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!

Kudos RBI / Goodbye congress

The RBI has done it again! Repo rate & CRR get adjusted once again, even as the two economists , viz. Santa Singh and P. Idli Dosa Sambaram pave a way for a great Indian slowdown.

Welcome to earth guys! Uttar Pradesh will soon be lost, Goa and other states in-line to go for polls will follow. Unfortunately this means the horizon is painted saffron!

Worst news would be the two digit growth figures that China/Korea/Asean or even a pity Bangladesh are likely to return this year...the famed FIIs (minus the mafia ofcourse) will exit the Indian markets leaving a gaping hole to suck out all the hot gas from the Real Estate and the Economy overall.

Update: UP is indeed lost, it's BSP (former BJP ally) that's swept polls. Congress, SP even BJP have one honourable democratic function in UP, to form and be part of the opposition.

Price discovery tactics of Real Estate Sharks

Have a look at the below, you'd find a tactic being increasingly used by Real Estate Brokers, to discover the "fair" price of property in the absence of complete lack of economics.

The tactics are fairly simple, place multiple ads on such online sites and judge the right amount buyers are willing to part with by finding out which listing got more eyeballs.

Good luck guys, you are entering full speed into a disaster! The falls' gonna be harder with each speculative rupee being added to every property!

Ban Participatory Notes!

The Finance Ministry and $EBI are keeping a dark secret!

It's an open fact that "Participatory notes" are favourites of miscreants, terrorists and more importantly black-marketeers to "indulge" in speculative activity on Indian Stock Markets. Although Reserve Bank of India and CPI (M) are of the same view but for some unknown reasons, the FM & $EBI are unwilling to see reason enough to believe in it.

Mumbai Realty : Somethings' gotta give!

The bulls and bears are running at full pace! A clash is imminent!

Bulls: The super cool realty rate index. It took NASA 25 years to reach space, the Mumbai Real Estate developers & brokers took just 2 years to do so! Hell the prices keep going north, and appear to have no ceiling, or is it?

Bears: The interest rate index. Kudos to RBI, there is someone lending ears to the plight of Indians, albeit indirectly! There are three major developments, a. Interest rates have been hiked once more, b. NRI deposit rates have been cut and c. NRI's are eligible for a maximum of 20 Lac of Home Loans.

Ok, personal feelings aside, the interesting part is that since the two indexes are about to clash its' gonna the effects could either send Realty into a downward spiral, and cause atleast a blip in the growth story. Either way the interest rates CANNOT keep going high while sustaining the boom.

Update: Commercial real-estate is falling nationwide, except Mumbai ( for how long?)

Apartments in Mumbai (Suburbs!) expensive than Chicago!

Have a hearty laugh!

We Indians earning in rupees thats' valued at 1:44 to a dollar have to spend much more to buy an apartment in Mumbai's far-western suburb like Goregaon than a average American who has to shell out much lower to buy a bigger, grander and luxurious home in a state like Chicago!

Ironic? No it's the shameful greed of developers, and government apathy at work!

Chicago Grand House (Rs. 1,43,00,000)

4 BHK - 3500 sq ft+ Grand House, with Garden (Many more such properties, click here )











Goregaon Apartment (Rs. 1,80,11,914)
3 BHK - 2255 sq ft measly Apartment















Think twice before a government as greedy, and as corrupt like this is again voted to power!

Letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Respected Sir,

"A desperate starving man will always pay more for a meal than a well fed fat man"

I am writing this letter out of desperation, because, the housing sector in Mumbai is heading towards a catastrophic human disaster. Why are NRIs/Non-Indian nationals’/Corporations/Indian Investors ("Sharks") being allowed a free run in Indian housing sector? Since when did the housing sector start to become a commodity that could be sold in an auction-like manner?

