Asthamudi

Asthamudi is a huge lake near quilon. The lake is connected to the Arabian Sea by waterways and canals. It also has connections with the backwaters criss-crossing the region between Kollam and Kochi.

The eponymous Club Mahindra property where I stayed is a long stretch of palm-lined flat land on the banks of the lake. From my room, which has a nice sit out, I could see the waters of the lake glistening in the early morning sun. Small wavelets surge and subside on the surface of the lake which stretchews out in all directions right up to the distant horizon.

It was literally like spending a few days in paradise. The weather was cool with occasional heat. I spent the time catching up with my reading while sprawling on one of the hammocks lining the waterfronmt! Sometimes we went for boat rides out to the Arabian sea or on the canals and waterways running through the villages.

Thiruananthapuram--New Year 2011--First Visit

It is my usual practice to take a week off at the end of every year and use the opportunity to review the past 365 days as also plan how I would optimize the forthcoming year.... I invariably leave Chennai and spend the week in a remote location, ideally near nature and temples...This time, I spent the New Year 2011 in Kerala...with my family.

I spent some time at Kovalam near Thiruananthapuram...

• We stayed on the Vilinjam Beach in Sagara Resort. The sickle shaped beach curves beautifully with a walk way and glittering shops and hotels serving freshly caught fish. As the sun went down into the Arabian Sea, the place was a colorful sight with neon bulbs and signboards everywhere. The foreign tourists wandering all over the place gave the feel of Pattaya Beach, Thailand. The only thing missing was "Walking Street"! :-)
• The mornings were spent bathing in the sea. The waves are gentle here and just standing in the middle of the rolling smaller waves with water up-to one's hip and then rising with a larger wave moving towards the shore is a delightful experience. The coastline forms a nice inlet or cove at Vilinjam with rocky promontories on either side holding a huge body of water between them. It is upon the southern promontory that the Lighthouse stands.
• On the afternoon of the second day I climbed the Vilinjam lighthouse with my children. The tedious climb up the winding staircase was worth it because the view was great. From the circular turret we got a glorious view of the beach and surrounding areas in the east and the large expanse of sea on the west. Fropm atop the ligyhthose we saw a kite circling the ocean. As we were above the Kite, we got a Birds Eye View of the Bird!
• Later in the evening we went to Attukkal Bhagavathy Temple and then Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple. In the outer corridor of the Attukkal Bhagawathy temple, which holds the Guinness record for the Largest assembly of women in a singkle place for Pongala, there is a concrete image of Hanuman on one of the pillars. I was truly facinated by the image. The Deity is depicted majestically upright with tail raised above the head and legs apart. The right hand holds the lowered mace or Gadhayudham and the left is on his hip. The head is lowered as if looking down at the devotee paying obeiscance to him. It is a great and unique figure.

Maruthamalai

I was in Coimbatore on 13^th January. I visited the Temple of Lord Muruga on Marutha Malai. AS the temple was almost empty we had a lot of space to move around and enjoy the divine experience. My earlier trips to this shrine had been quick on-the-way to Ooty visits when I had no opportunities to savour the ambience. Moreover I could see huge improvements in the place. The rough-hewn steps leading up to the main shrine have been replaced by broad granite ones. The view of the main Gopuram Structure (Raja Gopuram - which is still under construction) from the car park is superb as the elevation rears up majestically with the mountain ranges towering up and above in the backdrop.

There is a separate shrine for Shiva and one for the divine mother Parvathi too! Apparently Murugan is a dutiful son here sincerely taking care off his parents. Ganesha the Big Brother is as usual ubiquitous. There is huge Ganesha idol just next to the sanctum and a beautiful Valampuri Vinayagar with trunk twisted to the right near the Dvajasthambam. As we get down from the main shrine, we can see the Pancha Vrksha Vinayagar at the base of five intertwined trees with dendritic profusions all around. Nera the Pancha Vrksha Ganapathi is a stone slab with an image of Murugan in bas relief. The sculpture depicts the Warlord sitting on a peacock with its tail feathers spread out like a fan behind the Lord. The Vel or spear in his hand is directed downward as idf piercing our ignorance (maya) and Ego (ahamkara)!

This sculpture reminded me of the pillar sculpture at Perur where Arumuga Nayanar or Murugan is depicted in three dimensional splendor seated on a peacock. The craftsmanship is so exquisite that the sixth head is carved on the reverse side and can be seen from behind the pillar! The Perur temple has been recently renovated.

A little down is the Adhi Moolasthaanam where the swayambhu idols or stones representing Muruga, Valli and Devayanai are enshrined.

About sixty steps or so further down is a shrine to Pambatti Siddhar, one of the Eighteen Seers who are renowned in the Sidhha Lineage. Due to lack of time (!) we couldn’t go there. I made up my mind to visit this shrine as well as the Shiva temple at Perur on my next visit to Coimbatore.

