Pratik’s Blogging Park

……Pratik Shah

Book- If God was a Banker

Recommendation- Best Read 

I have recently completed reading the Book “If god was a Banker” written by Mr. Ravi Subramaniam. My first comments after reading this book was ‘Wow’ . The writer has written his first book and is it is indeed commendable. The story is from the Banking world but has a free flow and it build up suspense and mystery as you go on reading it. For me, the biggest second opinion was my wife who does not read books. Even she found this book so interesting that she use to read it at every available opportunity. She was very inquisitive about what will happen next and I as usual would not reveal the suspense. She is not related to the Banking world and it was a pleasant reading for her. It is like the movie ‘Lagaan’ which was epitomized around cricket but everybody loved the movie. I would admit that there were some minor flaws in the presentation of the story but that is immaterial as long as the reader is satisfied with the content and flow.

I have heard lot of negative reviews about this book on the blog stations; however; I have a completely positive view on this book. This book is a story about two individuals (Sundeep and Swami) who have passed out of a top B-School and how they have built up their careers in the same organization. Both have been portrayed as highly intellectual. But there is always a Good guy and a bad guy. Sundeep gets into wrong networks and his lusty attitude leads him into a big trap from where there is no return. Though he succeeded on his career pedestal it was a success not worthy. Swami on the other hand took the path of honesty and climbed the ladder of success. He had to face circumstantial difficulties for his honesty. In the end, honesty and perseverance won. There is a role model/mentor ‘Aditya Rao’ (Jerry Rao in real) who has been shown as the real protagonist of the story. He was the one who saved Sundeep during his bad times and mentored Swami at every stage of his career.

It is a true story of a leading bank that had launched its retail banking in the 90’s.

I came to know from the blogosphere that the people who have been talked about are big names in the Financial Services Industry like Survesh Swaroop, PS Jayakumar, Nanu Pamnani, Ashok Dutt, etc . The author himself was part of the happening and close aide of Swami (book name). I have validated the contents with few people and it was learnt that the author has deliberately changed the story at some places. Sundeep and Natasha getting married, Swami and Kalpana getting married, Ram Naresh based out of Kolkatta (he was actually a  Delhi guy) are cooked up stories. In real life it is said that they marry different people. All said and done the book was an interesting read and I will recommend it to others as a “Best Read”.

The new T20 sensation has changed the way cricket is being played in last couple of years. We have almost accepted this form of cricket which is dynamic, lively and vibrant. The quick and result oriented form of game can be compared to soccer where all action is demystified in 90 minutes. The generation X now do not want the long formats of the game like the 50 overs ODI or the rather 5 days long Test matches. They want to move fast and want everything fast. T20 has overshadowed the historical cricket formats. T20 format is indeed an entertainer but at the same time it is damaging the nurturing of true cricket talent. Young aspirants who are looking at cricket as a career have started realising that T20 form of cricket is going to be the in thing and they have to play aggresive and sloggy cricket to build a hope for themselves to be in the team in the future. Moreover the craze of this form of cricket is so unprecedented that corporates, clubs, counties have started sponsoring T20 tournaments and the old formats are slowly diminishing. My only fear is that we should not lose the original form of cricket completely which has seen the likes of S. Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Richards, Tendulkar, Lara, Border, etc. They have been the gurus of cricket. Will we see more of such players in the coming years? If T20 is overplayed then of course not; Legends like Rahul Dravid and Sachin tendulkar do not get a place in T20 because they are cricketers and not big hitters of the ball. This is the big paradox.

The next question is India or for that matter any other cricketing nation is playing loads of cricket. We have T20, IPL, ICL, Champions League, Overseas tours, etc. Aren’t the players feeling weary or tarred? The answer is there is no overdose if huge money is to be made. I would like to quote Mr K Datta who says ” There is no denying that too much of cricket can leave players jaded. But it is only 20-over matches that the players have been playing, games which last no more than three and a half hours at most, unlike day-long 50-over ODIs or five-day Tests. Moreover, the IPL, with all the money to be made from it, is all too welcome to them. They would push their tired bodies to play even two T20 matches in a day if that were possible. Don’t Bollywood film actors work in double shifts? There is no such thing as fatigue where money is to be made.” It is indeed true that all form of sports have become truly commercial and people who are into it want to make the maximum. They also realise that with the form of new talent coming up, their sporting career will be short lived and one has to rake the maximum moolah till the time they are in the game. Their source of income ranges from match fees, special awards, endorsements, special apperances in events, etc. For example our Indian Captian MS Dhoni is a perfect example. He is doing well for the country as well as for himself. Why only cricketers, the cricket Board is also raking in good money. BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world. The success of IPL (the brain child of Mr Lalit Modi) has indeed put BCCI on the global pedestal. They have lot of say in International cricket council. They are the players off the field.

