There is a concept of perpetual bonds issued by Brazilian Banks. A perpetual bond never matures – you get interest on it whole life but you never get back the principal. Many finance wizards might be perplexed as to why such bonds sell, given the fact that interest rates are poised to dip lower in future. Brazilian banker's feel that it sells because banks have marketed these bonds on the basis of a theory that says Brazilian economy is poised for a makeover. This information is courtesy of my friend A , who visited Brazil recently and met some leading bankers there. He claims that this marketing of perpetual bonds is similar to 'India Shining' campaign unleashed by the previous BJP government. But while perpetual bonds are a success story in Brazil, the 'India Shining' campaign failed to get BJP back into power in India. Why? Here I draw from my previous post – the elite Indian finds infrastructure lacking and hence his faith in ‘India Shining’ is misty (he would r...

In the BRIC report by Roopa Purushotakhaman and Dominique Phillips of Goldman Sachs, India, Brazil, Russia and China have been touted as the economies of future. This comparison has caused many Indians to believe that we are at par with the other 3 nations. But all the other 3 BRIC nations are way beyond India as far as infrastructure is concerned. Also, if one compares the other 3 BRIC countries (referred to as BRC henceforth) with India, one would see some striking differences. Firstly, numbers of Diaspora are much larger for India than for any of these countries. Secondly, while the other three have relied for their current rise primarily on manufacturing outsourcing, India relies equally on services sector both primary services and outsourced services. Going a little deeper into the economic policies, one again notices a wide difference. India, in its initial years of development, did not invest in much on development of basic infrastructure like roads, water, and primary education...

I don't usually visit my own blog unless I want to review my own posts. But a regular place I visit is Statcounter.com, from where I keep getting updates about the hit rate of my blog. It was a pleasant surprise today morning to find the hit counter clocking 6009 hits. Though I had an inkling that my blog had lately started clocking more hits per day, but little had I imagined that I would reach the 6K mark so soon (it reached 5K less than 2 months ago). It is also heartening to find that there are many people who regularly visit this place and it isn't just random traffic which has accelerated the hit rate. I initially started blogging just as an extension of my hobby of Writing . I found it a good way of sharing my hobby with the world - but it soon became a pastime, habit and passion! Hobby as it might be, but it feels great everytime I get a message from a regular reader, or find the hit counter running at high-speeds. I have made many new friends because of this blog, an...

In my childhood, most of my friends had nicknames at home (like Chintu, Bablu, Banti etc) while I was always called Nikhil by my Parents. Many times when we 8-10 year olds would discuss about each other’s nicknames I usually felt lost. I had little inkling then that I would end up with as many as 3-4 nicknames. The first nickname was given to me by my Grandfather – I am the third in the trio of elder cousins in our (extended) family. Among the three of us we have a difference of one year between each one of us and the next cousin after me is a little more than two years younger to me. Hence, during those childhood days, I was called ‘Chhotu’ by my Grandfather. But he soon discontinued this name when younger cousins and my real Brother Abhishek were born. That explains why I had no nickname during my childhood days. My brother used to call me Dada (Marathi for elder brother); so during my teens younger children of our street also called me by the same name. When some of my friends fou...

Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, quoted in a public gathering: Reading makes you wise, Speaking makes you witty, But, Writing makes you exact. Unless you write, you never know how much you really know and what you really don't know. My own experience of writing has been long ... I have been writing since 12 years of age... and since last year this Blog has provided a new dimension to my thoughts; writing has again become quite regular. I try to write my own posts after considerable research (wherever required) and also try to link up as much links as I can so that readers can travel to other related pages. This way I myself also get to learn or rather complete my understanding of the subject in question. That apart this Blog has also helped me to network far and wide - making friends with so many people across the globe and also revive some lost links with old friends. Some other of my posts on Blog(s) http://the-complete-man.blogspot.com/2005/07/indian-bloggers-are-sure-rocking-net_21.ht...

