A reason close to your heart
Enquiring about the groom, his family, purchase of gold, etc., are among the usual important aspects that the parents deal with ahead of their daughter’s marriage. But there is one aspect that is of utmost importance ahead of all these. And it is about ensuring the financial security of the daughter. Instances of wives struggling in toxic relationships are now common and one of the main reasons for this is lack of clarity on financial security if one were to be independent. By earning her own living or knowing that she has financial security, she is empowered to take control of her life when required.1
A good investment is one which grows. A better investment is one which is liquid enough at the time of need. Even better if it also rides the social theme. An investment that facilitates the financial security of your daughter gives it a meaningful tenure for the investment to flourish and makes a case for the same approach to be passed on to the next generation.
Driving is a dynamic control task
One second in life is usually a small-time frame. But in the case of driving, time is not to be seen as a measure of duration alone but is actually a distance. Driving is a dynamic control task. In other words, it requires real-time interventions and operations to operate a vehicle on the road in traffic, as we know that road conditions keep on changing. How much of a challenge even just a second poses can be understood from the fact that a vehicle travelling at the speed of 60 km per hour, would move roughly 17 meters per second. Let us put this differently. When you consider that in most parts of India, this 17 meters is a significant distance, as the distance between vehicles is usually a few meters most of the time, except for say express highways. If there is an obstacle amidst this 17 meters, it leads to an accident. There is another layer to this thought. In order to press the brake, the leg on the accelerator pedal needs to be lifted, and it is learnt that it takes approximately 0.7 to 2 seconds to lift the leg off the accelerator pedal and depress the brake. If one were to assume that this process takes 1 second on average, it means that the vehicle moves without braking for at least 17 meters. And this assumes we have our full attention on the dynamic control task which driving is. Imagine the driver taking his eyes off his task! Now you know what one second signifies.2
A year of living simply
If there is one thing that most of us aspire to, it is simply to be happy. And yet attaining happiness has become, it appears, anything but simple. Having stuff – The Latest, The Newest, The Best Yet – is all too often peddled as the sure-fire route to happiness. So why then, in our consumer-driven society, is depression, stress and anxiety ever more common, affecting every strata of society and every age, even, worryingly, the very young? Why is it, when we have so much, that many of us still feel we are missing something and the rush of pleasure when we buy something new turns so quickly into a feeling of emptiness, or purposelessness, or guilt? So, what is the route to real, deep, long-lasting happiness? Could it be that our lives have just become overly crowded, that we’ve lost sight of the things – the simple things – that give a sense of achievement, a feeling of joy or excitement? That makes us happy. Do we need to take a step back, reprioritize? Do we need to make our lives simpler?3
The superlative returns provided by the stock market in the last decade have prompted a sort of proliferation, be it participants, products, regulation etc. Viewing from an intermediary’s perspective, this had made life tough and complicated. Can the same be said about investors too? Is the portfolio too complex to understand its cash flow? Or too diversified, or too focused? As an investor, is there too much to know and follow, so much so that we are out of sync with it totally? If it is the case, I am not sure, it is not because of a dearth of right investment advice. Even with the right advice, if we have let in more than we can possibly handle, then it is more like Abhimanyu’s incomplete knowledge of Chakravyuha.
Haiku
Haiku is a Japanese poetic form that consists of three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third. The haiku is developed from the hokku, the opening three lines of a longer poem known as a tanka. The haiku became a separate form of poetry in the 17th century.
Here is an example of a haiku, by Sonia Sanchez:
love between us is
speech and breath. loving you is
a long river running.
Here is another:
Save not spend, income
Invest passive, index funds
Let time do the rest
Haiku impressed me along two points. Brevity and structure. Structure brings order. I have not seen all sticking to the order religiously, but the sense of order does keep number of words reigned in, instead of ballooning into an essay. Brevity makes for a careful choice of words while requiring to shed unnecessary ones, and that breathes in life and a sense of balance. Structure and brevity, thus makes for better understanding of the thought spurt. Similarly for investments too. And that makes for better follow through actions, which ensures that investments do not just remain numbers on the screen, but a part of your life.
Here is one more haiku for the road:
Well-being includes
Much, but financial peace
Left out too often.
1, 2 Source: Social Media
3 Source: Synopsis of A Year of Living Simply- The Joys of a Life Less Complicated – by Kate Humble.
References:
https://www.readpoetry.com/10-vivid-haikus-to-leave-you-breathless/ https://prudentplasticsurgeon.com/financial-haiku/
