When I came back to Odisha (at the end of 2017) on a work sabbatical, birthdays for me until then, were regular annual affairs that were to be celebrated with the usual thank you messages and an odd get together with family and friends.
Not to say I did not look forward to them. I did. It was a special date in the calendar and once my boss had joked that he had recruited me because the date (19th) added up to the digit One which he considered lucky!
However, after my health suffered a serious setback in 2018 I started to realise the beauty of life. My perspectives changed. The small things in my daily routine began to matter and I started appreciating them and being thankful for my existence.
Till then my physical body had been just a medium to perform the usual biological functions for which it had been created for. Now, I became more aware of it. What I ate, how many hours I slept, the daily exercises to keep fit – they all began to matter.
I started loving life and prayed to God to keep me alive till such time I am really old 🙂 🙂
I decided to live life to the full and so birthdays assumed a greater significance. To celebrate each milestone I began drafting short poems and posting them with my pic on social media. The poem tried to capture the essence of what life meant to me in the past 12 months.
So, presenting below are these poems since 2019. I hope to keep updating them each year and hopefully God will be kind enough to help me in my prayers.
Cheers to Life! Hope you enjoy reading them.
2022
Life has been beautiful, what else can I say?
For all the small miracles that come my way.
HE listens to all that I ask for and plead,
Such Graciousness; perhaps due to past reflections or my good deed?
On my Birthday today, as I look upwards to Heaven;
I send God a flying kiss of thanks, as I turn 40 Seven!
2021
Just 'parking' my thoughts on my Birthday,
Life seems so full of possibilities at every step of the way.
There are unfulfilled desires and dreams to live,
Incomplete works to which I need time to give.
The mind keeps travelling to places known/ unknown,
Yet bound by current situation I am home.
Sometimes I fret about the small things going wrong;
Yet there are people with bigger worries but still going strong.
For life and death, happiness and despair are all part of the mix,
As time rolls on, today it turns me Forty 6.
2020
Can there be smoke without a fire?
Does a heart beat without desire?
At sunrise today I turned Forty + 5
Thankful to God for His bounty; for being alive!
Life's a maze - smile through the joys and pain,
Live-in the Now, for this moment will never come again!
2019
What is Age? It is just a number
Time keeps rolling on from Jan to December,
AT 44 today, I am a lot wiser but still not old,
All my life's learnings have turned into gold.
“Papa let’s play hide and seek” tells my son excitedly. “There are lots of places to hide here!” he continues, the smile broadening as he surveys the space around him.
I quickly nod in affirmation wanting to participate along with my son’s mood for some fun and games.
“Okay papa you stand here, look in the opposite direction and count until 15.
“You have 3 minutes to catch me.” he rattles off the instructions. “Once the time is up and you are unable to find me, I score a point otherwise the point is yours,” he sums it up.
Fair enough I say and give him a thumbs up.
He then takes my phone, opens the clock app and starts the stopwatch quickly mimicking the action simultaneously on his phone too. He of course has been gifted the gadget to cope with his online studies and now carries it with him where ever he goes, even to the bathroom!
As I turn around, he quickly disappears behind me in search of an appropriate hiding place. I look straight ahead in front of me counting the seconds and then glance at the phone to check the time.
15 seconds is up and I dart away to search for him around the maze of clothes hanging on the shop floor by the dozens. For you see we are out shopping in a mall and his mother is somewhere on the same floor choosing new sets of office wear for herself.
It was then that we father-son duo decided to kill time by playing hide and seek. I make my way quickly around the rows of hangers holding an array of branded tops, shirts, designer salwars and shoes.
I duck amidst the rows hoping to catch a glimpse of my son’s feet hidden somewhere behind them and open my scoring with a point. He seems to have done a good job for though the mall floor is wide and open I cannot sight him.
The stopwatch is now ticking away furiously in my trouser pockets and I pull it out to check it. It is racing towards the 3 minute mark and I hasten my steps and make a wider sweep of the floor. Just when it seems my son will be winning, a slice of luck favours me.
It is only when I go past the last row that I happen to casually glance at the tall mirror which covers almost the entire wall on one of its sides. He is crouching behind a row of floral patterned dresses unaware that there is a mirror opposite!
I snoop on him from behind while he is still trying his best to snuggle and hide his tall frame behind the women skirts. As I rush towards him in a delighted squeal he turns around startled with a grin which quickly turns to disappointment on realizing he was just few ticks away from victory.
Mission accomplished we head back to the starting point where it is his turn now to play the seeker. The mall staff have a bemused look on their faces as for the next 20 minutes father and son duo are seen scampering around that floor hiding behind mannequins, a wall column and even an empty trial room!
This is how times have changed. When my son asks to play chess or a game of cricket with him it is on the mobile app. When we play hide and seek it is not in a playground or park but in a mall which we frequent more these days and spend time in.
But as a parent I have to make the most of the time I have with my child. If that means playing one of our favourite childhood games (I still remember hiding behind a thick shrub or in the garage of our old house many years ago) in a glitzy fashion mall then so be it.
For change is the only thing constant and judging by the pace of things the times are not just changing.
It is in its dying moments now. Some may say it is already dead. Yet it has lived and thrived for almost 3 months this year which has been its usual, normal life span.
This season however has been uneven. Sometimes it’s been severely cold with temperatures dropping to 10 degrees in Bhubaneswar (that was the 3rd lowest in the city in past 10 years) and sometimes ebbing away, giving the impression it was fading but only to return stronger after a couple of days.
This was partly due to rains which lashed parts of Odisha in all 3 months i.e. from Dec-Feb. Each time it became overcast the temperatures rose, only to plummet once again as the clouds rained and dissipated away.
Perhaps these unseasonal showers are just a reflection of the changing weather patterns we we keep hearing about these days, but have not yet fathomed its severity on our lives.
For the moment however, I am not thinking about global warming. Rather I am ensconced snugly in the safer confines of my home and enjoying the last few moments of a season which like its antithesis Summer evokes diverse reactions.
Some people love the cold comforts which winter brings with itself. The mild sun, a warm blanket and a hot cup of tea are some of these luxuries.
For me personally winter has always evoked mixed feelings. I love to hate it as essentially I am a summer person who enjoys the sun and the power it exudes over all of us. Winter and the cold make me uncomfortable.
For example, I like sitting and reading in the evenings in my balcony for long periods. But while the clock shows only 5.30 pm the sunlight is gone and it’s already time to head back inside my room.
