Maya Dolas Photo

While the movie Shootout at Lokhandwala is receiving great reception. I was fascinated by the character, that Vivek plays, Maya Dolas. A horrible human being, but nevertheless memorable! So after scouting the internet for a while, I was finally able to find his old photo on mid-day.com website. [1]

Notice the blue cross, it probably was placed after he was shot down at Lokhandwala.

One question keeps coming to my mind, did he represent the Imbalance that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh referred to in his speech to CII? [2]

Real Estate Investments Demystified

Lately, I've been contemplating the value-rewards proposition of investments aimed to fund my retirement. I looked at various options, however the real-estate boom has been so strong I began giving it a serious thought.

Very quickly, however I realised the sheer Opportunity Cost involved and has made me wonder Why anyone ever contemplates treating "Housing" Property as Investment Grade, leave aside Retirement Grade?

Lets analyse this "Opportunity Cost" element by considering a simple case. Imagine, a simple flat costing a paltry (4MM /or 40 Lacs) and is fully financed. You are looking at an "Net-EMI" of well over 45k p.m., but assuming the tax saver element (12.5k p.m), any rent you receive by letting out (~10k p.m.) and adjusting for society maintainence, repairs, pest-control, etc. we shall assume a NET monthly outgoing of 30k p.m towards this property. I do not know much about the direction Indian Salaries shall take, but sure do know that the purchasing power of Indians is headed North. So, you happily keep paying the "Net-EMI" till the maturity of the Loan, which would definitely be longer than the term you sign initially (interest rates are also headed north in the short term).

Now the question is what would you have after a period of 20-30 years?
The answers' quite simple you'd have a 20-30 yr old flat and ZERO - ZILCH - SHUNYA liquid assets. You can dispose off the property, however keep in mind, the price would likely be equal to current prices, if not less. Property prices are dependent on various factors current boom is due to Demand-Supply gap, doubling salaries, foreign investments are key drivers. However with rupee at its' all time low, it's envitable that it strengthens over a long term (20-30 years), and it means purchasing power of dollar weakens against the rupee. In such a scenario, investments in India would no longer be attractive, plus we'd have transformed into a semi-developed nation at the very least which means even lower interest rate. India would have a far better Credit Rating, and lesser Interest Rate. When that happens, you need to have Cold Cash, to be the king, not an old house, in an old building, with multiple tenant having multiple agenda.

Instead lets' look at an alternative scenario. Instead of using the 30k p.m. as "Net-EMI", you can use to periodically buy any / all of the following and creating a risk-averse basket, targetting roughly 12% p.a.
- Govt Bonds of those zillion "developing countries" (~10% p.a.)
- Corporate Bonds (12-15% p.a.)
- Mutual Funds (05%-50%)
- Stocks (-100% to 100%)
- Another gazillion investment options that our developing economy has made available.

With such a basket the portfolio is easily reaches a figure of 1.4 crores (15 yrs), 2.8 crores (20 yrs), 5.3 crores (25 yrs) and 10 crores (30 yrs). that's about the time retirement starts if you are about 30 now.

So clearly a piece of land + house in far off places, or a flat in one of our cities is not what an "Investment" is supposed to deliver, its' liquid assets, that you'd need when your second-innings begin.

Why waste in such a haste? Think Long Term!

Airlines Unlimited

My Collection of airplanes. I've collected about 4 Dragon-Air mammoths, the big-four:
- Boeing B747-400 in Air India livery
- Boeing B777-300 in Singapore Airlines livery
- Airbus A380 in Emirates livery
- Airbus A340-600 in Iberia livery.

My favourite amongst those is by far the Jumbo, nothing beats the grace of this fat lady.

The obsession with airliners doesnt seem to go away, the majestic 747 or the dashing SU-MKI are what dreams are made of!

Summer 07

Raigad! That's where we were, a week after our first anniversary. Although we were seriously constrained for time, we managed to pack our bags and drive on to a wonderful Trip. The drive was from Mumbai - Karnala Bird Sanctuary - Kolad - Mahad - Raigad - Kolad - Nagothane (got lost ;) didnt listen to my navigator) - Kolad - Phansad Bird Santuary - Murud - Alibaug - Panvel - Mumbai.

A total of 450 Kms, of smooth road, sometimes adjoining a dense forest, sometimes coconut and mango farm houses, and the very best part, a beach highway from Murud to Alibaug. The highlights were the two days fishing, boating and back to basics holiday at Doctors' Farm, Raigad Fort, Murud Janjira Fort, Murud Beach (first time Sony went completely submerged!) and a whole lot of people we met on our way!