Georgekutty of the Jungle or err.. the market.

I have been thinking about it for some time...or well for like last 20 years ..Because money is very important in our day to day lives…Going by today’s scheme of things money is like the real thing and everything else is like the illusion part of it. My friend's version of mastercard is… ”There are something’s money can’t buy for everything else there is Daddy’s fat wallet”. But seriously am not crazy or maniac about money! Like any image conscious person would say if ever I win a million dollar lottery, I ll give it for charity and fund for healthcare in third world countries....okay…that was just my press statement.

Talking about these days of degenerating values, when gandhian principles are losing its charm, I still admire and have high regards for Gandhi…especially notes with his picture on it...I particularly love those with that number 1000 on it and a smiling Gandhi who seem to say."hey you lucky fella.."…Unfortunately I am not really flamboyant with money matters unlike most of my colleagues, whose happiness quotient fluctuates with the BSE sensex...If I wanna get some work done from Mr. Patel, I just need to login at sharekhan.com and check if it says a plus or minus. I seriously don’t understand this share market thing…which reminds me of those days during college when I passionately watched CNBC to watch a particularly hot anchor...It is pretty harmless you see , coz watching CNBC is very platonic and leaves no clue amidst your deep interest in graphs and market capitalizations..Sigh…She might probably be married by now!!

Coming back to the point Georgekutty uncle says, its always better to put your money on cows…sheep...hen or rubber, not necessarily in that order…That one hen laying eggs…100 hen’s next year…and a 1000 again story never failed to captivate me...He told it in simple math and I would just look at him in astonishment and say to myself..”Uncleinte oru buthiyee”

Talking of shares I get irritated while going for lunch with guys who have put money in the market. Such people don’t talk anything else be it with friends...relatives...or even God… Having food with such people is a very ‘sensex’ual experience…

As I was preparing to explain about the pleasures of eating cordon bleu chicken the two vegetarian one Nasdaq Patel and another BSE Swamy …

Mr. Patel: “Reliance power 253 points...DSF...125 points...recession…credit crunch…RBI index...oh my god...”
Me clearing my throat: “ahem...”
A very traumatized looking Mr.Swamy:
”Really??...How come that happened....Chidambaram said…micro credit flow into market...12.53% hike...and the inflation...”
Me:”The chick...”
Patel interrupts:”yes...yes. Swamy...but the problem with oil flow and the political instability in Bolivia”
Me: “The chicken is...”
Swamy:” kadavulei...It means good news for ONGC…but you know the problem with CRR ratio...”
Me. “chi…chicken…cordon...”
Patel and Swamy: “Oh my god!!…that means we have to buy them before new IPO is out and otherwise the federal fund rates!”

Few seconds later P&S disappears like in a Houdini act and reappears in share market discussion forums. Swamy calls up dad Periaswamy and convinces him to buy shares as well...This dad son combo in share trading is a story for another day in itself. These hardcore investor types you know..keep away from em..

I never believed in shares. I believed in the real thing...the real piece of currency. My love affair with money was a sheer accident which happened when I was in school. It was the times when I discovered that the guy in Shanti bakery would give me a cool drink if I gave him a coin from Appa’s wallet…I later discovered that he will give me a cutlet too if I managed another couple of coins.. Such discoveries made me realize the importance of money and the basics of transactions. But ofcoz I soon learned the importance of knowing better techniques used in movies like “Oceans Eleven” or “Mission Impossible”. But it was too late!!I was caught during a particularly daring act.

As money grew in importance in my life I learned the importance of having a good rapport with people who can give you money. I think I did good enough PR exercises before my holy communion and as expected goodies were showered on me that day. My expression of gratitude was proportional to the bestowments doled out on that day. Names of uncles and aunties who gave Puzzle books and educational gifts were noted down in part of my brain (however useless it was) where I kept “people whom should be taken revenge at list”. People who gifted umbrellas and decorative panels like “God is Love” where given looks like “you-came-just-with-that”. But those people who came with those little white envelopes were given classic “oh you know how happy I am because you came” look...At the end of day I was getting impatient as I badly wanted to count the loot…But few days later in a landmark display of sacrifice I was forcibly made to donate the money to parents for the home we were constructing back then..

Oh btw, I am now confused whether to invest like my uncle says for those ever procreating hen or listen to those intelligent looking people with Armani suits and gold rimmed specks posing on cover pages of books which claims to have sold over a million copies and names like “Shares, Marketing and Investing…A whole new paradigm”.

Do either have a clue?? ;-P

Over the years I have had different perspectives of money…Money isn’t just that coins which bought me candies …Maybe it has grown quantitatively about what I want to buy. The value of a gift is not in its price tag , but the intent..those superficial concepts of grading people by generosity of gifts.. Love or hate it, but money is simply influencing lives.. I have learned one important lesson over the years.

People change much more due to money than money change people’s lives.