Sir, I am salaried class person, part of the value-industry that is bringing dollars to India. I paid about 1/3 million rupees in taxes with an effective tax rate of 28% this year. Even for me to buy a modest 850 sq. ft. flat in Mumbai means having to part with more than 50% of my gross monthly income! What happens to my family which has old-parents, wife and kids (planned), and their modest aspirations to a good life? If I face such issues what can I say about others who are not-so-lucky?

Sir, the situation is quite obvious, Indian population has always had a very-high demand for housing. The supply, albeit, has never quite kept pace. To make matters worse now, the demand is now further increased due to buying by these "Sharks", merely for the sake of Investment. Sir, this demand from outside India is not because of any other factor but due to the statement I made above. The "Sharks" has his eyes on the starvation that an ordinary Indian has towards affordable housing in a country like ours and is quite content to "invest" his easy money into our cities and block housing units for years at end till they earn a good return.

Sir, is this right for India? Should we allow the starvation of the country become a driving force for some investors' investment greed? Why have they not participated in Indian Infrastructure projects, why isn’t a NRI willing to dedicate 6 months of his services to India, surely it is going to reward him well, but I think the answer lies in a simple fact, they probably don’t care!

Sir, my only request to you is to not look at the Housing Sector with an Economics or Trade viewpoint, rather this subject needs to be given a Humanitarian and Socialist ear and mind.

Sir, to conclude, I would just ask you this: What would've Mahatma Gandhi done if he was to see the ground realities of the shameful greed on show in the housing sector of this country?

My sincere regards to you!

Yours' Truly

Mumbai Real Estate Bubble

For the last few days' I've been property hunting, not the old-fashioned way, but really in "information-age" way!

I've been tracking the stock markets, global markets, builder quotes, industry watchers' opinions, and ofcourse the one important entity, the average man.

Based on initial analysis it is quite clear that unlike a bubble that manifests around a central point, the Real Estate story is quite asymmetrical. Instead of being focussed on a single entity, this ones' largely revolving around atleast five crucial elements, hence its' more of a "Pentabble" than a bubble :)

What am I talking about? Here are the five reasons around which the Mumbai Real Estate story is centered.

1. Collossal Influx of Capital in Early 06 (see Nifty90-07), there is do denying that post Jul-03 there has been a steady inflow of investments, particulary from FIIs', Hedge Funds, Japanese Funds, Domestic SIP's, Insurance Companies and also to a large extent Indian Investors. This has resulted in dramatic value creation. This has led to a far better than expected surplus of funds for disposal at the hands of Indian Public, NRIs' and Corporations. This surplus has conveiniently found its' way into Real Estate. The presence of this surplus is confirmed strongly by the falling interest rates to ridiculously low levels like 7.0%-7.5% 1.1

2. Indian Developers discovering the London Alternative Investment Market 1.2: Were you left wondering how on earth are developers able to command such high price? The answer cannot be simpler than this, "they source money way too cheap". Imagine a typical builder, he'd have to sell atleast a good part of his project before contemplating entering the market to buy extra TDR. However a smart builder sources funds from Londons' AIM, and then is able to sell ready-made flats in an almost "Auction House" model. They modus-operandi is quite easy actually, there exist a healthy nexus between property developers and estate agents, and its' not so difficult to find "investors" in a market of high capital availability. So you keep doing cross-selling till such time that prices are sky-high and at the same time they are generally accepted to be the real price. Although there is no citation for this, it stems from my personal account of being offered "investor" flats by the builders. These investors are nothing short than speculators who eventually pull up the price of a project, provided the developer can take it to completion by himself (with little support ofcourse).

3. Huge demand: Some basics dont change, there is no denying the fact that there is demand, but to say that this demand was generated in the last 30 months is foolish! This demand has certainly being recognised in that period but I wonder if its' actually being catered to! The demand is the underlying guarantee that prices will shoot-up and is also being used by investors to stay put in their investments.