The Flute and the Football

This is a nice story related by Mr. T R Pachamuthu, Chancellor, SRM University in his acceptance speech on receiving the For The Sake of Honor Award from my Rotary Club:

The flute and the football went to God. The football complained that although both of them were essentially filled with air in order to perform their duties, the flute was kissed while it was kicked. God smiled and said, “ You take in all the air and keep it inside, while flute gives out everything that it gets. No wonder that you are kicked and it is kissed!”

I liked this story and related it at a seminar on the Seven Habits at Chennai. I was giving the participants who were senior Chartered Accountants an overview of the Seven Habits and my own experiences in internalizing them. I repeated this story in the context of Being Proactive. One of the participants Mr. Sekhar a Chartered Accountant gave a different take on this story. He made the point that the football could never follow God’s advice because its role demanded that it retained the air. The role of the flute as a corollary precludes retaining even an mg. of air that it gets. He brought out clearly the need for role clarity without unnecessary emotional overtones.

I continue to marvel at how different people view the same thing so differently!

Janani Janma Bhoomi

Indian Capital Markets: From here where?

The year 2011 has opened with a mixed bag. Hopes and aspirations of both investors as well as the business community are hanging on a precipice. The question is whether the markets will harden and start moving north or whether it will hover around at current levels. Many leading lights in the capital market are giving their guestimates for Sensex and Nifty as on 31.12.2011. A better idea may be to predict the price of onions. Onions truly seem to have replaced Sensex as the talk of the town. Jokes apart, the broader issue is not about the market itself but rather about the sustainability of the India Shining Story.

Although the liberalization story should rightly be traced to the decisions of the young and intrepid Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, his untimely death at Sriperumbudur led India down a slightly different tunnel into the wonderland of economic development. Liberalization continued with two other policies resulting in the coining of the aconym LPG—Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization. The author’s of the new India Growth story were, of course, Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh.

There is an apocryphal story about the Liberalization story which goes like this: Manmohan then Finance Minister, goes to Rao’s house one morning almost as soon as he took over as Prime Minister. It’s early in the morning and the FM has a sheaf of papers in his hand. Rao opens the main door still in his lungi and asks him what he wants. Manmohan says, “Sir, we are proposing to partially liberalize the economy. This is the new industrial policy and the Government Orders where we are delicensing 14 industries. Will you please sign them?”

Rao looks at Manmohan and asks, “How many industries are we planning to liberalize?” Manmohan informs him that on the whole there is proposal to liberalize 21 industries. Narasimha Rao says, “Why are you delaying the process. Bring all the GOs to me in one shot, I will clear them all!”

Whether this story is true or not, the haste that the then Prime Minister showed was laudable as India had nearly a decade of economic growth back log to make up when compared with China, Taiwan and Korea. But, once the policy framework was put in place, the statutes were slowly amended to suit the policy. Rival governments might have differed on political ideologies but they have not wavered from the common LPG agenda.

The proof of the pudding was proved in the eating. The India growth story has not lost its steam. The global financial melt-down has left India comparatively unscathed. This is also due to the decision not to make the rupee fully convertible. Full convertibility is not economically bad, as such. In fact the relative indifference with which most Indian Business men have treated the Liberalized Remittance scheme seems to indicate that India is seen as the best investment destination. Similarly the rush of qualified professionals abroad has abated post Global Melt down. There are many Indians working abroad who wouldn’t mind coming back to Bangalore or Chennai given half the chance. They seem to echo the feelings of Lord Rama addressing Lakshmana in Lanka.

When Lord Rama defeated Ravana in the historical battle of Lanka, Lakshman, Lord Rama's brother asked him to settle in that beautiful city of Lanka which was supposedly made of bricks of Gold. This is the actual quote from Valmiki Ramayan of Lord Rama's answer to Lakshmana's request.

अपि स्वर्णमयी लंका न मे लक्ष्मण रोचते ।

जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी ॥

Api swarnamayee lankaa na me Lakshmana rochate

janaanee janmabhoomishcha swargaadapi gareeyasee

(O Lakshmana, I don't like Lanka though made up of gold

(because) mother & motherland are greater than heaven.)

I think it’s the right time to accept the power of our motherland and our capability to emerge as a super power in the world. This is one of the greatest times to be an Indian in India! 2011 marks the beginning of an epoch in the annals of our nation which may never occur again. 1991 to 2010 saw two decades of growth which was steady but slow. The next one decade as we move towards 2020 will see growth as we have never seen before. Whole cityscapes will change. New cities will be born. In this story of growth the beneficiaries would be those companies that do not simply accept or adapt to change but those that initiate and embrace change.

