Wednesday, November 7, 2018

The new 'kida' - Wealth creation, asset etc

I am writing after a long time. Office work is keeping me completely occupied. In between, Xomidhan's work, visit by family members and lot other things happened. On top of that, I am in a new experiment/learning of my life - how to become rich, how to come out of middle class thinking, how to take advice from rich dad and not from poor dad etc. This post will primarily focus on that.

I must cite two learning in recent days.

The first one is a TEDx talk by Mr Dhaval Bhatia, something that I came across accidentally. He explained about the difference between Active income  vs Passive income and the 7 'R' formula which is described as below:

1. Rate- For example, any shirt , pant has a rate
2. Remuneration - for service,  example - salary
3. Replication- mainly in production line, example- Xerox machine, theater vs movies
4. Rent- Property, Vehicle, equipment
5. Royalty- Any mobile app, Any author gets royalty for book, any video in Youtube, blog etc
6. Rights- Franchise right, harry potter author gets rights for film/merchandise
7. Returns- Stock investments, Bank interest etc

The second one is the teaching of Mr. Robert Kiyosaki, the writer of 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' and founder of Rich Dad network. He makes a diagram as follows:
Income
Expenditure
Asset
Liability


As per Mr. Kiyosaki, poor people (read as middle class in India) cares about Income & Expenditure. Hence, they try saving, cut expenses, but those people can never become rich. The focus area should be creating asset and how liabilities can be reduced or converted into assets (eg- home is a liability, rented house is an asset).

The above two lessons are accompanied by many other similar readings and videos. It is not that those two are extra ordinary learning (none of the great learning are extra ordinary, they are very basic). But those has entered into my brain nicely and I have been thinking about that day and night these days.

Now, let's come to what I have done with the two lessons:

1. Thinking from the rent/asset angle, I concentrated on the land that Deuta bought long back. The issues with the land near Agia college, near Kalitapara and the one in Guwahati. While gathering more information, I contacted mondol, discovered Assam land management system (Dharitri) etc. Each piece of land is having issues. I am trying to find a solution to convert these land into assets. After that, the rent component will come. One thing is sure, it is not possible to buy asset (eg land by side of road) now with my limited income. But we can always streamline what Deuta has done years ago. I must appreciate his wisdom at that time. If he were alive, we might have some other 'asset'. The piece of land that Maa bought with Deuta's pension money might prove to be a good resource later. At this point of time, it needs investment.Final thought- one of the reasons for me getting attracted to land thing is the astrology thing by Dibakar and his friend that I would be successful as a land dealer. lol!
The Kalitapara land that needs an approach road


2. I question myself - is this a good passion I am possessing now. I have already missed the bus for earning money. In Microsoft, when Akash told me his aim in life is to double his income in every ten years, I thought that was weird. I never had the money making mentality. After Oxford, I wasted 1.3 years earning zero, at the peak of my career. Can you imagine the cost? In addition, I spent more than 12 lacs in home construction. Should I have been focused in this direction, I could have planned my career in a different way. I am not repenting because I think whatever I have done that is for the best. I am just worried about this new found thought process of creating wealth. I need to find balance between the two. Also, from a different angle (as Mr. Kiyosaki said), my brain has been conditioned with that middle class thinking. At least with this exercise, I would plant different thought process into my head. And any new thought process is always welcome. Moreover, my current lifestyle is providing me enough opportunity to save some real money. Not owning a car, not living in an expensive locality is costing me nothing, but giving some more perks. Although, this (saving a few bucks) is a typical middle class, I could not help mentioning it.

3. How about the other R's? I am glad that we are getting 7500/- per month from the house where we invested a huge amount, although nobody is exactly living there. Rest, as mentioned earlier, needs streamlining. For royalty, I need to write a book. Even not from the royalty point of view, I have completed lot of activities in the last 3 months about the proposed book. I can also do some YouTube videos. OLQ did not give any return- there might be ways to monetize that as well. Should I start a channel and start doing some periodic?

4. Doing Business or entrepreneurship, I have no intention (read as courage) as of now. However, I keep getting good ideas. This is one reason why I am pushing Xomidhan registration renewal thing, MNM trust registration confirmation thing etc. Maybe I can register one pvt ltd/ think tank company and if possible (later) get some contracts. I look at Ashish Bhave(RSS) or Aparajita(BSG) - they have a registered entity and get projects by networking. One day, I am sure, my network will also get stronger. I had hopes when Dada used to talk about doing business before retiring from Navy. However, his luck didn't accompany and looking at his spending pattern, I think that was good decision. Next, I am looking forward to catch up with Moina's future husband. If he has real entrepreneur skills and that can be leveraged, there might be opening for my brain to do activities in this area.

5. I believe this thought process to be inculcated into the children as well. Dada and Moina must know, as well as our children. Whether we take action is a different thing, but knowledge is most powerful. The last 'R' i.e. investment is something everyone should do from very early age as possible. Also, I bought 'Rich Dad, poor Dad' and asked Moina to read first.

Lastly, I am getting kicks by this new thought process every day. When I make 3 min to go through Sharekhan everyday, I feel good. When I spend 4 min thinking about the land, I get going. When I spend 5 min looking at the MF/NPS/PPF things, my brain starts giving vibes. It has something 'kicking' definitely.


Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Turning 34 - Birthday post from Agia

I am sitting in the library room at Agia. This is a place full of positive energy. In last ten years, I have drawn positive energy from this library at different phases of my life. It's 6-14 AM now and I am sitting here to gain some positivity. To be honest, there is not much optimism in life at present.