That is not too comforting as I like to soak in the sights and sounds of the busy road in front of our house while I am engrossed in leafing through the pages of my current favourite book.
The winter dusk comes in quickly and somehow there is a dark and depressing feeling around it.
Yet winter is powerful. It tames the sun and makes it go soft. Its rays become as mellow and feeble like my grandma’s temper. Even as I walk in it for half an hour during my morning exercise it barely feels on my skin. A similar morning walk in summer would cause ample discomfort!
Winter comes with its own peculiarities like each season does, and there are certain scenes which are so reminiscent of it.
For example, the security guard of the Bank ATM in our adjoining building standing in the morning sun and reading the daily newspaper; a couple of stray dogs lying near his feet and sun bathing. People in the evenings huddling together on the roadside around a makeshift bonfire and spreading out their hands intermittently to feel its heat and get some comfort.
It is the season when people clamour to become tourists and pile onto the next available transport to go to a place they have been wanting to visit all year. Not only people, even millions of birds take their annual flight out of frigid zones to land in more salubrious climes of the region primarily among them being the Chilka Lake.
Even our long stored away woollens, forgotten in dark cupboards get an opportunity to come out and see the world during this season. They may have become loose or tight depending on how the owner has gone about their food habits in the rest of the year but they have a role to fulfil – keep him/her warm and away from the chill.
However the maximum glory of winter can be seen around us in nature. Flowers bloom in abundance and bring us unlimited joys with their bright colours and multiple hues.
Dew drops caress the leaves overnight and the morning mist slowly lifts its veil over all things, both mundane and beautiful.
Now as the season is ending I can see further evidence of the changing moods – in the leaves of trees around me. As a cool winter breeze picks up and rustles the branches of the trees, dry withered leaves by the dozens drift to the ground like discarded robes and the trees will very soon get a new soft cover.
A local Indian almond/badam tree (Terminalia catappa) next to my house had almost red coloured leaves throughout winter. Now, gradually green leaflets sprout from amongst the reds as the older ones undergo shedding. And not a single leaf changes colour without the silent knowledge of the whole tree.
Soon, they will decay and become one with the soil; essentially gong back to where they came from.
The Old..
The New..
This is so much akin to life itself – the old making way for the young, the withered ones being replaced with the tender. For the basic principle must be adhered to – that Life has to go on.
Even if that means changing seasons and its myriad moods from one to another.
If Winter would say, "Spring is in my heart, who would believe Winter?"-Khalil Gibran
It is 7 am on a Monday morning. The December mist slowly rises and moves like a cloud from the forest floor as the early morning sunlight hits the ground.
The sun rays slant in through the forest…through those tall dark trees which form a leafy canopy overhead. The golden beams of light filter through the gaps and form patterns and angles on the forest floor.
The red dirt road bends around the brown and green of the trees before disappearing from our line of sight. In fact, we notice how the road for long stretches is damp even though there has been no rain. It is only after driving a little while we realise the path is still wet due to the winter dew and the Sun is simply unable to reach the ground due to the dense forests.
There is an unique stillness and peace about the entire scene. I stand mesmerised by the sight, for there is something about visiting a jungle in the early morning hours. If you keep silent you can hear the birds chirping all around you. Some are hopping on the road feeding on an odd insect or fruit, some are darting from one tree to another and yet few others are simply sitting on a branch above and soaking in the morning comforts like me, on the ground below.
For the record I am inside Simlipal Forest Reserve with friends and we have come on a 2 day trip to Odisha’s biggest Tiger Sanctuary.
We continue moving in our car as slowly and silently as possible negotiating carefully the rocks jutting on the road, so that they cause minimal damage to the vehicle and its tyres.
Suddenly we reach a turn in the path where a small jungle stream gurgles its way across and falls in a miniature waterfall on other side of the road. Ferns are growing in abundance around it as well as below it, giving the spot a nice tropical feel.
We cannot help but stop and capture a picture of this place. The winter cold outside touches our skin making us hug our jackets closer around us. A cool breeze has picked up and blows gently across the tree tops rustling the leaves up from their slumber.
We pose on the road for a click and the smile comes straight from our hearts.
There is no one else around. We are far away from the usual din of our city life. The traffic, the chaos and the pressure to adhere to various deadlines in our daily lives- be it at home or at the work place seem distant. In fact there is no mobile coverage once you enter the gates of the Tiger Reserve so we are in a sense truly cut off from the outside world.
I immediately think that how at this very hour people from across the various strata of society would be attending to morning chores and planning for a busy day ahead. Household tasks, commute to office and what to cook and eat would be on top of their minds.
While here I was in the middle of a vast expanse of a jungle standing amidst Nature and feeling contented and blissful. The only agenda was to enjoy it and sight as many animals/ birds as possible in our morning drive. What a pleasurable task!
As if on cue soon enough we spot a herd of deer grazing leisurely on the green undergrowth on our far right. On hearing us, they pause in their breakfast and give us a look. They are not alarmed; just cautious. Our camera shutter sets off in a series of clicks making rapid, buzzing noises as it tries to capture as many moods of our jungle friends as possible.
Still further ahead there is a rare sight. On a large sun drenched boulder are a group of jungle fowls basking in the morning light. They are 4 of them led by a solitary rooster who looks glorious in its bright plumage. They make a dash for the woods on hearing us; but not before the light reflects the shimmering blue, black and green colours in the rooster’s tail.
We continue to enjoy the beauty of the wild for some more distance before ending the journey with a breakfast under the shade of a large tree which befittingly is a Sal as that is the predominant species in Simlipal.
I find there is an innate pleasure to be derived from Nature and its various forms. They soothe the soul. The jungle stream flowing across the silent woods; the moss laden rocks witness to passing time; the trees ageing in grace and getting richer in their worth with each passing year; even the giant Barhepani waterfalls (the 2nd highest in India) cascading down in a rush; -all of them add to the basket of happiness which we seek amidst nature.
While returning home I marvelled at the varied pace of lives in the city and outside it. The image of 2 villagers sitting peacefully on a wooden plank at 11 in the morning and having fermented rice beer with chicken (wrapped in Sal leaves) and cooked over a charcoal fire came to mind.
I think sometimes we ourselves choose to make our lives busy and hectic. I feel guilty when I am doing nothing and whiling away time. There is an inner need to always feel busy and look busy. In this rush, time is moving so fast that timelines and the years are getting blurred. Morning comes with all its demands on the work front and by the time we take a pause the day is almost done.