4. Allowance of FDI in Reality: This has been one of the most disastrous decisions taken by UPA government, in March 2005. The effects of this are being felt more severly than ever! How can a government where communist parties are stakeholders make such a blunder? To deprive the common (even a middle-class common man) of the right to a good quality housing is the best way to be voted out of power for the current government. The hard work ahead for the opposition is to spread the word, and take this colossal mistake to the general public.

5. Corruption, Corruption and More Corruption: This is the primary source of black money, and this black money is the fuel for Real Estate! An actress who dates a businessman-scion of Raj-era goes on air proclaiming that she only invests in "Real Estate". A wee-bit of enquiries into the same would show the world what an "Heroine" is really made up of!

References & Links:
1.3: Click here for the latest on Mumbai's Real Estate Bubble
1.4: Compare your understanding of the Mumbai Real Estate to the following wiki article.

Saddam Hussein 1937-2006

Saddam Hussein, may not have been the worlds' greatest of leaders. But he was a leader nevertheless, and he's suffered probably the most gruesome and certainly the most humiliating death at the hands of his internal enemies.

The problem with the world today is there are evil point-of-views under the garb of democracies. People can get away with the most uncivilized and gruesome acts by claiming to be proponents of democracy.

Would anyone ever hang the leaders of the coalition who defied the United Nations, and went into war for the search of "Nukes", which were never found?

Is anyone asking Mr. Bush & Mr. Blair about their own conscience?

They invaded the country uttering a single excuse "Weapons of Mass Destruction", ironically the only "Weapons of Mass Destruction" in Iraq today are the ones' carried on the shoulders of British and American troops!!!

What a farcical world and what horrific nations to share this planet with!

Full Coverage of Saddam's Execution

Flight Simulator Trips

Mount Everest
Fly from Tribhovandas International Airport, Kathmandu-Nepal, and fly east about 85 degrees. You would come across the beautiful himalayas. Its' quite a pleasure guiding the King Air between the mountain. Try landing in between mountains in the snow-laden valleys. It should be quite easy.
( Pic 1-2)

K2
The most deadliest peak in the world, second tallest after Mount Everest. This peak has a death-rate of 41% amongst summiters.
(Pic 3-4)
 

My Best Photo

My Best Photo!

This one was taken on 01-Jan-2005.

As you can clearly see, its' a collage of some 6 photos taken side-by-side using my Canon Powershot S1 IS.

It was an amazing day, the cloud formation looked so different the mini clouds looked as if tiny ice-cream drops that some wasteful kid drops along as he wizzes past in a car. 

Paragliding in Manali!

The most exhilarating experience of my life!

Swapnali and me took this risk without realizing it was about to give us a memory for life. The photo shows Swapnali floating in the cool Manali breeze cushioned by snow-capped mountains and lush conifers.

My woman, she led the way that day! 

Fcuked up India Post Website!

The fcuking postmans of India who run this $hithole website claim you can track orders' online.

http://www.indiapost.gov.in/speednet/Track.htm

Guess what I found out, this html page posts data to an aspx(!) page which in turn carries the following meta tag

<META content="Microsoft FrontPage 6.0" name="GENERATOR">

On top of it, the page returns your queries almost instantaneously which confirms the fact that there is nothing being queried nor is there any backend of any kind.

Ba$tard piece of $hit!

It feels good that these postmen are all losing their jobs and are gonna be beggars soon!

Uncyclopedia

Truly amazing site. It's a parody of the popular Wikipedia.org and features full blown parodies for virtually any topic you could think of. My favourites are descriptions of Airplane companies (Boeing takes the honours), British Military, and all countries in general, and Pakistan in particular.

Great fun, do visit...and keep visiting.

URL: http://www.uncyclopedia.org

Traffic jams on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

The drive is supposed to be a fast & furious one, but mine proved to be a miserable one on 19-Nov-2006. I was stuck for over an hour near the lonavala section of Mum-Pune Expressway. Horrible as it was, the traffic hardly moved, and to make matters worse Trucks and Buses occupied all three lanes making it impossible to manouver & judge distance of the blockade.

