Jan 25, 2021 - The Intelligent Investor

Yesterday, I read about a 27 yo in the States, who claimed to have achieved FIRE. I was astounded. He's already saved up a million dollars and almost there with the mortgage for his house - at 27! How have some people figured out their life so fast? I'm not saying that hitting a $1m is figuring out life, but the thought of never having to work for money again is 'quite a lot of figuring it out', in my opinion.

Unrelated, I starting reading the Intelligent Investor 2 days ago and while some terms and sentences require me to read through twice, I can already foresee myself being blown away by the book. I know that the rich invest in the stock market. I don't know a lot of rich people who are not linked to the stock market in some way or another. So I think understanding more about it is a good starting point to creating wealth. Right? I don't know. I guess I'll come back here in a few years and update you all.

SS

Jan 19, 2021 - Of Dosa and 3 Chutneys

If you like Dosa, you like it for life. There's no two ways about it. I joke (but I am fairly serious) that I could have Dosa 3-4 times a week and still continue to like to for life. It's a delicious, wholesome, reasonable, simple and easy to make dish. Throw in the freshly made chutney and you have yourself a full meal. It's almost like you can not over charge for it - that would be illegal in a parallel world.

My earliest memories of Dosa are at a restaurant called Woodland's Drive-in Madras. We would all go to the Marina/Gandhi beach and on the way back - we'd go to have a Dosa at this drive in restaurant. Sometimes it would be too crowded and we would have to wait our turn. I don't remember the ambience, I was barely 10 - but I loved the chatter of the people and loved the feeling of a full tummy having eaten my favorite dish. If I reminisce about Dosa, I can not not write about Pai Dosa in Kochi. I absolutely loved their Kancheepuram dosa - stuffed with a filling (I can't exactly remember what went in - beetroot and onion perhaps?) that made me feel so happy and satiated.

Decades later, living in Dubai, I may have found myself a good place. Mami's Illam - serving you delicious ghee roast and 3 chutneys - Coconut, Coriander and Tomato. The chatter continues in this small restaurant. What more can an old Madras soul ask for?

SS

Jan 18, 2021 - Hertzing through the Expressway

As I drove my 2008 Infiniti G 35 (what would be probably my last time) at 120 kmh, I started to hear weird noises. I knew at that moment, it was time to lay her to rest. In car years, she was old.

The next few days saw me frantically searching for cars - thankfully, the second hand market is very mature in Dubai. But I couldn't decide what car to get. I personally love Volvo, but apparently they're expensive to maintain. I really like Infiniti - but they don't come cheap (I wasn't going to buy a pre 2015 model again). I was lost. Still am.

I then shifted my focus to rental cars for the time being, until I decide what to buy. There are so many options - Thrifty, Dollar, Hertz, Europcar, Shift, not to mention all the local franchises. It's really interesting - the pricing game behind rental games. Being in pricing myself, I can understand how hectic, dynamic and tough the behind the scenes must be - all the while maintaining minimum margins. After one hour of research, I decided to go with Hertz.

• Great customer service
• Good price (read - free insurance)
• Zero hassle delivery (read - free delivery) of the car

But I miss the plush leather interiors. A new car will have to wait.

SS

Jan 15, 2021 - Nostalgia

I had a vision today - one where I was sitting with friends in a living room with a huge balcony overlooking the back waters. The weather was gloomy. It was raining - the steady downpour my home town is used to.

Suddenly I realized my eyes watered up. I felt such a strong longing to be actually transported into this vision. Then came a waterfall of thoughts. Lanes, corners, small shops, buildings, cafes, bridges - all from my home town. I know every nook and corner of this city. Which is enough to make me nostalgic. But throw in the gloomy weather and the rain - and I am 15 again.

Would you like to retire where you grew up? Lately, I have been considering it a lot. I'm quite used to the Dubai life so it'll be a hard transition, but the days I am nostalgic, nothing seems to hinder my retirement plan. Would you like to go back home?

SS

Jan 14, 2021 - The Questionable Trade off

A whole week just flew by. The realization that I traded 5 days worth of my prime-time hours (of my prime years) to an employer in return for money is a daunting realization. Hours I will never get back; and, - money that I will spend in less time than it takes to decide what shoes to wear. 

I think a lot about this trade off. Is it worth it? Is there a way to make double the amount by putting in half the time? Perhaps creating an online course, creating a product that sells, creating content on YouTube, starting your own business - basically not a 9-6 job. Then why is it that most of us - knowing that a 9-6 job is not the way to make more money with less time - still continue to do it? Only to retire 30 years later and realized life went by? Simple things like liking what you do comes into the picture.

We all sell different things. I sell my time. What do you sell? Have you made the switch to selling something other than your time?

Jan 13, 2021 - Milking the Cow without Samantha Jones

A 'Sex & the City' reboot without Samantha Jones - it's like a 'How I met your Mother' reboot without Robin or rebooting 'Friends' without Chandler (the thought makes my eyes roll and cry and itch). Can do but no good. But this piece is not only about SATC; it's about reboots. I'm not saying that reboots are a bad thing. 'One day at a time' and 'Gilmore Girls' are two examples on the top of my mind that were quite successful. But rebooting SATC without 1/4 main characters seems like pushing luck. I get that it is very easy money - but what about legacy? What about the risk to reward ratio? Is a reboot worth risking the legacy the show created in the first apace? Or is money so blinding - even for millionaire actors - that nothing else matters? 

