Book Review: A Fistful of Rice

Even though things are a lot different at SKS Microfinance now, knowing its past would not hurt. In fact, reading this book would bring motivation to do some thing of your own and touch the strings of making a difference in the society.

The book begins with a woman (who was denied a small loan) asking 'Am I not poor too?' to Vikram Akula, then a volunteer in a NGO. It makes him think of possibilities of extending help in a scale which are beyond the reaches of small social not-for-profit organizations. It brings determination in him to build SKS.

Like any entrepreneur who builds an organization from scratch, Vikram also goes through hardships, leaving the comforts of living in US along with his parents. He rather chooses to bring a difference in villager's life in India, starting from his home state of Andhra Pradesh. His decision to not to live in US costs him his marriage too. But the determined Vikram moves on with his purpose in life.

SKS scales up, gets noticed by everyone including the likes of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. The capital which was hard to come by in the initial days comes in leaps and bounds. And the book ends with a woman who has borrowed from SKS, asking 'Am I not doing well?'

A Fistful of Rice: My Unexpected Quest to End Poverty Through Profitability

Decoding fineprint

Business world is not entirely fair. Not surprising, isn't it? But in what all ways corporate can twist the information in their favor and commit frauds?

Auditors job is to assure that the financial statements they audit are true and there are no accounting frauds. But they are paid by the corporate who are supposed to be investigated. You know the outcome. Remember Satyam’s case?

Hospitals depending on their scale (50, 100 beds or so) along with the facilities they offer have to earn their depreciation. They need minimum of number of patients to keep their business going. If there are not enough new patients coming in, existing patients will have to extend their stay or have to go through series of tests, check-ups one more time. In maternity hospitals, deliveries which are supposed to be normal can turn into cesarean section deliveries depending on the utilization % of the hospital at that time or return on investment promoter is expecting. Death of humanism? Yes, it is a chapter’s name in this book ‘Bullshit Quotient’ by Ranjeev Dubey.

In Casino, house always  wins (almost). How else they can operate if there are equal of chances of winning for both the participant and the house? Stock market is also run by market makers who set the odds and lets you play. If you are lucky to pick the same side of operators, you will make money but not for long as the game changes. How many small traders find success in the market? What does it reveal?

Pick the book to clear out some of the myths which corporate world wants us to believe.

Bullshit Quotient: Decoding India's Corporate, Social and Legal Fineprint

Bookless in Baghdad

How many books do you read in a year? 10, 50, 100 or more?

Shashi Tharoor during his growing up years gave it a try and he could count 365 well before the year ended! He started reading at the age of 3! (I guess they were comics). Being an introvert during his childhood made him make friends with books than in neighborhood.

This book ‘Bookless in Baghdad’ is a selection of the columns author has written for newspapers in the past few years. So this book does not put forward a single theme, but part memoir and part literary criticisms. This controversial author shares his love for Woodhouse, praise for Rushdie, goes on expressing his opinions on the authors and their works with his probing mindset and analytical thinking.

Bookless in Baghdad

A non-fiction on fiction

This one is not a fiction but a non-fiction about world famous novels of all times and understanding what makes them great. Orhan Pamuk, author of ‘The Naive and the Sentimental Novelist’ looks into the intimate connection shared between the writer and the reader, makes the book thoughtful, and deeply personal.

The book begins with a chapter named ‘What our minds do when we read novels’ and progresses with review of the works of world’s all-time best authors from Tolstoy to Naipaul. You will get a favorite list of books of the author and also of the authors he reviews in this book.

If you are a book lover (your spouse would hate this passion of yours), this book is a must on your reading list.

The Naive and the Sentimental Novelist

Identify risks for trading opportunities

At the high level, risks can be classified into financial and non-financial risks.

i.                 Financial risks include Market Risk, Credit Risk, Liquidity Risk

ii.                Non-financial risks include Operational, Legal, Political etc. risks

Identifying and understanding these risks in detail gives us plenty of opportunities to trade. It is illustrated here with an example.

Market Risk is associated with interest rates, currency exchange rates, commodity prices etc. Every business firm is exposed to such risks. Coal India is the biggest consumer of crude oil and the variation in crude prices will impact the margin structure of Coal India, so the stock price has a negative co-relation to oil prices. But neither Coal India’s stock price nor Brent crude pricing can go in one direction for long. They reverse, find equilibrium but not for long. Disturbance in market forces set them apart but again there will be a reversal at some point of time. This information gives the trader an edge to create trading positions in both and use technical parameters like convergence, divergence to book profits and wait for another opportunity to initiate trade.

Remember there are other risks playing out during the same time, which can alter the identified relationship, so the trader need to be cautious and have watchful eye to identify what is driving the individual stock or commodity price.