Hey readers, welcome to the end of another month! This month seemed to take forever to end for reasons unknown!! Or maybe, I only expected it to end before it all even started, huh? Anyways, while November signal the onset of winter across India, Mumbai remains as hot as the day I arrived here. The only difference you can note is in the slight chill that sets on late in the evening. But if you, like me, stay holed up at home, with even the windows closed, then the weather outside won't matter the dime to you!
Now you may be wondering what in the world set me cribbing about this weather? Well, nothing really did! I was just taking a normal post-lunch walk in the office building's basement when the heaviness in the weather hit me and got me thinking of another reason why this city is not yet in my list of favorites, despite the glam-sham and the terrific sea-side views!
Will write more when I get something more interesting to talk about. By the way, I finished David Baldacci's Collectors within 2 days. The novel was, again, an ok-ok sorts - nowhere near the league of the Alez Cross novels by James Patterson.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Cracking post-Diwali happenings!!
Happy Diwali to all my readers! As an epilogue to my last post, well the markets did take a breather and in line with global markets, staged a strong recovery on the muhurat trading on Diwali. Sentiments were volatile yesterday, with the markets see-sawing between the red and the green territory, ending the day with marginal gains. With the US Fed cutting interest rates by 50 bps in a desperate move to revive the stalling economy, Asian markets opened strong and closed in the green. I have not checked the European markets opening yet and with India's stock markets closed for today, it'll be interesting to see the direction the markets when they open tomorrow.
Back to my personal life - with the sound of fire crackers popping in my head, I made an adhoc decision to go down to Pune yesterday afternoon. Packed my bags within 15 mins, grabbed an auto to rush to the domestic airport and luckile caught a shared sumo, which promptly left as soon as I got in - @ 3 pm. Amazingly, I reached Pune at 5:30 and met up with Nitesh 'Talli' Kumar at Parihar Chawk by 6:15. Then we went to 11 East St Cafe and from there to Mocha. We were disappointed to be turned away from Riverview (sexiest restaurant to-date, what an ambience!! A perfect place for chipmunks and chippies to chill out and catch up on life! ;-))..
More disappointment was in store for us as we found Sheesha to be closed when we reached there after 11. Quite surprising to me! I think I can pin the blame on a certain Mr. Gaurav Chandak who made us walk a 20-min distance by claiming that the place was only 5 mins away!! Everyone is a bloody con these days! Finally, we had sandwiches and frappe at Barista (after ages!) and then returned to Gaurav's flat, which by the way he hasn't cleaned since he moved in! Yuck! As if on cue, my nose turned up at the sight of such unearthly mess and promptly, I began sneezing - another way of voicing my displeasure at the appalling surroundings!! Okay okay, I'll give him a break provided he cleans up the place - Gggrrrr!
So we retired to bed by 1 and I was woken up by the alarm at 4 - got up, took a cold bath and then Gaurav got me a shared cab at 5 in the morning. Amazing weather coupled with a scenic (and fast) drive made the time slip away like anything - was at my flat at 7:15 and in office at 9:05!!
Quite an eventful post-Diwali day for me. Looking forward to sharing more tit-bits with you guys in the coming days. 'Til then, work hard N harder!!
Back to my personal life - with the sound of fire crackers popping in my head, I made an adhoc decision to go down to Pune yesterday afternoon. Packed my bags within 15 mins, grabbed an auto to rush to the domestic airport and luckile caught a shared sumo, which promptly left as soon as I got in - @ 3 pm. Amazingly, I reached Pune at 5:30 and met up with Nitesh 'Talli' Kumar at Parihar Chawk by 6:15. Then we went to 11 East St Cafe and from there to Mocha. We were disappointed to be turned away from Riverview (sexiest restaurant to-date, what an ambience!! A perfect place for chipmunks and chippies to chill out and catch up on life! ;-))..
More disappointment was in store for us as we found Sheesha to be closed when we reached there after 11. Quite surprising to me! I think I can pin the blame on a certain Mr. Gaurav Chandak who made us walk a 20-min distance by claiming that the place was only 5 mins away!! Everyone is a bloody con these days! Finally, we had sandwiches and frappe at Barista (after ages!) and then returned to Gaurav's flat, which by the way he hasn't cleaned since he moved in! Yuck! As if on cue, my nose turned up at the sight of such unearthly mess and promptly, I began sneezing - another way of voicing my displeasure at the appalling surroundings!! Okay okay, I'll give him a break provided he cleans up the place - Gggrrrr!