Or - perhaps - maybe the 3/4 actors are confident the reboot will be good? Or maybe, with Samantha Jones they would have made much more money, and without Samantha Jones - they will still make more money than not rebooting at all? Ah the permutations of life.

Jan 11, 2021 - Korean Drama for the Win. Period.

It's easy to roll your eyes when you hear someone just watched another Korean drama.

'It's a thing'.

'My wife watches it all day. She's addicted.'

To be honest, I went through periods of addiction as well, similar to millions of people (not just women) from Brazil to Taiwan, from Japan to UK. With Netflix, Prime and other platforms just globalizing this content, it's not a surprise that K-drama has such a mammoth reach. From acting, sound track, aesthetics and cinematography to story telling (wait, did I mention - eye candy cast?), Koreans got it right - creating an absolute immersive experience for us 9-6ixers. In fact, you can watch a 2008 K-drama and still enjoy it - imagine watching an Ekta Kapoor series from the same year.

Disclaimer : I rewatched a few episodes of the popular Crash Landing On You (CLOY) yesterday night. Why you ask? Well, their lead actors just confirmed that they are in fact dating. (Personally, I was surprised to know last year that they weren't dating - the chemistry was (very) phenomenal, on and off screen). I was beyond myself when their agencies confirmed that Hyun Bin & Son Yejin have been dating for 8 months - I couldn't believe how happy I was for two people I have never met - such is the gravity of the situation.

SS

Jan 10, 2021 - Of Working From Home

Every alternative week, we have to work from home. I wish this were the case forever, you get me? Go to work, meet colleagues, get a feel of the corporate culture, wear your blazers and heels. Then the following week, wear your sweatpants, save precious travel time (and in my case parking time too), and surprisingly, be more productive. 

I believe going ahead, more organizations would (and rightfully should) move towards flexible working options. Saving on commercial rent from a company's point of view and saving of time from an employees' point of view. What better win-win?

Also, my test was negative, 3 negatives in 2 months.

SS

Jan 9, 2021 - One more Covid Test

'It's the pandemic season', she said. "Better to take a swab test she said".

She did apologize before going all the way up my nose. 2020 will always remain the weirdest year. A global disease caused by a bat. Thousands of businesses closed, millions of holidays cancelled, millions who lost jobs. Perhaps a few thousand people who internally reflected if this was the right way to live a life and maybe, a few hundred who decided to make permanent changes in their life.

I believe I made some changes last year. I respect my time more now. I have understood that money will come and go, and in all probability, if you don't chase it, it'll come faster to you.

I also did another strange thing last year. On some nights, I counted the stars. Highest I've gone up to is 23.

SS

Jan 8, 2021 - A Day Gone By

So I knew that I was in for some sort of sickness. I was pushing myself a little too much at work and my husband was sick. So I ultimately fell sick yesterday. I slept the whole day today. Felt so good. I guess the human body is a magical machine. Slows down when it feels like it needs to. So no complaints on falling sick.

Though I do hope I feel better tomorrow. Cheers from Dubai.

SS

Jan 6, 2021 - Lunching with a Colleague (Friend?)

I've always found it difficult to make friends at work. Also in life. The older I grow, the harder it gets. So I've decided to say yes for meal invitations. I joined this new work place less than a month back and I've already received 2 lunch invitations and 1 dinner invitation (the dinner one was from my boss - so it doesn't count but I want to feel good about myself so I count it in).

I said yes to all. People are generally nice. They want to talk. So I listen. It works. But converting these colleagues to friends is a whole different story. Maybe I shouldn't even try? I'm confused. Making friends at work can be a double-edged sword. Maybe I'll come back and update this space a year from now.

SS

Jan 7, 2021 - To pay or Not to pay

My place of work has limited parking. If you want to park in the same building - you have to shell out a mighty 1000 Dirhams per month. This is more than most people's starting salary in a developing country.

I can't imagine paying so much. So I walk 10 minutes to park for free. I meet additional traffic for about 20 minutes thanks to this free parking.

This is basically trading 40 minutes (10 minutes morning, 10 minutes evening, 20 minutes extra traffic in the evening) of my daily life or around 15 hours every month for 1000 Dirhams.

Is this a fair trade? For the time being yes - I haven't figured out a better use of my time. I am ignoring some amount of increased fatigue daily. I am anyways fatigued most days. 

I believe when I find something more productive to do with these 15 hours/month - I will pay 1000 Dirhams.

SS

Jan 3, 2021 - It's Raining Certificates

New year, new me. Not really. Still hated getting up in the morning. It is a little earlier than I would have preferred to wake up.

Anyhow, I went on LinkedIn and made a general observation. Every third person I know, who's active on LinkedIn, is busy learning online. Wharton Online, Coursera, Udemy, Harvard Online, AWS, PMP, Python etc. Wait, I almost forgot Scrum. I personally believe that everyone should learn lifelong. Tom Kuegler, a blogger I follow, very aptly says. "Your brain is a factory, not a warehouse." We need to feed it with good knowledge so that it can in turn be productive for us.

I'm not sure what the intention is for all my fellow connections who are chasing certificates; being more employment worthy, the next promotion, actual knowledge gain, passion, a side project, prestige, a mandate from their employer etc. Irrespective of the reason, truth is, it's no mean feat to study as an adult, let alone complete the course, pass the final exam and pay for it. So I clap my hands. Congratulations all.

SS