This blog is at its tipping point .... Kindly read Gaurav Sabnis's Blog (Refer to I am disconnecting my cable connection )[ http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.com/ ] and post a support message to Gaurav if you wish so. Also If you own a blog, use it to raise the issue. The whole bloggers and online community should stand by Gaurav at this time. Blogging is one of the most representative forms of Freedom of Speech and human expression – we all need to come together to protect it !!! Update Its 4.00PM around 5 hours after I made this post and by now there are around a 100 blogs who have posted in Gaurav's support (no wonder, 'coz Gaurav happens to be a popular blogger). Check out the first 10 pages on this search: http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=gaurav+sabnis&btnG=Search+Blogs ON 9th October, Jagan.biz published in support of Gaurav, what, it seems is happening now ... I quote - [ http://jagan.biz/modules/news/article.php?storyid=92 ] "The IIPM execs h...

Its been more than 8 months in KPMG and life is going good .. lots to learn .. lots to do ... lots of people to meet. But I feel trapped . . . . life is suddenly so structured! No ideas, no struggles to achieve them, no milestones (except those planned in a structured goal setting exercise) ... life's good but it is unlike the heady days of being a self-motivated individual when there was a constant thought of creating something new, changing things around, doing something unique. Life has suddenly become very planned - your manager would set targets for you to achieve, and project after another would flow in. No more brainstorming for setting your own standards, and strategizing to achieve them, no more discussions for coming up with that unique offering that would lure your audience, no more nightouts just talking about that one-idea only to reject the one you discussed last night. No more MastishK , no more Arbit , no more Khoj , no more Entreplayer , no more Ethics Portal , no ...

So many of Indian bloggers that I know are cosmopolitans; they have lived in different cities at different points in their life. Their cities include – the home-city where they are born, the place where they are educated (often graduation/post graduation), the city(ies) where they (have) work(ed). Hence when I thought about writing a post on the cities in my life, I though why not spread the germ? (!) So I have decided to make this a ‘tag’. I would prefer people to describe ‘their’ cities in detail including the emotional bonds they share with them. Janmabhoomi: Bhopal Bhopal is one of the most beautiful cities that I have lived in. Rightly known as the city of lakes, Bhopal is situated in the hills with many ponds, lakes and parks dotting the city. Being the capital, the city affords wide and well maintained roads and greenery all around. But unlike public perception Bhopal, is no way a small city. With a population of 14.5 lakhs and an area of 286 square kms (eqvt. to 65% of Mumbai’...

Mark Twain once said - "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure." This statement was very true when we launched MastishK ’04 last year. There was nothing to loose .... and I have always felt that last year's success was limited and not complete. We could never manage to get a single penny of sponsorship - though we got a lot of popularity during and after the event (Some coverage in newspapers and Arbit ). But this year as MastishK '05 unfolded slowly ... there was a big pressure on our team to retain the interest in B-school junta and retain our reputation to be revolutionizers in the B-school event arena. Last year, the very concept of launching a completely online event and that of having multiple simulation games on one platform was a novel concept - and so whatever we gave our audience, it was new. But this year the challenge was much bigger, ironically to beat our own performance; to come up with games much more novel in des...

Here is an excerpt from Nandan Nilekani's Interview to Business Week (published on Red i ff ) ".....When the Paris Air Show was held, all the Indian carriers put together ordered 200 planes. This is mind-boggling to anybody from India. We don't know where they'll land. They'll probably just circle in the air. (Laughs) ....." Q: Things are happening much faster in China, where they build infrastructure so rapidly. "It's going to happen, but not the way it happens in China. In China, a bunch of guys get in a room and decide to build a 16-lane highway from Shanghai to Beijing, and it's going to happen. There's no way that will happen in India. It's too chaotic and argumentative. But what's going to happen is these 200 planes will be ordered, they won't land. They'll be circling. Everybody will get [very angry]. Finally, there will be such public outcry that the airports will get built. It's a different model. But it's a mo...