So we retired to bed by 1 and I was woken up by the alarm at 4 - got up, took a cold bath and then Gaurav got me a shared cab at 5 in the morning. Amazing weather coupled with a scenic (and fast) drive made the time slip away like anything - was at my flat at 7:15 and in office at 9:05!!
Quite an eventful post-Diwali day for me. Looking forward to sharing more tit-bits with you guys in the coming days. 'Til then, work hard N harder!!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Will Diwali trading turn the tide?
Welcome back dear readers, here is your host wishing you all a very happy Diwali - may the festival of lights spark a recovery rally in the Indian stock markets. By the way, the early signs sure do look encouraging - Hang Seng and Nikkei are up by 5% each, so here is hoping a reversal in tides and fortunes for our stock exchanges as well.
Quite a surprise to see some stocks trading below their book values - take Suzlon Energy for example. To an analyst like me, it's a clear sign to pick up such a company as not only is it being currently being undervalued by the company, it also has sound fundamentals coupled with a strong management at the helm. Anyways, this is my opinion and does not reflect either my position or my company's! So, please don't sue either of us for voicing a positive opinion in such a bear market!
Iceland, Pakistan, Ukraine, Hungary - who is next is what must be running through everyone's minds! These are the 4 countries (to-date) who have sought IMF's help to tide over the current financial crisis. Read this article for more: http://www.livemint.com/2008/10/27092101/IMF-announces-aid-for-Ukraine.html
Quite a surprise to see some stocks trading below their book values - take Suzlon Energy for example. To an analyst like me, it's a clear sign to pick up such a company as not only is it being currently being undervalued by the company, it also has sound fundamentals coupled with a strong management at the helm. Anyways, this is my opinion and does not reflect either my position or my company's! So, please don't sue either of us for voicing a positive opinion in such a bear market!
Iceland, Pakistan, Ukraine, Hungary - who is next is what must be running through everyone's minds! These are the 4 countries (to-date) who have sought IMF's help to tide over the current financial crisis. Read this article for more: http://www.livemint.com/2008/10/27092101/IMF-announces-aid-for-Ukraine.html
Friday, October 24, 2008
Midnight stress busting sessions!!
Welcome dear readers! For all the hope that I'd garnered in the deepest corners of my heart of having a relatively easy time on Friday were busted pretty early on in the day - had the most stressful day at work with fast approaching deadlines and seniors breathing down my neck for a report that was due as late as last week!! Atleast that is how it felt to me, poor dear me who didn't even get the time to take a much needed loo break!! Imagine, I got through today w/o a cup of tea or coffee!! But yep, end of day, I enjoyed the edge I experienced today - was at my sharpest and boy, did I learn a few things today!
Overall, the week has been very heavy (in terms of workload) - in fact, I need to put in some time tomorrow to help a friend of mine tide over some project. But enough of that - right now, I'm enjoying a cup of coffee (in a bid to de-stress myself) at the Gloria Jeans Cafe (Pali Naka branch). I am also using this time to shoot a few emails and of course catch up on the news of the weeks gone by! Seriously guys, life ain't a joke and all-fun-no-work types in the city of dreams and success!! More on my experiences later - it's time I get back to my cuppa! Can't let it get too cold, can I? Never keep a cup of hot coffee waiting is my life's policy!
Overall, the week has been very heavy (in terms of workload) - in fact, I need to put in some time tomorrow to help a friend of mine tide over some project. But enough of that - right now, I'm enjoying a cup of coffee (in a bid to de-stress myself) at the Gloria Jeans Cafe (Pali Naka branch). I am also using this time to shoot a few emails and of course catch up on the news of the weeks gone by! Seriously guys, life ain't a joke and all-fun-no-work types in the city of dreams and success!! More on my experiences later - it's time I get back to my cuppa! Can't let it get too cold, can I? Never keep a cup of hot coffee waiting is my life's policy!
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