ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಡೈರಿ

ಈ ವರ್ಷದ ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ನೀವು ಹೇಗೆ ಕಳೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಿರಿ? ನನ್ನ ದಿನದ ಆರಂಭ ಮಾತ್ರ ಪ್ರತಿದಿನವೂ ಒಂದೇ ತರಹ ಎನ್ನುವಂತೆ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಊರಾಚೆ ಒಂದು ಆಲದ ಮರ. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕಟ್ಟೆಯನ್ನುಕಟ್ಟಿಸಿ, ಒಂದು ಶಿವಲಿಂಗವನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಾಪನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದು ಒಬ್ಬ ಪುಣ್ಯಾತ್ಮ. ಅದು ತನ್ನ ಪತ್ನಿಯ ನೆನಪಿಗಾಗಿ ಕಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು ಎಂದು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕಲ್ಲಿನ ಫಲಕ ಇದೆ. ಹಿಂದೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಜೊತೆ ಬಂದಿದ್ದ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತನೊಬ್ಬ ಇದು ಅವರ 'ತಾಜ್ ಮಹಲ್' ಎಂದು ತಮಾಷೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಿದೆ. ಆ ಕಟ್ಟೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಕುಳಿತರೆ ಬೀಸುವ ತಂಗಾಳಿ, ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಮಲಗಿದರೆ ಸಿಗುವ ವಿಶ್ರಾಂತಿ, ಕಣ್ಣು ಮುಚ್ಚಿ ಪ್ರಾಣಾಯಾಮ ಮಾಡಿದಾಗ ಆಗುವ ವಿಶೇಷ ಅನುಭವ ಇವೆಲ್ಲವುಗಳನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಿ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ 'ಬೋಧಿ ವೃಕ್ಷ' ಎಂದು ಹೆಸರಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾನೆ.

ನಾನು ಮತ್ತು ನೆರೆಯ ಸ್ನೇಹಿತರೊಬ್ಬರು ದಿನವೂ ಅಲ್ಲಿಗೆ ಸುಮಾರು ೪೫ ನಿಮಿಷದ ನಡಿಗೆಯಿಂದ ತಲುಪುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ೧೫ ನಿಮಿಷದ ವಿಶ್ರಾಂತಿ. ನಮ್ಮ ಶ್ವಾಸಕೋಶಗಳು ಸ್ವಚ್ಛ ಗಾಳಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿಕೊಂಡು ದಣಿದ ಮೈಗೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಉಲ್ಲಾಸವನ್ನು ತುಂಬುತ್ತವೆ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯ ಶಾಂತ ಪರಿಸರ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನಸ್ಸನ್ನೂ ಕೂಡ ಶಾಂತಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಮತ್ತೆ ಮನೆಗೆ ವಾಪಸ್ಸಾಗಲು ೪೫ ನಿಮಿಷ ತಗುಲುತ್ತದೆ. ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿರುವ ನವಿಲುಗಳು ಕಲರವ ಮಾಡುತ್ತ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಚಕಿತಗೊಳಿಸುತ್ತವೆ. ರಸ್ತೆಯ ಹಾದಿಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಗುವ ಪರಿಚಿತರು ಕೈ ಬೀಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮನೆ ಮುಟ್ಟಿದಾಗ ನಾವು ಸವೆಸಿದ್ದು ಸುಮಾರು ೮ ಕಿ.ಮೀ. ದೂರದ ಹಾದಿ ಎಂದು ನನ್ನ ಫೋನ್ ಹೇಳುತ್ತದೆ. ಮತ್ತೆ ಲೌಕಿಕ ಜೀವನ ನಮ್ಮನ್ನು ಆವರಿಸಿ ಬಿಡುತ್ತದೆ.

ನಿಮ್ಮ ದಿನಚರಿ ಏನು? ಲಾಕ್ ಡೌನ್ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿರುವ ಬಿಡುವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಏನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿರುವಿರಿ?

Why meditation makes you a better investor?

As an investor, you will have to make 3 decisions continuously. Which stock to buy, at what price and when to exit? But that is not it.

 

Things do not go as you anticipate, and markets routinely surprise everyone. Stock that you bought goes down beyond your expectation, making you wonder what to do. Few go up too much in too little time, again you begin to wonder if there is any upside left. Many times, the stocks you bought do not move at all, boring you and making you to switch counter.

 

Exactly when things do not go as anticipated, you become emotional, misjudge the situation and make investment mistakes. This is when meditation can be of great help. Meditation teaches you to have patience, so when your stocks do not move, you won’t act out of boredom but make a rational choice. When market moves against you, you would not lose hope and probably add to your investments. And when things are working in your favor, you would not be caught in euphoria but remain grounded and book some decent profits.