And another 24 hours has gone from our lives, never to come back again.
Maybe it is a good idea just to take a break sometimes and simply stop to savour the various blessings which life has to offer. For that, one must not necessarily travel; the bliss could be around us. We need to be only aware/ mindful of it.
As I park my car and enter the house I cannot help but notice the red dust which covers the vehicle on all its sides. It is the same dust which comes from a land where time seems to come to a stop; yet the clock is ticking away silently.
It has been raining continuously in Bhubaneswar since Friday night (3rd Dec, 2021).
The Met Department says a deep depression has formed over the East coast and Cyclone Jawad is on its way! It is the 5th storm to hit our country on this side this year and there is a joke going around in social media that perhaps the Bay of Bengal has entered into its longest depression ever and needs some professional counselling asap:)
However today morning (Monday, 6th Dec) dawned with no rain but still an overcast sky. The rains had dropped the mercury to below 20 degrees and a damp, dark winter is unusual at this time of the year in Odisha. It made me feel lazy and lethargic and it being the weekend did not help things further, as all I wanted to do was snuggle in the blanket and stay put.
So, just as I was getting used to the idea of spending one more day indoors with my jacket on to keep away the cold, suddenly the sun peeked out from behind the slate gray clouds like a child from behind a curtain surveying the scene in front of him.
Soon, not only it was peeking out but it stepped out in full glory and it seemed to have banished the rain clouds to the far corners of the sky.
Though I had enjoyed the rains which had its own cold charm, the warm Sun with its gold rays infused in me a sudden dose of energy and I quickly decided to take my morning walk on our terrace.
So I was back in my usual area for morning exercises after the rain induced gap, and I was almost sprinting from one end to the other eager to soak in the warmth as much as possible.
Sometimes I run in and bowl like a fast bowler to an imaginary batsman with an imaginary ball in my hand. I did that too a couple of times today and got really pumped up!
In fact such was my enthusiasm that I removed my t-shirt and let the sun hit my body for a few minutes. Lol! 😃
I was glad I did that because by the time I stepped back into my room the sun was gone. Again the overcast sky was back, like a screen being pulled across in a theatre once the show is over.
Anyways the point of writing this article was to express my gratitude to the little blessings in life which cheer us up. As Mr. Ruskin Bond says, that happiness is fleeting and when it settles on your hand like an elusive butterfly you must enjoy its stay as much as possible.
It is hence a blessing to be born and enjoy these moments which life gifts us. Soak in the moments which make it so enriching and worthwhile.
Cyclone Jawad (pronounced as ‘Jowad’) means generous and merciful. It is an Arabic name and it has been given by Saudi Arabia.
True to its name it spared Odisha and did not make a landfall (Puri was the designated spot.)
That prevented loss of lives and damage and we in the Eastern coast breathed a sigh of relief!
The shopping bag that I am carrying is filled to its brim with vegetables. In fact a cauliflower is peeking out as there is not enough space for it within.
Yet I see lot more fresh fruits and vegetables that I am tempted to purchase but cannot, as I have no further means to carry any more of them.
For the record, I am in the Sunday Haat of Bamnipal village (which technically is in Keonjhar), but attracts lots of visitors from neighbouring Jajpur as well, as it straddles the border of both the districts of Odisha.
The bag in my hand is heavy to hold, yet I feel light headed with joy as the experience of shopping in a typical village haat has given me an unique perspective of life in rural India.
The sellers are all spread out in an open space with a large banyan tree in the middle providing ample shade. A small stream runs behind at the eastern end of the field. Small hills which are part of the Chota Nagpur terrain can be seen in the distance. They look green and verdant after the recent monsoon season.
The haat is alive and there is a buzz around the place right from the time it starts at about 10 am. I am amongst the first ones to arrive there. There is noise, there is cacophony but they are pleasing to the ear. Buyers and sellers are haggling over the prices, domesticated animals on sale, pitch in their own chatter and people catching up with their friends and relatives – all add up to the festival like atmosphere.
I am wonderstruck at the diverse assortment of wares on display. From guavas and papayas, to wicker baskets and earthen pots, from toothbrushes made from Sal tree to sweetmeat made from jaggery – everything and more is being sold.
A trader sits in a corner and is willing to take back old and soiled notes. He will get them exchanged for you at the local post office and keep 40% of the currency value. I am surprised to see the number of torn and damaged Rs. 10 notes he already has in his kitty. So if you have given him one, you can come back the following Sunday and collect Rs. 6!
At the entrance there is a tribal youth selling an exotic delicacy – red ants with their eggs! Yes you read that right. He displays them on Sal leaves and each leaf costs you Rs. 10. (By the way most food items are priced at Rs.10/-. This figure psychologically could be easy / convenient to transact, I guess).
Once each leaf with the ants is sold, he inserts his hands into an earthen pot kept nearby and scoops out more of them! And his hands are totally bare when he does this ‘transfer’.
After being amazed at this sight I move a little further ahead towards the livestock section. Goats, ducks and chicken make up this section lively and interesting to watch. They are not sold by kilos as in our cities nor are they butchered. The price is pre-determined by the owner and after the bargaining is complete the villager takes the live animal home.
I notice how healthy and handsome the country chickens are! They stand tall and are rust coloured. This is in sharp contrast to the drooping and sick looking broiler chicken we consume in towns/cities.
The other thing which comes to attention are the number of women traders on view. They are selling multiple produce from their kitchen gardens and seem to be at ease doing commerce alongside the men. Their sarees with bright prints add a dash of colour to the atmosphere!
In fact, the local handia market (a beer made from fermented rice) is completely dominated by women. They sit at various points in the haat with aluminium pitchers containing the highly sought after drink. One can have a glass (yes you guessed it) for Rs. 10 and in the afternoon heat of the market it cools down the person consuming it and needless to add also makes him/her feel giddy headed and intoxicated 🙂
In case a shopper feels tired after jaunting around the market place then a single makeshift dhaba* (restaurant) serves hot steamed rice, dalma and tomato khatta on banana leaves and one can sit under the shade to relish it.
Just as I thought I had seen everything, I run into an old man sitting on the side of a mud path with charcoal burnt Sal leaf packets in front of him. This sight piques my curiosity and I stop to ask him what he is selling. Pat comes the reply “Bhuna Kukuda” (roasted chicken). I am flabbergasted when he carefully opens the Sal leaf and neatly lays down the contents for me to see – 4 very small pieces of chicken marinated with turmeric, chilli powder and spices, wrapped in the leaf and thrust into the fire.