Coming back to my question whether T20 overdose will fade away original form of cricket, in my opinion, yes, it will change the way cricket was looked at earlier and make the sport into an entertainment machine for players, the cricket board, the audience and the fans. We are very good at accepting what suits us best and is of our liking, irrespective of whether it inadvertantly damages something else. This is what change is. It is irreversible and is going to happen. That’s what happening in technology. We find things going obsolete by the day. We have touched the moon, have the ability to reproduce human beings of our choice, there is no geographical barrier and the World has become a small town. One can delay or defer the change but cannot stop it. It is natural and gets moulded as the time goes by.

Please feel free to share your opinions. They are all welcome.

Guys

Good news. You can now withdraw cash from any ATM and do Balance enquiry for free from 01st April 2009. This is a step closer to international practice where customers are not charge to use any ATM. It is an equitable co-operative initiative by the banks.

Terrorist Beware!

On April 20th India is going to launch its spy satellite in the space from Banagalore air base. This sattelite will be launched in space using PSLV 2 rocket . It has been purchased from an Israeli company and will help the Indian intelligence to track all activities around its border, terrorist infiltration, etc. The sattelite also has the capability to record all wireless communication between the terrorists and also capture pictures and video of terrorist camps and training activities. It is a very expensive satellite and will really give a kick to the Intelligence network. It will act as a third eye and will load the army and air force with the right information. ISRO scientists have been given ‘ Z’  plus security as terrorists do not want this satellite to be launched. It weighs about 300 Kgs and has a radius of 550 kms. ISRO is also developing one more satellite which will weigh 1200 Kgs and will have capabillity of multi location capture through radar and also send communication recordings between various terrorist organisations to Intelligence office. It will be much more powerful than the one to be launched

Better late then never. We have to make our Intelligence network strong and nothing can beat technology. India..that’s the way to go!

Hi Guys

This female has come on earth with true luck. One film has given her so much of fame which she wouldn’t have dreamt of

1/ She is voted as the fourth sexiest women in Hollywood. This is the recognition which every bollywood actress would have dreamt of. This is much bigger than the Barbie doll status conferred to Katrina Kaif. Jennifer Aniston has been named Hollywood’s Sexiest Woman followed by Megan Fox and Gisele Bundchen. Kim Kardashian stood in the fifth position after Freida.

2/ She is the highest earning actress in India with gross earnings over 2 million pounds.

3/ Key part of Oscar Award winning team

Though she does not have much acceptance in bollywood she has given the film industry a big shocker. She is all set to act with Hollywood biggies like Nicole Kidman, Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts in Woody Allen’s next film

It is truly a dream come true for Freida.  All the best to her.  She has made our country proud. Jay HO!

Guys

It was ‘ rang barse’  because of Holi festival and ‘ run barse’ because of Sehwag at the third one day international played in Hamilton, Newzealand. We won the third one dayer in style without losing any wicket and it was exemplary performance by our Indian Openers, though rain played a spoil sport delaying the play intermittantly. We have created history after 33 years by clinching the one day series in New zealand. Sehwag’s century was again a record breaking one. He broke Mohammed Azharuddin’s record of 62 balls and posted a ton in just 60 balls. The win gave India an unbeatable 2-0 lead and their first one-day series victory on New Zealand soil in 33 years, with Saturday’s final game at Auckland still to be played.

I am sure we will win this comfortably. We are witnesing a new Team India where we are not dependent on one star player. It is a team effort and great leadership. Every game is starred by various players proving their mettle. I am quite confident that we will be a tough team for the World Cup. With leadership of Dhoni behind the spirit of the team is at unprecedented level.

The ICC Champions Trophy in September and October is set to hosted by South Africa. This will be worth a wait. Prior to that IPL will give a good feast to cricket fans albeit it is not spoiled by the Lahore attacks.

Automated teller machines(ATM’s) have changed the way we do banking over the years. Earlier we had to stand in line at the teller counter during the fixed banking hours if we need to withdraw money. However, the rules of the game have changed. ATM have come as a boon for account holders which gives them flexibility to withdraw money at any point of time; Thus Any Time Money is also synonymous for ATM. Today people of urban India just cannot imagine their lives without ATM, Computers and mobile. They are no longer a luxury.

