents, other teachers, helps the child to study and the child comes out a winner – all seemingly in one school season! To make the complete the Superman, the art teacher also runs an orphanage for children with problems.
And finally my favorite Superman
Three Idiots
Rancho can do anything. From building a remote controlled air plane with an inbuilt camera, in the first year he graduates to delivering a baby on a TT table with the help of vacuum cleaners, batteries and other students with a doctor giving instructions over the web. The baby gives its proverbial first kick too in response to Rancho’s slogan “Aal Izz Welll”. In the meanwhile he counsels the students and teachers of his premier institute on the pitfalls of learning by rote, gets his friends to follow their dreams and get jobs, brings a friend back almost from dead, all the while topping in class! All actually turns out well for Rancho in the end when it is revealed he holds the patent to hundreds of scientific inventions. It actually gives life to the term “too good to be true”. Cho chweet! I don’t wonder Chetan Bhagat is cringing with remorse. After all “5 Point Someone” scored big time because of its realistic portrayal of life at the IIT.
So tell me, who needs a real Superman?
I have nothing against these three movies. They are among the best in Hindi cinema, individually taken. In fact Three Idiots is breaking all box office records and looks like being the biggest Indian movie of all time. However, all three from the same actor? Two of which are his home production? It is like Tom Hanks acting in three types of Forrest Gumps!
Come on Aamir, get over your Superhuman complex and give us some more earthy characters!