The chicken looks mouth watering and without further encouragement I buy it and soon I am licking my fingers at its simple yet amazing taste. No oil, no other ingredients – just some rock salt to go with it. It is yum!
It is now time for me to leave the place. Before walking towards the exit I cast one more glance and realise the Haat is not just a market place for the villagers. It is a weekly meeting point of friends, relatives and even for the traders amongst themselves.
So in essence, a trip to the Haat is not just to procure goods for the kitchen. It also serves a social hangout too. For the rural folks this is their Phoenix Mall, their Lulu or Esplanade.
I cross the Banyan tree again and I cannot help but stop and request the vegetable vendor sitting under it for a photograph. With a quizzical expression he looks at my camera and is wondering why I would need to click him. Before I can explain, a fellow vendor sitting behind me comes to my help and cries out, ” for Facebook!”
Our man immediately smiled and waved at the camera!
A sincere thanks to Mr. Abdul Hakim in whose company I could savour this unique experience. He is involved in community development work since many years and he is Jajpur based. Travelling with him, through some of the tribal hamlets and interacting with the people was a learning in itself.
I look forward to more such visits!
It is 29th July 2021, about 10.30 pm IST. I am glued to my laptop screen.
On it, I am watching the chart of a particular stock being traded on Nasdaq. It is at a multi session high and showing momentum like a blaze of runs being scored in the Powerplay of a T20 match.
The stock is Fiverr International.
I have purchased some quantity of the stock only 10 days ago. (19th July 2021 to be precise)
My pulse races just like a batsman at the cricket crease, upon sighting a low juicy full toss bowled at him by the opposition.
Without further thought I position myself quickly by getting underneath it and hoisting it straight over the bowler’s head and out of the stadium for a six!
All the stock that I hold is sold giving me a neat 19 % return in about 9 trading days.
Welcome to the world of T20 Cricket. Welcome to the world of Trading!
In today’s era when within 5 minutes of posting on social media, you receive zero likes (and that seems like an eternity) then the thought of holding onto a stock for 5 years seems incomprehensible to many people.
It is all about Strike Rate now (Runs scored per 100 balls faced) 100% is passé. 125% and higher is more like it. In fact, each of the top 10 batsmen in T20 Cricket have a strike rate in excess of 140!
Similar is the case in Trading. If X % is the yield on a 1-year FD currently and can be considered as a base of 100, then in what multiple of X can be your returns? Can that strike rate be like a top T20 player?
Today there is technology, greater greed, and a plethora of information all around us to make this possible. The world is shrinking, and our access is deepening. From Wall St. to Nikkei and from the Euronext to Sensex – all of them literally are now in the palm of our hands.
It is no longer limited to investing in your local stock exchange only.
Just like in T20 cricket an IPL team has players of different nationalities, stock portfolios today have an international flavour to them. Netflix and Coal India can co-exist and so can LatAm retail giant Mercado Libre with Europe’s Volkswagen.
This is not just exclusive to HNWI’s but holds true for a retail investor too. The range of shot selection is widening.
But just like in T20 not every ball can be hit for a boundary, similar is the case in trading. Not every stock can be bought and sold over a shorter duration. Timing and shot selection become paramount. One must not only pick and choose which ball to hit and when, but also after doing that when to exit!
You simply cannot linger around the crease wasting time.
So of course, such a strategy is fraught with risks. You may perish while trying to play an extravagant shot or you may simply run out of patience and mistime a pull shot.
For ex. I sold Amazon at $ 3490 levels towards April-end only to find it hitting $ 3700 a couple of months later.
I know all of this goes radically against some well-established dictums on investing, including one from the great man Warren Buffet himself who had the following to say on traders –
“Calling someone who trades actively in the market an investor is like calling someone who repeatedly engages in one-night stands a romantic.”
But the fact is that these romantics are lining up on the streets outside the stock exchanges. Be it on Wall Street or Dalal Street. And they are ready to tango with anyone who promises to do a waltz with them on the trading floor.
On the opposite end are of course the Test match players. Investors who are willing to grind for 5 days (read that as 5 years) by holding onto their position patiently, adding to those positions on any opportunity, ignoring the noise around them from the close in fielders who may try and distract them to induce a false shot. They stand firm and will not sell as long as their focus is clear.
As the cricket coaching manual says,’ The longer you stay at the crease, the more the number of runs will accrue to you automatically.”
Buffet’s Boys not only show patience but also immaculate discipline in their approach. Which delivery to play and which one to leave (however tempting it may be) is built into their DNA. Time and not timing is of utmost importance. Take time to settle down, build your portfolio like you would your innings and target the return you want to achieve.
After all, in Test Cricket (unlike in T20’s) the Strike Rate is secondary. Your batting average is more important – in other words how much returns you achieved per annum per stock compounded over your holding period.
However, one thing is similar in both – Stocks are chosen with extreme due diligence, in-depth analysis of a host of financial parameters, trends in that sector/market, dividend history and company management.
One can do all this individually or take the help of professionals in the financial sector.
It is akin to going into a match doing the opposition team’s detailed analysis through watching innumerable videos, noting their strong and weak points, how they play spin/pace etc. Not only this, external factors like pitch conditions, weather forecast on match days and audience support are also taken into account.
So that when the captain goes out for the toss, he/she knows exactly what decision is to be taken. So that when the market opens, we know what specific action is to be taken on the stock selected.
From then on, the approach changes. The Robinhood guys come all out with guns blazing and look to maximise returns in shortest possible time. At the end of their target holding period (it could be a month, a week or even a day!) they must pocket some returns by booking the trade.
On the other hand, Bufett’s Boys are more sober and avoid taking any risks especially early on in their innings. The focus is more on their defence and how they can build a portfolio by mitigating the risks as much as possible. Attacking style would come later on.
They keep accumulating and growing their wealth through the market highs and lows, through dividends/ stock splits and the occasional M&A if any.
Also, If you are a bowler, then the challenge gets even tougher! Bowl down the leg side in Test cricket and you may get away with no runs scored off you. Try doing that in T20 and either you will be penalized by the batsman who will flick it away for runs or the umpire who will promptly call it a wide.
Hence in trading you must be far more accurate. A moment’s hesitation while buying or selling and you could be penalized by the market. TESLA for about 8 trading days (12th May -21st May, 2021) was below $ 600. If anyone thought it may go down further and did not buy then an opportunity was lost to make 11% returns up to the point when it declared results on Monday 26th July, 2021. (It has gone up a further 6% until July 30th.)
