Chain Reaction

Nishchay Shah... 25 ... high flying turk in stock broking circles.

Edges in and out of focus, city lights glazing across my eyes... breath getting shorter... the train's racket rolling overhead. Lungs burning... sides splitting... beads dripping down the sides of my face. Reach a lonely intersection... wondering .. which way... something catches the corner of my eye... a lone street dog... much better off than me... wagging his tail. Wish i could stay and play... heavenly drops send him into a scurry ... solitary... the arrows of an early monsoon shower pierce the skin on my arms... i look down, trying to focus on my palms... am hit by the full fury of the storm ... water pours off the tips of my hair on to my finger tips... Sensation has returned in them after a long time... have got to get out of here... i remember how my fingers did
all my work ... i could feel my work ... feel like a part of it. Completely immersed in it .. through my finger tips.

My trading terminal was my life... was my first day at work.. my work.. not my dad's ... my own, after 2 years of hard work... sweat and grime, working in CA's offices, finally got my big break, in a startup broking firm, Bulls Broking. Being in the hotseat of stock trading was my dream. When i started off, was playing the passenger... just along for the ride... seeing the wonderful sights of this world of numbers, percentages and high stakes. How did the stakes get this high??? Investing your hard earned money into another persons hands... you dont know him... but you still trust that he going to make you some money. Out of his own interests ofcourse. Small accounts... bread and butter stuff... hardly any day trading. Work in a boundary... make some steady progress, get a feel. The controls are still alien. Dont want to jerk the joystick. Slowly turned into navigator... bigger accounts... bigger risks... the game is sucking you in. You in the vortex of a whirlpool beginning to stir... all is calm closeby.. but there is great turbulence outside. The cone is getting deeper... but you dont notice... you can still see blue sky.

One early February morning. "Hey Nishchay, why dont you buy this great stock..." said Praveen. "Could get you some quick returns, n ofcourse the goodwill of your customer!!". Thought the percentages put together could work out very well. Bought a lions share of the shares in the market with the companys reserve fund. The numbers began to tick. First in single digits, then the neighbouring number wheel also began to churn. Now the digits were two... i might as well cash in on the profit. Something inside me told me not to sell out completely. Sold 10%. The cash registers began to ring... the accounts began to get fatter. The customers happier. Was a hit... maybe a lucky one.

"Hello, Bulls Broking?" Wierd techno music... phone clicks
"How may I be of assistance?" "Nishchay ko bula."
"Sorry sir.. pardon me."
"Tere kaan pakele hai kya...?? dhokle ko bula re... nautanki"Reception panics, line goes dead.

The stock has been on the rise for its third consequtive day. Phone rings. "Nischay, can I see you in my cabin please?" Make myself a cup of coffee and a cup of tea for my visit to my MD. She loves a good cup of tea. All the better for me. "May I come in please" No response. Thought the steaming sup of tea might get a response, so I ask her a bit more confidently.. "How about a cup of tea?" She looks up from the spread of papers on her desk. "Ya..." Just a "Ya..." for all my efforts. I pull up a chair. The papers come into focus. They are the bank statements of the company for the last few days. "So how are you this morning Devanshi?"
I get a cold stare from her. "I hope you know what you are doing Nishchay." Ah, the first words; But I am a bit puzzled. "I am not sure what you are talking about."

"The reserve fund has been used, boss... whats the news?"

"Oh that, ya I had used it to buy a hot tip I got the other day about this stock.. "

"M.G. Cotton Mills? have never heard of this company, Nischay!"

"None had heard about Dhirubhai before he made it big... "

"Dont take undue risks, we are giving our investors our promised interest arent we?"
"Ya, but this stock is doing really great... on the rise for 3 days now... have already booked a profit on 10% of the shares... good margins."

"I still see a risk here, there is still no clear background i can gather..."
"Hey, whats life without a risk huh? Still i have worked out the percentages here, there is minimum risk. The shares are really low priced and the only way is up... "

She gives me a real examining look and says, "Hope you know what you are doing here. The board will want to know things if there is a problem.""Hey dont worry..."

Something begins to weigh on me. Why was she so inquisitve? Have made lots of transactions before, with equal risk... but why was this particular case questioned?

to be continued...

Quality?!!? What is that??

Price... now thats one thing I understand.

Under the influence

How do we end up buying things that are clearly overpriced. How do we end up buying a pair of jeans so expensive that you might as well leave the price tag on ... just to show off to your friends. The trick is a great display and an inviting ambience. You end up not looking at the price tag before you buy. The store has your entire trust. These guys are not making any profit off me... they are just doing me a big favour by making my shopping experience so much easier.

In actual fact, they have just dumped all their work onto you. You do the walking around, you do the price comparison, you pick up the stuff .... and you wait in long lines to get it billed. All this takes almost 2 hours of your precious time, when the same thing could have been done in half the time, if a shopkeeper was attending to you in one of the small shops you see in your neighbourhood.

The fact is you dont want to go to a small shop where there is no kind of display, no modern class, no entertainment and you need to put up with a cheap crowd. You would much rather go to a big showroom and spend some quality time with your family. There is a notion that big stores are fair in their dealings. This could be offered by a small store too, but there is no gaurantee.

The influence of presentation and the impressions created go a long way in promoting a retail outlet.

A warning though : Shopping under the influence could be injurious to your bank account.

cheers

Queues

Q please. Indians and queues never go hand in hand. There is an age old repulsion. Let the queue be there who cares, it isnt for us. Its only for the dunces in it. Who needs it when you have the natural ability to wrestle your way to the front in any case. Guess it is from standing in those long BMTC and rail ticket counter queue. You can never be sure of your place in the queue. Suddenly micheal and kimi pull a fast one on you in a triple overtaking manouver. You are just in left gasping in their dust. From last to first in the matter of a few seconds, that too i had a head start.

God bless them.

cheers