As investors we need to watch out for companies that have a proven track record of innovation and change. We should look for business models that work on changing with customer needs and profiles. Classic examples are the Telecom and Software sector where the customer base is growing steadily. Companies like Bharthi Airtel deserve a glance even at the current price levels keeping in mind a long term perspective. In the Software and Information Sector, we should wait and watch for opportunities to buy scrips like Infosys and TCS, when the markets take a dive in March-April.

The Infrastructure and Construction story are yet to happen. The potential scrips are not yet listed. But, with increasing opportunities, the huge construction contracting companies with huge order books on hand will access the primary markets. The length of the roads to be laid; number of new airports to be enlarged or built anew will be reflected in the huge bottomline of these companies. Some players like VA Tech Wabag Ltd and CCCL will be potential gainers. But ethical practices, corporate governance and professionalism in management will distinguish the winners from the also-rans. The fall-out of this would fuel the successs stories of cyclical like Steel and Cement.

Banking is a service sector line that is going to see a continuous progression growth followed by consolidation. Some of the potential targets for acquisition like IOB, Karnataka Bank and the small Kerala based banks are the best bets. A larger bank which may come out of the consolidation phase as winner is HDFC.

But all this will need an environment or climate that nurtures independent entrepreneurial effort as well as a level playing field where the Indian business houses can consolidate their position before taking flight as emerging transnationals with global reach and control.

Let me conclude this article with the wish list for India Inc as well as the Indian Investor:

· Rational, if not lower direct and indirect tax structures with clarity in the implementation issues.

· A Government where an honest administration service works outside the stranglehold of political bosses and their convoluted and self-serving agenda.

· Better Infrastructure in the form of smoother roads, larger harbours and broader telecommunication bandwidths.

· Reduction in the cost of raising finance through the development of more stock exchanges and other Market Infrastructure Intermediaries.

In the words of the immortal poet Rabindranath Tagore in his Gitanjali, “into that heaven of freedom let our country awake.”

A thought to begin the year

And let no one imagine that it is a mere fancy, the attaching of importance to the birth of the year. The earth passes through its definite phases and man with it; and as a day can be coloured so can a year. The astral life of the earth is young and strong between Christmas and Easter. Those who form their wishes now will have added strength to fulfill them consistently.

—H. P. Blavatsky

Lucifer, January, 1888

Imagine the Earth devoid of human life, inhabited only by plants and animals. Would it still have a past and a future? Could we still speak of time in any meaningful way? The question “What time is it?” or “What’s the date today?” — if anybody were to ask it —would be quite meaningless. The oak tree or the eagle would be bemused by such a question. “What time?” they would ask. “Well, of course, it’s now. The time is now. What else is there?”—Eckhart Tolle in “The Power of Now”.

Throughout the recent Coonoor trip, I did not wear a watch. Nor did I plan anything based on time schedules. I went with the flow enjoying every minute as it came to me and allowing it to pass by without regret or happiness.

I am slowly understanding the meaning of silence and its role in promoting true happiness. Sometimes words are inadequate. Silence alone can satisfy certain situations. I continue my experiments with silence.

Silence promotes contemplation.

Silence promotes listening.

Silence Promotes Concentration.

Silence promotes understanding.

Silence forces the other person to make himself clearer by speaking from his heart.

When I speak I ASSUME; so I make an ASS of U and ME.

When I am silent there are no assumptions. So I don’t make an ASS of U and ME!

Matthur

Every temple in India has a tale behind it. Mathur situated 10 kilometers on the left of the Thiruthani-Thirupathi road is no exception. When work was underway for laying the railway line, the diggers discovered a beautiful statue of Devi Mahishasuramardhini under the ground. The eight-foot high idol depicted the multi-armed manifestation of Durga on a lion piercing the asura with her three pointed spear. The Asura is ignorance; Devi is Light. They have built a nice little temple near the railway track. The place is a divine location with open fields, a small tank with water and in the distance the mountains running in a continuous range.

The Neem Tree (Azadirachta Indica) situated right in front of the sanctum sanctorum, which is intertwined with a Peepul Tree or Arasa Maram (Ficus Religiosa) is the Sthala Vrksham. The Neem tree is the symbol of Shakthi or Energy and the Peepul tree is the male. Thus when these two trees grow intertwined in a place they symbolize the natural meging of energy into matter to create life force. While Neem and Peepul trees are worshipped on teir own, the reverence shown to these twinned trees is even greater. Further, the local lore has it that the Devi out of her infinite compassion takes on herself all our sorrows and bitterness. Symbolizing this transference of bitterness, the leaves of the neem tree in front of the sanctum sanctorum at this temple are devoid of their usual sharp bitterness. The leaves of this tree are offered as prasadh to devotees at the temple.