A 17% return in 2 months is great when USD 10-year Treasury yields less than 1.50%.
A similar opportunity presented itself back home in India in a related space (EV) with Greaves Cotton. A trader picking it up in the 2nd half of May in the Rs. 130-135 range for a short term would have made a cool 25% as it rose to Rs.170 levels a month later in 2nd half of June 2021.
However, in trading selling at the right time is as important as buying. So, in the above example if one did not exit Greaves Cotton at that time, then today one would still be holding the position languishing well below those levels.
Such is the nature of trading. One opportunity capitalised or not capitalised upon, may impact the entire portfolio. Just like in T20 one moment in the game – a wicket, a run out or a boundary, may change the entire match as it is of very short duration.
So, all it takes is one delivery to change the course.
This is what makes trading so exciting, just like a T20 game. You never know what surprise awaits you in the next ball, on the next market day.
Your adrenaline is pumped up when you see your call go right and alternatively you are filled with regret and remorse when the opposite happens. You log into your account frequently to check if any of your positions is ‘ripe’ enough to be plucked!
On the other hand, a long-term Investor who had a look at his portfolio in March 2020 and went to sleep unperturbed by the crash, to wake up a year later to find that nothing much had changed in their portfolio and maybe he/she had even returned a small profit.
However, a trader in between that period would have ‘Zoom’ed in and out several times and even ‘Netflix’ed a few shots to the ropes to augment his income while sitting at home during the pandemic!
Just like rotating a strike in T20 is of paramount importance so is that case in trading. You have to keep scouting for opportunities and enter/exit whenever the target is met.
This may rattle our thinking but the fact is the mind set is definitely changing. To highlight this, there are a couple of stats on both sides. One of them is that the total runs scored in one innings of some T20 matches today is almost on par with an ODI score (a 50 over innings), which was simply unthinkable a few years ago.
Secondly the time taken to finish Test matches is gradually shortening. Not only that, the result is shifting from more drawn tests to decisive results. For ex. from 1877- 1999 there were results in 60% of the Test matches played.
However, from 2000-2017 there was almost a 25% jump and 76% of the Tests played in this period had a result in them. Additionally the average duration of a Test during this above period is only 321 overs — that is under 4 days of play.
(A typical day in a Test has 90 overs bowled)
A similar change has undergone in the investors of today. More is needed and in quick time. Why wait until tomorrow when you can pocket some gains today? As the popular David Guetta song goes,” Live life given now, Tomorrow can wait..”
Finally, I would like to conclude by saying this trading mind set is changing the game dynamics. Today a Rishabh Pant can have the ‘audacity’ to play a reverse sweep in Test match cricket against a world’s top 3 ranked fast bowler like James Anderson. ( 4th Test, India Vs England; May 2021)
That too when on 89* and facing a new ball!
Howzatt?!!
Test Cricket Vs. Trading Illustration by Kishor and you can follow his Instagram account kishormistry_ for more wonderful art.
I was introduced to this term for the 1st time in my life when I started my Banking career with ICICI Bank in the Gulf. Prior to that I had worked in the telecom sector in India and all that I was familiar with until then was GSM/ CDMA technology, activation of SIM cards and what charges one would incur while making and receiving outgoing/ incoming calls.
(Remember that was the era in early 2000’s when you had to pay even to listen!)
So yes, I had arrived at Muscat International Airport in Oman on a bright sunny afternoon in Aug 2005 in what was a journey with many firsts attached to it.
It was my 1st step on foreign soil, my 1st overseas job stint and of course my maiden foray into Wealth Management*.
(*In layman terms you are a Relationship Manager for High Net Worth Individuals who want to park their money with you, in anticipation of returns higher than what a normal savings account or FD would yield)
As I made my way to the airport’s Immigration counter with the luggage in my hand and mixed feelings of hope and nervousness in my head, the glass doors with bold Arabic letters said, ‘Marhaba!’ (meaning Welcome)
Those doors suddenly opened up a whole new world for me. It had fascinating terms and complex instruments like Shares, Bonds, Derivatives and Private Equity. Yet I found that I managed to slip into the shoes of a Relationship Manager with consummate ease. It helped that my immediate boss Anupam and other colleagues were very supportive in this regard.
Very soon I was meeting NRI’s who had been settled in Oman for varying number of years. Some had come in a decade ago, others 30 years back and few astonishingly had even been born there! It was this diverse spectrum of their stay abroad, that astounded me.
Of course, there were some newbies too, like me who had flown in only recently (within 1-2 years). We did not spend too much time meeting them because we understood they would not have sufficient savings yet to invest with us 🙂
For me, however the real wealth lay in the narrow lanes and by-lanes of an area called Muttrah. This was the corniche area for Muscat city. Wikipedia defines the Arabic meaning of Muttrah as darkness because in the crowded stalls and lanes where the sunrays do not infiltrate during the day, the shoppers needed lamps to know their destinations.
It was more than 200 years old and it was here that I found light.
Muttrah area with its famous Souq (market) was a hub of activity. From local shoppers to expatriates, from travellers to taxi drivers, from wholesalers to retailers – everyone was here.
Cruise ships travelling halfway across the world, laden with tourists would dock at Port Sultan Qaboos nearby (named after one of Oman’s most loved and revered Kings). Then bus loads of them would visit Muttrah- for shopping and sightseeing.
The shops themselves were as varied and innumerable as the crowd visiting them. With common walls they were interlocked with each other like a chain, on both sides of a narrow lane. The sequence of shops was broken only when the lane would end abruptly at a passageway leading out to the main street.
The shop owners sold everything – from exotic frankincense (perfume extracted from a tree) and silver khanjars (the dagger is a National symbol of Oman) to ordinary dishdashas (ankle length garment) and the locally sourced nutritious dates.
It was here in the shady confines of the souq, sitting on soft mattresses on the ground with their hands on a wooden desk in front of them, were my most beloved clients’ – the NRI trading community from Gujarat.
For some of them, their families had been based in The Sultanate of Oman for almost one hundred years! It was their grandfathers/ great grandfathers who started their journey in a boat from the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat. They crossed Karachi and before landing in Muscat, had a stopover in Gwadar. In fact, Gwadar was part of the Sultanate of Oman until 1958 when the Pakistan Govt. purchased it for a sum of USD 3 million.