About a kilometer into the jam, I discovered two huge trailers stuck right next to each other, in different lanes! Can you imagine that, and inspite of this strech being close to humanity, there was only one policeman(?) who merely stood there observing - gods knows what.

Worst Hindi movies

I was so frustrated while watching a hindi movie recently, that I wanted to make sure I add that movie to a list of MUST-NOT-SEE even if you are offered a $1 bn!!!

Unfortunately there isnt one, so I thought I'll make my own. So here it goes.

1. Home Delivery
This is the movie what inspired me to write this blog.

A truly hardcore awful movie which actually makes you feel like you are in the middle of a bad dream. This could not have been any worse, and I dare say that even the actors in the movie could not have sat through the movie premiere.

The plot is about a "Style guru" (Viveik Oberoi) & Boman Irani (Pizza guy). That's ALL I could remember, and yeah there is Nani (a bountiful actress)

Horrid Quotient: 10/10

2. Gangster
I really wonder if Emraan Hasmi was a pimp, if he isnt I'll be disappointed. This is definately the first and the last Hasmi movie I'll ever see!

Shiney "Silent" Ahuja plays a "Big Ganglord" who insists on bashing / shooting himself. God, what message are we sending the world when India is the heartland of global outsourcing!

I love the ham scene that Shiney has done, he's crying and delivering a dialogue at the same time. I bet there was somthing sinister that he had done to the editor, for no editor worth his salt would have retained this scene. I'll try to post a movie clip of that scene.

Horrid Quotient: 9/10

3. Govinda Flixs
He's responsible for the bastardisation of Indian cinema. Give your money to some charity rather than watching Govinda's filthy work!

Horrid Quotient: 9.9/10

4. All these remakes - Don, Umrao Jaan and even Sholay!
God! Is there such a compulsion to make films, that directors are shamelessly agreeing that they are ready to make "copies" of original blockbusters. If they are really worth their salt, they should pick up all the disastrous movies and turn them into worthwhile movies. That would indeed be a tribute to the fallen artisans - they failed once, but their work was re-surrected.

Horrid Quotient: 8/10

5. Amitabh Horrors - Ganga Jamuna Saraswati, a few that I dont wanna remember names of...
They say even god falters, he certainly did so when he got a certain woman to marry a certain man that I know, however Amitabh isnt just god, he is far larger and grander than the almighty.

Or so we thought...but the movies listed above have proven that he's "Only Human!".

Horrid Quotient: 7/10

6. Neal N Nikki
There is loads of stuff already written about how horrible this movie is. It proves only one point, you cannot do anything if your star-child is a dud. Not only are the two actors (Uday & Tanisha) horrible to look at, they make matters worse by skipping acting classes altogether. Why is Uday so hell bent on making himself into a star...I mean those lip-sticks that he has on throughout the movie are a real low-point in Bollywood history. Gosh wonder what inspired this movie.

Horrid Quotient: 10/10

7. Apna Sapna Money Money
Filthy, Vulgar and down-right cheap. This movie is probably aimed at the void left by Govinda's disappearance from movies. The movie is very cleverly aimed at profits though, it is sure to end up a little above the red line for sure.

Horrid Quotient: 8/10

8. Bhagam Bhag
The movie is outrageously horrid. Crap dialogues, terrible looking actors, and an incoherent plot. The only thing good about the movie is I finally got to see the Member of Parliament of my area since the time he showed his face during elections.

Horrid Quotient: 9.9/10

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Saw this movie today!

The movie had a profounding effect, to begin with I make my wife chant hold hymns whenever I believe there might be a demon lurking in her. Well the movie's nice but arent there too many "facts" about demons and excorcisms which provoke one to think there is probably nothing more than the millions of dollars that such film-producers make?