 

Meditation basically calms you down. It removes chaos and brings clarity. It brings stability to your being by avoiding emotional tantrums and that reflects in the choices you make in everyday life. You would not only become a better person but a better investor too. The less biased, the less emotional person you become, the better investor you would transform into.

 

Get into meditation and know yourself. The clarity you get lets you understand why you are in the market and what the crowd does won’t bother you anymore. Then assess the investment opportunities available in the market. More likely you would get them right.

ವೈಪರೀತ್ಯಗಳ ಸಮಯ

ಚಾರ್ಲ್ಸ್ ಡಿಕನ್ಸ್ ಬರೆದ 'A Tale of Two Cities ' ಕಾದಂಬರಿಯ ಮೊದಲ ಕೆಲವು ಸಾಲುಗಳನ್ನು ತುಂಬಾ ಸಲ ಮತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಓದಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಪ್ರಸ್ತುತ ಸಮಯಕ್ಕೆ ಅದು ತುಂಬಾ ಹೊಂದಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ ಕೂಡ. ಅದನ್ನು ನಿಮಗೂ ಓದಿಸಬೇಕೆನ್ನುವ ಆಸೆಯಿಂದ ಅದರ ಅನುವಾದದ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಹಾಗೆ ಅದರ 'Original' ಅನ್ನು ಕೂಡ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

"ಅದು ಅತ್ಯುತ್ತಮವಾದ ಕಾಲ, ಅದು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಕೆಟ್ಟ ಕಾಲ. ಅದು ವಿವೇಕತನದ ಸಮಯ, ಅದು ಕಡು ಮೂರ್ಖತನದ ಸಮಯ. ಅದು ನಂಬಿಕೆಯ ಯುಗ, ಅದು ಸದಾ ಸಂದೇಹ ಪಡುವ ಯುಗ. ಅದು ಬೆಳಕಿನ ಸಮಯ, ಅದು ಕಗ್ಗತ್ತಲಿನ ಸಮಯ. ಅದು ಭರವಸೆ ತರುವ ವಸಂತ, ಅದು ಹತಾಶೆ ತರುವ ಚಳಿಗಾಲ. ನಮ್ಮ ಮುಂದೆ ಎಲ್ಲ ಇದೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಮುಂದೆ ಏನೂ ಇಲ್ಲ. ನಾವೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಸೀದಾ ಸ್ವರ್ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ, ನಾವೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಅದನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಇರುವ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಜಾಗಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇವೆ"

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity. It was the season of Light, it was the season Darkness. It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. We had everything before us, we had nothing before us. We were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way."

Reconstructing History: The Siege of Krishnapur

Ninety years before India got freedom, in 1857, many dramatic events led to ‘Sepoy Mutiny’. With struggle and losses, East India Company managed to quell the storm of rebellion. That story is reconstructed in this book and is told from the perspective of a company official (District Collector) and his companions.

Though it is conveniently called a work of fiction, it is a well-researched book based on facts collected through letters, dairies of East India Company officials of that time and other communications and journals. The city of Kanpur became a fictional town Krishnapur in this book. This book brings to life the culture, lifestyle of the British ruling in India during colonial times. Since this is a British version of the story, native Indians may find many perspectives mentioned in this book a bit unpleasant.

While the British were biased in believing that they had the right to rule India, the natives disagreed with them on many fronts and the suppression led to the spark of rebellion. Though the British were successful in regaining the control, the mutiny firmly led to a new beginning.

This book was awarded Booker Prize in 1973. Author J.G.Farrell produced three books which dealt with political consequences of British colonial rule.

Salman Rushdie: For those who love magic of a language

Even for Salman Rushdie’s fans, his books are hard to read and digest but they enchant and hook them up. While his non-fictional works appear rational, his fictions are very different. He employs ‘Magical Realism’, a style where-in protagonists of his plots have unnatural powers and he mixes up the characters from the real world with imaginary one’s. So, an ordinary reader would find it difficult to make sense of what he is reading. Well, Salman Rushdie is no ordinary writer. The reader should not pick his books like any other regular novel. If one can keep away the common notions, a finer world unravels.

Here is an excerpt from “Midnight’s Children”:

“Unless, of course, there’s no such thing as chance; in which case Musa – for all his age and servility – was nothing less than a time-bomb, ticking away softly until his appointed time; in which case, we should either – optimistically – get up and cheer, because if everything is planned in advance, then we all have a meaning, and are spared of the terror of knowing ourselves to be random, without a why; or else, of course, we might – as pessimists – give up right here and now, understanding the futility of thought decision action, since nothing we think makes any difference any way; things will be as they will.”