Throughout this adventure the boats would keep getting heavier as they added spices, silk and their dreams onto them.
These gentlemen formed a significant chunk of my client base. From them I learnt how wealth is made – baiza by baiza, rial by rial and the effort that goes into creating it. (1 Omani Rial =100 baizas) For, before one can do Wealth Management one must create wealth first.
Day in and day out they would sit in their shops, their eyes radiating humility and greeting every customer with a smile. I was amazed at the way they had ingrained adaptability to foreign conditions as a personality trait.
For the country they operated in, is starkly different from India in so many ways – in culture, climate and the community. Yet they had learnt with ease a foreign language as difficult and alien as Arabic, and switched it effortlessly with Gujarati when needed!
One of the top grossing items was confectionery. Never before in my life I had seen such a fantastic array of candies and toffees as I saw in these shops. They were placed in glass jars and in boxes by the thousands. They were imported from countries as far and varied as Turkey and Malaysia.
I would patiently sit on one of the chairs provided for customers. Retailers from the interior regions of Oman would flock to these shops and purchase stock in bulk. Accounts were still being maintained in hard bound paper registers though the computerised era had already set in. Yet our Gujarati brothers kept the digital age at abeyance – they believed in their ability and trusted their brains more than MS Excel!
One of my most beloved clients would always greet me with a cheery, “Jai Shree Krishna, Wasim bhai!” and wave me into his shop. He could rapidly calculate a page long of prices in a jiffy even at the ripe age of 65 and took immense pride in it. I once challenged him with my mobile calculator but he came out trumps, smiling like a school boy who had topped his Math class!
Keeping things simple and clinging onto age old traditions was the unwritten mantra here.
On the other end in the spectrum of my NRI client base was of course, the more in-the-eye and visible executive segment. They were the senior management of the various firms that made up corporate Oman. These gentlemen had started from the middle ranks to rise over the years to occupy the posts of GM’s and CXO’s. They held significant clout over the running of their respective businesses and their Omani partners/owners accorded them immense respect.
I worked and stayed for about a dozen years in the Gulf. During this time, my personal wealth started accumulating too. Money gave me a lot of freedom and the choices to fulfil most of my aspirations. Gulf countries do not tax individual income; so, whatever amount was on your offer letter, the same was credited into your bank account each month.
Hence, I could travel, buy my dream SUV and go on exotic holidays once a year. I could shop for expensive suits, wear a TAG on my wrist and even could afford to plant the odd Mont Blanc pen in my shirt pocket. Such were the riches offered by God!
I started thinking of investments in property, gold and stocks. In the strictest sense possible I was doing my own personal wealth management, in addition to my professional side too.
But all along I always remembered what the guys in Muttrah Souq had taught me – to stay humble, to stay grounded even if wealth had propelled you from economy to business class.
However, like all good stories mine too had to unravel at some point. I do not know what triggered it, but in time I started feeling stagnated. Both in life and at work. Suddenly my posh office with its’ high ceilings and low-slung executive chairs began to bore me. They lost their sheen. Work became a chore and the monthly targets a drag. I found myself unable to cope with both.
After giving it much thought I decided to resign and come back to India. I was no longer doing justice to my employer. Not just to India but I came back to my hometown Bhubaneswar- to my parents’ house. A place where my innocent childhood days had metamorphosed into the exuberance of youth.
A place I had always called home.
Then life dealt me a shock which was totally unexpected and an eye-opener. I entered into a prolonged period of illness which literally was a gut wrenching experience. (Refer my post –Tropic of Cancer)
Somehow the illness altered my view on wealth and its importance. Yes, I could pay my hospital bills because I had money. But it’s use was up to a certain extent only. I realized the hard way that not only with a snap of its fingers, life could make you disappear but also the money you made could ground to dust.
The adage “Health is Wealth” that I had learnt and forgotten all those years ago in school, now came back as a large sized poster in my hospital room (and life) from which I could no longer keep my eyes away from.
Along with this realization I started seeing other things too in the sea of life. When I was sinking in my boat, objects which had submerged with the passage of time were gradually coming to my notice.
As I started collecting them one by one, they started surfacing in the sea pulling me up along with them.
Catching up with those long forgotten friends from my Botany Honours days in college and refreshing those wonderful memories; Meeting some of my school friends I didn’t even know existed!
The joy of having breakfast with my ageing parents who were relieved I was back after almost 20 years;
Spending evenings with that uncle and aunt of mine who took me for holidays to places like Srinagar and Sikkim while I was a teenager; and who now suffered from the ‘empty nest syndrome’. (both their kids reside outside Odisha)
Going for cycling early in the morning and again visiting all those back alleys, I frequented in my youth.
Reading story books and newspapers with my feet propped up on my balcony and simply soaking in the roadside views.
Suddenly all these small things started giving me immense joy. They started propping me up and boosting my immune system which had started flagging in my later years abroad.
Then out of nowhere came COVID. Ironically in all the chaos caused by the pandemic, I further settled into this cocoon of comfort. Happiness started sprouting for me in small measures.
A teaching assignment that I had lost out at a prestigious Institute (If you follow my blog closely you will guess its name) came back to me. This was because the staff from New Delhi could not travel in the lockdown.
I dived into my online assignment with full gusto. At the end of the semester, when I received messages from some of the students that how much they had enjoyed my classes, it gave me a new high!
At the same time I started focussing on this blog which hitherto was lying unattended, like a neglected child. Soon, compliments started pouring in from people that how much they were enjoying reading my posts.
So, yes life seems to have come a full circle for me. I now realise it comes with its finite moments carrying infinite possibilities with them. It is up to us how best we utilise and ‘live’ them.
The 2 sides of Wealth Management
It makes me look forward to each day with a bit of greed as to how much returns I can extract from time- the most valued asset class in Wealth Management.
I have also realised the more I express my gratitude to God for giving this ‘other wealth’ in my life, the more I receive it. Unlike my financial assets this intangible wealth does not have any NAV*. It cannot be measured for there are no units to measure it. Yet I realize it enriches me, enlivens me!
(*NAV = Net Asset Value. An unit to measure various financial instruments like Mutual Funds)
This realisation also brings forth the responsibility of managing it well, just as one would manage financial assets. It adds a different dimension to my concept of Wealth Management.
I have stumbled a few times in the effort, but I now understand that I have to handle them with care right up to the finishing line.
For when I will finally switch off the light at the end of the day and go to sleep, it will be this wealth in my inner savings account that I will carry along with me and not the Cash and FD’s in my bank account.