However, many times I have seen in ATM’s of Banks like ICICI and Axis Bank, people queing up to withdraw money. It looks similar to the queue we have at the Banking counter. These Banks need to study the pattern of withdrawls and related volumes and can install more ATM’ in that area. With the new RBI mandate to allow sharing of ATM to all bank customers free of cost will make life easier. Presently people can withdraw money from other ATM machines albeit with a transaction charge of Rs 20-25. This is levied because the ATM Bank charge the originating bank for dispening cash or balance enquiry. ATM has definitely changed our lives and we will see more and more change and enhancements in this technology in the near future

Below is a repreentative picture of AXIS Bank ATM at the Borivili station where people are queueing up for withdrawing money. This is a daily routine at buy stations like Borivili, Andheri and Churchgate.

I travel by local suburban trains of Mumbai and it is an out of the world experience during peak hours. Standing inside the compartment many of us would move our eyes all over to check out if something interesting is there. In the sqeezing crowd it is just difficult to read a newspaper or hook on to our mobile headsets. Most of us would look at the 35 year old fan which does not have enough in it to circulate air or to the posters or bills stuck inside the compartment by our emerging enterpreneurs. In past 2 years I have seen lot of unauthorised ad posting in the trains ranging from piles doctors, Dhongi baba’, loans, MBA projects, dance classes, alerts, political party slogans, stock markets, etc. It is good that we are living in a democracy but why do railway authorities allow posting of such ads free of cost. They spoil the decoram of the entire compartment. These guys escape any fine or penalty and railway authorities are just not able to take any action.

The person who is issuing the ad does not himself carry out this operation. There are people who do this for some money. These guys operate at 1 am at night and stick these bills at whatever place they want to. I have personally seen them. This is India after all!

I would request such people not to use unauthorised means to promote their service or product. Do not spoil the beauty of the city. Respect its image. You have lot other mediums like Internet, SMS, emails, etc for free service. Trains and buses are public transport. Do not use it for outdoor advertising

Hi Friends

In my blog dated 22nd December 2008 titled ‘

India Tops the chart in Swiss Bank report- No action

I had highlighted the fact that Indians are holding the maximum deposits in Swiss accounts which is higher than all other countries depositors money put together. The amount under subject is approximately 1891 billion which is more than the country’s GDP. I had also mentioned the steps to be taken to arrest the black money residing out of India. The suggestions were as under:

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“ What can the government do to bring the money back?

1/ 7-8 years back the government had come out with Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme (VDIS) which has met good success. This scheme allows people to disclose their black money and pay nominal penalty. No action will be taken against such persons. The government should come out with such scheme to arrest such funds. This will help India finances considerably

2/ Income tax authorities should have the rights under RTI/Income Tax Act to ask Indian government to request/pressurise Swiss Bank to reveal the details of the Indian depositors and do an Income mapping in India to identify tax evasion.

3/ Political will is necessary to implement any such step. Most of the people will be reluctant as this might expose the entire chain of corruption prevailing in India. Thus we cannot expect much from our Indian government. In such a situation a mass retaliation by people of India can help. They can use the powers conferred on them by the Indian constitution and pressurise the government to know the details of these deposits

Even if considering that 50% is black money and we are able to bring back 50% of the black money then also we can add 500 bio $ to our kitty which will clean our fiscal debt totally and add 300 bio $ more to our forex reserves”

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It is pleasing to know that government has initiated steps towards this direction. The Central Board of Direct taxes (CBDT) is actively considering a proposal wherein an additional column will be added in the tax returns to disclose all bank accounts held abroad (including Swiss Bank accounts). Based on this information, IT department can seek information from Swiss Bank accounts and do an Income mapping to check for any tax evasion.  The government is also thinking of changing the Income tax regulations to empower the IT department to re open the assessment beyond the six years threshold if the assessee is found having undisclosed amount abroad

Swiss Bank have shown openness in sharing information with countries in wake of increased terrorist financing through ‘ Havala’ channels. Though Swiss Bank boasts of robust KYC on the depositors they do not question the source of Income in the origin country. If the assesses do not disclose these Bank accounts and are identified later they carry a big risk of huge penalties

It is a catch 22 situation for all those who have billions of currency in Swiss accounts. If this proposal is passed then they are surely going to have night mares.

This will definitely bring in more transparency and it is a bold step taken by the government for increasing governance. Though most of the depositors would be amongst corrupt politicians, actors, bureaucrats, etc such actions would be in the interest of the nation