Mumbai Snippets (Sept visit)

#142

Each moment we go through an experience either as a live conversation or through munching thoughts or strong feelings that the world of people and places impinge on us. Each moment either makes us ecstatic or depressed with ourselves or others. Each place brings the best or the worst of us. But one thing is true: we make sense of the world around with our eyes and ears and our minds. This Mumbai trip taught me so many things about me and the world.

             a) We had four Telugu students and three from Tamilnadu and these people kept to themselves to the extent of avoiding me. I was popular with the rest of the crowd minus this seven showing how far I have traversed from my moorings. The Mumbai and North Indian crowd respect talents and values which unfortunately my own people don’t store a value. It is a very small and narrow world you draw for yourself if you cannot see anything of value from the environment absorbed in your own narrow confines of your world.

              b)  I was bitching about Tamils when Mohan Gandhi said, “Sathya, you are in a new city but why needlessly rundown your own state or language without any needling. Look, nobody is talking ill of their city or culture as much as you do. Kindly desist from scoring self-goals and tarring your own image.” His appeal made instant sense; I apologized and from then on stopped exploring this theme.  
            c) One of the biggest motivators for trading is when you start seeing big returns. If I ever were to make 1 lac a month, will my interest and commitment not go up exponentially? The day I make 10 k, that day will be recorded. The month I gross 1 lac will be recorded in memory for an annual celebration. And why not, these are huge milestones. 

             d) Mumbai is a city of survival and courage from what I saw from the lives and conversations on the road – on trains and cabs. There’s an honesty to the city. They recognized values and skills in me which a Chennaiite would never cognize. On the second day, I had a glass of sugarcane juice. I proffered Rs. 100 for a Rs. 10 fare. He did not have the change and said, “Sir, pay me tomorrow.” Again something not likely in a Chennai situation.  I learnt a life lesson from my interactions with cab drivers: So many have things so bad and yet they carry on with life a lot better than me.

              e) Rahim the instructor did the “market timings” initiation in Park Sheraton in May and he used the same examples: how a WG Gaan's theory is followed all over the world yet he ended up bankrupt or how the demand & supply zones work irrespective of what news the market generates in a day. If you have attended couple of days of Rahim’s talk, he’s sure to repeat the same tales over and over. He is a man of limited tales and unlimited charisma blessed as he is with a glib tongue. He is so sure of himself as he challenges the class, “Have you seen anyone’s ledger?” To the perplexed look of the class he declares, “My return on investment just on XLT trades is 192% each year. It does not matter to me if the stock goes up or down or sideways for I am never caught on a hop." When one of the participants said that there is a person called Sundar in Chennai and he has seen his ledger, Rahim responded, “I have not heard the name; what does he do for a living?” The student responded, “He is a teacher.” Rahim did not get this, “teacher of what?” The class participant said, “He teaches Physics.” I was a bit distraught and instinctively said, “Rahim, he is a real teacher, “which had the entire class in splits. I have been at the receiving end of many of Rahim’s antics and finally happy for getting one of my own for a little payback.

            f)  I realized one thing in these 5 days that when I open my mouth, others listen. My mouth wins me respect most of the time. I have an open mind that does not respect any hierarchy or past bias and I care two hoots for other’s reputation for life is living by the moment. So any humour generated in the moment is always appreciated as long as it not intended to hurt the other person.
             g)  On the second day, Madan displaced me from the first day seat. I occupied Joideep’s seat who came 10 minutes later. He said, “Sathya, this is my seat.” I told him, “Someone displaced me from my place and so I am now displacing you. Sorry. go find yourself another place. I am not budging.” I was bit rough and he never forgave me for the rest of the course, which again I felt was a sign of a small mind. It's crazy and mighty self-defeating to carry forward the angst of such trivial to the following days. On the last day, I found myself sitting next to Richard. He found the chomping sound of my mouth-freshener grating his nerves. He said, “I am finding your chewing irksome.” By then there was not a bit of bonhomie as I responded, “In the case please complain to Rahim. I don’t buy your hypersensitivity at all.” By that time, I had no patience for the Tamil group of students from Chennai.

            h) I was determined to raise my issues with Rahim in front of the class the last day. Couple of good-meaning friends said, “Sathya express your angst in the student survey for Rahim is still the man who can help you make millions. Don’t get on to his bad side.” I said, “If I don’t express my five days sorrow publicly, I will lose my own self-respect. If Rahim were to take offense, so be it. Not for all the millions of the world will I condone such arrogance.”

           i) If you smile heartily and mean your “good mornings” and “have a nice day” you win a lot of smiles back. Even strangers return excellent vibes in the days to follow. This is a lesson I learnt in Bahrain in 2003 and it has served me well ever since. We have in our power to uplift people around with just a smile, the returns we fetch our phenomenal. This is a very powerful insight: With every word or sentence we speak; we rise or fall in someone else’s esteem. It pays to be genuine and honest; phoniness counterfeit and it gets nowhere.
            j) There is a lot of difference living in a society bounded by such huge numbers than a Abu Dhabi or a Manama where the human beings are respected just for being human beings. There is a lot of politeness and grace stored for every human being which is lost in a mass crowed Indian city life. We are quashed by numbers and that reduces us to a herd mentality to cynicism and extreme self-centeredness. We think that the other person is out of cheat us of our rights; even Rahim with all his wealth and fame is just as insecure. We were having a conversation in a cab, once he reacted so aggressively that I told him, “Rahim, make your point with composure and you will be taken for your word. Instead if you are hyper then you are making me defensive needlessly.” I also told him this, “However smart you are, you cannot create or fabricate the perception you desire on others. You were addressing 61 students and each will make their own assessment. And please don’t expect others to agree to the thoughts of your mind – we see the world around with our minds and it’s not necessary that it will tally with the junk you carry in your mind. There is no person in the universe out to limit Rahim’s evolution than Rahim himself and it applies to everyone.”

j          k)  If there is one lesson I wish to engrave in my mind after this visit, it is this: I can deal with a characterless person or a personality-less person but there is no payoff interacting with a person high on selfishness. That's a transaction you will lose every time much like Euclid's proposition. Sadly we deal with such mindsets in our lives in the Indian shores.