(Concluded)
Both Illustrations by phantasmicart (her Insta Id) -your creativity always impresses! Thank you so much Ritwicka 🙂
Reader's Corner
Dear Reader, would you agree that the intangible wealth is equally important as the tangible wealth in our lives? At this particular moment in your life, where would you place both of them on a scale of 1 to 10.
(1 being least important and 10 most important)
Do share your thoughts below on the subject. I would love to hear from you!
This work written from personal experiences by Wasim Jawaid is the author’s sole intellectual property. All rights are reserved. No part of this may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including printing, photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author. For permission requests, send an email to the author wasim.jawaid@gmail.com
The stretcher is being pushed in a brisk manner. The corridor through which I am being rolled through seems unusually long. I can hear a few familiar voices around me. They are close yet they seem to be coming from a distance. There is a hollow effect about them.
Though the anaesthesia effects linger, I seem to be regaining some of my lost sensations. I am aware that I am being wheeled away from the I.C.U. to the Oncology Post Surgery Ward. 4 pairs of hands lift the sheet I am lying in on the stretcher and place me gently on the bed.
The operation for which I had been admitted is finally over.
“Welcome to the world of needles and pain,
Of white coats and red stain.
Where the air perennially reeks of an antiseptic smell,
Where not just the body but even the mind feels un-well”
02nd Dec 2017
The white lights on the overhead ceiling are a silent witness to the dark sufferings in the bodies of the people lying below.
A portable sphygmomanometer on the wall acts like an active twitter handle. It tweets out my b.p. readings every second. I drift in and out of consciousness, vaguely aware of its intermittent beeps as it adds to the un-natural discomfort around me.
I have been lying on my back in the same position for hours now and it seems to me that my back hurts more than my abdomen where the actual action has taken place. Just so that I don’t forget this fact, a burning sensation clutches the lowest part of my gut making me wince. It is stifled by an unknown force and it is then that I realise there is an abdominal belt wrapped tightly around my waist.
It seems to me I can feel pipes everywhere in my body. One has been inserted through my nostrils, down my throat and I am not sure how far inside they extend to. One set originates just above my right shoulder and I know they have been injected into my spine piercing through at some point on my back.
The doctor calls it epidural analgesic and it is just another way how modern medicine has added so many gadgets to its weaponry. And all of them are aimed at fastening you down to life at a time when you feel you are floating away in despair.
A valve has been fixed on my right hand. They have pipes inserted into them and are simultaneously supplying me with saline and a pain killing fluid. As the bottles hang upside down, I think my life too has gone into a similar position in these past few days.
2 more pipes which I cannot see but only feel hang loosely from my left side and end below the bed. Later I come to know they are carrying out wastes directly from my body.
So yes, I now look like a contraption of plastic tubes lying on an iron bed trying to breathe, trying to stay as calm as possible. To complete the look there is a bandage wrapped around my head. I am not sure why. I know I haven’t come to AIIMS to have my head examined!
I am here because the ‘Tropic of Cancer’ has decided to run through my lower abdomen. A tumour had developed with suspected malignant cells in my colon. The cancer has passed through 5 other patients in this ward too. As it continues to run ahead, I know millions of other lives globally have also been affected by it.
In the past 12 hours I have moved from my bed in the private ward to the O.T. then to I.C.U & now I am here. At different points during the night I have seen vague glimpses of my father, my mamu Hanif, my brother-in-law Safar and my family’s Man Friday Aftab.
The saline drips ever so slowly. Though it seems an hour has passed, but in reality, only 10-15 minutes have elapsed. The thought that I would be in the same position for at least 48 hours more makes my mind go numb.
I need to deal with this! I split the clock into blocks of 8 hours each and tell myself I must survive through each block before proceeding to the next.
In my mind I immediately start reciting a short prayer as suggested by my favourite Shamima aunt. Soon enough I visualise myself lying slumped on the ground. A pair of hands appear behind me, grabbing my shoulders under each armpit and dragging me outside a door.
As the door opens there is dazzling light outside.
01st Dec 2017, Friday
“Hey Wasim, are you ready?” asks Shahed Uncle (papa’s elder brother) with a smile as he enters the room. It is 9.30 am. I am relieved to see him as only 10 minutes ago the nurse has informed; I need to proceed to the O.T. asap. The time has been preponed by 2 hours & everything now is set for surgery.
When I was to be admitted on 27th Nov 2017, a full 4 days prior to surgery Hanif Mamu had turned around and asked me,” Hey why is the Dr. asking for admission so many days in advance?” I had jokingly replied,” perhaps he wants to marinate me properly before cooking!” Little did I know then how close my marinate joke came to reality.
The prior evening a hospital staff had come with 2 razors in hand and shaved off all the hair from my torso and upper legs. He then proceeded to apply Bitadene on these parts. For the uninitiated this is an antiseptic applied to prevent any bacterial infection. It made my skin turn yellow and I now perfectly resembled tender dressed meat all set to be put in the tandoor!
Back to present day. Soon enough Shahed Uncle and I are walking to the O.T. We are accompanied by an acquaintance who has been kind enough to volunteer to donate blood. His will be in lieu of 1 bottle which we have taken from the AIIMS blood bank, Bhubaneswar. He also carries a big box of pharmaceutical items which contains everything related to the operation and anaesthesia.
Papa had worked tirelessly the previous day to purchase all of them from 3 different shops. The list is long, and he has crossed checked it multiple times to ensure none is missing.
I park my slippers outside the annexe room and say “Bismillah” and enter. From here on a ward boy escorts me in a wheelchair. I am made to sign a register and curiously enough the time is the iconic and symmetrical 10.10 am.
When I enter the O.T. I am greeted by a team of almost 8-10 doctors and nurses. I am made to take off my shirt and sit on the operating table. They ask my name and few other pleasantries are exchanged.
3 strong needles are injected into my back in quick succession in what is a very painful 5 minutes. I am then asked to lie down. I am somehow relieved the process has finally started. Somewhere outside the door I imagine in true Bollywood style, a red light would have flashed on!
Then everything inside the O.T. went black.
03rd Dec 2017 Sun
I get to hear 2 bits of good news today. One – the urine catheter attached to my body will be removed. I am now allowed to walk to the toilet. Second – Tomorrow I will move back to my bed in the private ward. Both these pieces of good news are delivered in person by Prof. Madhab Nanda Kar himself who has come on his morning round.
I notice that a few minutes before his arrival the staff get into a flurry of activity; as if an invisible whip has been cracked. Patient records are being updated, junior doctors and the nurses huddle around taking notes to prepare for any question that the professor may ask.
Such is the aura of the man; he is after all the H.O.D., Oncology at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. Even as a patient I somehow feel indebted to him; for the surgery he has done so cleanly, so effectively.
If I had not been tied down to my bed I would have sprung up and given him a salute!
I silently thank Hanif Mamu who has been pivotal in meeting the renowned Professor and taking multiple initiatives and follow ups to bring him to my operating table.
4th Dec 2017 Mon
I am back in my room in the private ward. Somehow, I have made through the most difficult part. Here after begins the recovery phase.
At this moment I want to pause and thank the 4 pillars of support which propped up the non-stop efforts of my parents. They are – Hanif Mamu, Shahed Uncle, Aftab’s family (they gave hospital duty on all 10 nights+ closed their shop for 4days) and of course all the people in my family including my sister Hena.
Amongst friends I would like to thank Dipta, Vicky, Sattar, Smriti and Dilip Bhai for their unstinting support.
There have been many others whose un-ending prayers and continuous supply of good wishes for me has helped me through this very difficult phase in life, health wise.
During my stay in the hospital I saw people in a far more vulnerable state than mine. Most of them came from the lower strata of society. I enjoy more privileges than them and I still have age on my side. Most of them were senior citizens and at that age handling the vagaries of an operation was far more difficult and hence even more commendable.
My situation made me realize is how we take for granted the simple things in life. When I was in the general ward and unable to use my bandaged hands, I saw an attendant (accompanying a patient) eat rice and dal with his own hands. I thought to myself,” seriously he can do that?!”
Back in my room I missed the informal bonding that develops amongst the patients and their accompanying family members in the general ward. They would ask about each other’s wellbeing and share details of their sickness.
A few times they helped me get up from my bed and one night a couple of boys even held my arms and took me for a short walking exercise. When I was leaving the ward, an extremely old man clutching his urine bag in his hand even had the courtesy to walk ahead of us and open the doors so that my wheelchair could easily pass through. Unbelievable.
The other thing that struck me was the number of needles they inject in you during a major surgery as this. Though you know each time there will be some pain yet every time you see the nurse walk in you feel apprehensive. There came a time when both my hands were so swollen that they actually found out a vein below my right knee to inject into. Now that was a 1st time for me!
Epilogue
The tumour which was sent for biopsy tested positive for malignancy. We did have a suspicion of presence of colon cancer and hence we had gone for an Oncology specialist surgeon and not a general one.
I underwent 6 months of chemotherapy (Jan -Jun 2018) successfully at a local hospital in Bhubaneswar and by God’s grace I am doing fine now.
During this entire ordeal of 6-8 months I thought it was pointless to turn to God and ask, “why me?” What is destined to happen will happen. It is better to take the knock in your stride and continue moving ahead.
I still go for regular check ups and maintain diet and lifestyle controls so that a relapse does not occur. As my Dr. famously quipped, “Cancer is like an untrustworthy friend. Just when you think it won’t let you down it will. By re-appearing again”.
It is about 9 am on a working day, as I enter the lane next to the Masjid and a familiar territory of Manama begins. It is an area that i have been frequenting a lot during my total stay of about 4 years in Bahrain.
Rows of tables with wooden benches are neatly arranged to my right in the open lane. Hot meals with cold salads/yoghurt are being served by the waiters, most of whom are from Bangladesh.
On my left I walk past the kitchen tandoor, from where the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked qubuz (the staple Bahraini flatbread) emanates. It makes me smack my lips in anticipation of the meal ahead 🙂
There are majorly 2 communities here – the Arab speaking customers and the Bengali speaking staff. The rest of us are as rare as the Arabian Oryx. I belong to that un-common breed of customer as I step into the air conditioned dining room. On my innumerable visits here I could have counted on my fingers the number of times I would have met a fellow Indian.
Almost this entire lane is ruled by the cafe owner. There are 3 enclosed dining halls – of which 2 are exclusively reserved for families only. The walls speak of the times gone by in Bahrain through the various sepia tinged pictures which adorn them – like a still movie being projected onto the walls.
You can take a walk down memory lane as you view them whilst savouring your meal.
Welcome to Haji’s Cafe, here since 1950!
The food is quintessentially Arabic of course. I did try a couple of those traditional dishes in my initial visits, when curiosity would take over my hunger. But then my palate seemed to settle for something closer home – 2 sunny side up eggs + qubuz so typical to gulf cuisine, in the end a mix of both worlds. The meal washed down with piping hot tea served not in plastic/foam cups but in cutting glass – just like in the days of yore back home in India.
My favourite waiter Mahfooz breezes in the door with a big plate delicately balanced in his hand….to the left of his head. The door is not wide enough to fit both him & his accessory, so he balances the entire paraphernalia carefully and pushes open the door with his foot. On the big plate are numerous quarter plates with various edibles each adding their own delectable aroma to the cafe ‘s homely ambience.
This guy has been working here for about 5 years now. Duty hours are long – 7 am to 7 pm. He visits his country only once in 2 years & shares his room with 4 other people. Yet his smile hides all his hardships. He greets me with a cheery ‘ Assalam o laikum ‘ & asks ‘same same’ ?
Well that is his code word for my usual breakfast. I have been having that consistently for 4 years now (though not daily!) I have simply clung onto the wonderful taste of the both qubuz & the eggs sprinkled with pepper. By now he knows he must serve me crispy qubuz only 1 at a time – so that i enjoy it while it is still hot & breaks easily in my hand. It is served in an unique way – On a wicker plate made of cane.
My 2nd favourite guy is Hussein. He too has been here for donkey’s years. He supports his family back home with whatever he can save from his meagre salary. His income is augumented by tips from some of the kind hearted patrons who visit the cafe.
Together they are in charge of this room. They are assissted by a cleaner who quickly wipes off the table & the floor as people leave after enjoying their meals.
My breakfast lasts just about 15 minutes but it is something I look forward to whenever I am in the mood to visit the Cafe. At the end of it I pay in the telephone booth like counter – and over the years I have realized not only is the meal very afffordable but it’s price has not changed at all ! It seems inflation has forgotten to touch Haji’s cafe and simply by-passed this lane.
I walk back contented to my office desk to take on my share of the day’s work ahead.
That Odia Boy 