34th birthday is reminding me that I am getting old. I have become aimless. Loneliness in personal life has started creeping in. I feel zero enthusiasm to go back to Delhi tomorrow. There is no one waiting for me there, except a creepy (should I use this word?) job. Situations have become such that I keep expecting meeting a person or reading one book will change my outlook, as shown in movies.

The forced closure of Trishna chapter (with the hanging sword now) has brought much despair in my life since April this year. I am yet to recover and find a solution. I didn't expect Maa to react in such a weird way and oppose that vehemently. My hands are tied with a stupid word called 'emotion'. I see no way how and when this problem would be solved.

At job, there is nothing to dislike, but I am not finding any good factor either. I feel very less energetic to go to office. I ask myself- do I like to come back and work in Assam? I don't find positive a answer. Should I go outside India and try finding a job? Again, I don't find a positive reply. It seems I am stuck at nowhere. What's my career goal? I am completely clueless at this point of time.

The above two factors are my prominent concerns in this birthday. All good-bad days do come to an end and I am hopeful God will surely show a way. Astrology says my happy days are coming starting from 2019. Although, I see no sign ahead, there is reason for me to remain positive.

Apart from all the 'bad' I wrote above, let me write a few good sentences as well. Moina is finally talking about marriage and there might be some start in this year. Dada's promotion exam is in August and God willing there might be changes in his designation. Maa's one year extension thing might come and she would be busy for a year. The road renovation at Agia bazaar is very attractive. Badungduppa without Sukra Da is standing still. The final draft of NRC came out and the names of all my family members are included. There is apprx 4 million omitted names from this draft.

Let me end the post by writing what things excite me sometimes these days- writing a book (not able to decide a topic unfortunately, but increasingly thinking this has to be a fiction), making a movie, again (the experience of OLQ was great; but think Prathamesh is having a troubled life as well to partner with me at this time), coming back to Assam to play an active political role, invest in share market, getting married to a super enthusiastic working woman, going for 1-year training/fellowship programme, spending days at Agia doing nothing, but knowing there is something at the end  of 4 months(say).

Saturday, June 2, 2018

One month into the new office

Today is 2 June; I completed a month in NSDC.

But I want to start this blog with an unfortunate news. I just checked and found that the last date for the Reliance Dhirubhai application (stage 1) for GSB, Stanford was 29 May. Since the starting of the year I have been thinking of applying for this; however, look at my carelessness! This is not happening for first time, and in the back of my mind "I might miss the deadline" was also there. Still, I didn't open the website even once. I am so sorry! What's next now?

In work, as Pravi Kapoor of Monitoring team mentioned, I was literally thrown into the wolves. The RPL and Special Project team was the most laborious and biggest team in NSDC. This has direct interface with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), and hence political pressure is also immense. The work of the team is too much operational in nature which means work never gets completed. The lack of proper IT software is the biggest drawback affecting the efficiency of the team. The work culture is not that aggressive, although most employees don't complain about work. There is lot of data request, and surprisingly data is handled by a vendor company (E&Y). There are employees on E&Y payroll, as well as in NSDC payroll as full-time and as consultant.

Coming to managers, Mahendra is very good with his simplicity and ideologies. I like his frankness (refusing to take the birthday gift, expressing his failure on managing some aspects of the team, emphasizing on leaving early etc) and think things will be workable. Vishal is too sharp in terms of analytical ability; he might express his displeasure in any format. Overall, not a bad moody type guy. The 'sir' culture is very much prevalent here. Both had been Army officers and I am not sure how they would react if I tell them my brother was a sailor. In fact, I said that to Vishal and he reacted as expected.

Compared to NeGD experience, I feel glad that I stayed some time in that org. In NeGD, I did stuffs which are usually different departments in other org such as in NSDC. Media & Communications, Customer/RTI/Parliamentary Query management, Procurement, IT, Event Management, Grievance Redressal, administration - these are separate cells here. But in NeGD, I had flavors of all the above. Every experience counts- this is so so true.

Personally, as it always happens, I have not been able to leave any impression as on today. I always take time; 'first impression thing' does not work with me at all. If the Microsoft discount thing works out, that will be a good contribution from my part, although my manager does not have any clue what I am up to on that front. I have made couple of mistakes - mistakenly carrying MSP's bag, lack of data in front of Vishal, not been able to explain thing properly etc.

Some challenges I am finding here:
a) need to learn how to manage operational things. 200+ projects running at different places with different issues. I need to come out of my policy/writing mood and learn efficient operational techniques.
b) since I am not officially designated as manager, it is not possible to push people always. I need to understand what's there in the minds of MSP and Vishal regarding people reporting to me.
c) Salary issue- my cash-in-hand has increased only by 8-9 thousands although I came here with a hike of around 33% on fixed component only. I can understand the lack of tax saving components such as uniform/prof development; but still, I think I am getting much low. Need to sort out this with payroll team.
d) technology challenged environment - both from human resource and IT system point of views. Can you believe, it takes 5-9 minutes to open one page after a mouse click. Horrible systems.
e) the friendship circle is missing until now. Since my lunch items are not great always and my lunch timing is also bit early, I am left with no other time to socialize. Unless I get a few friends, I will not find the joy factor. At the end of the day, I should enjoy.
f) Mahipalpur is such a dry place. Whenever I say this name, office people look at me with different eyes. Although I don't care that much, to be honest, there is nothing that I can do here. The life has become so much restricted. The issues with water and AC took lot of my mental peace. To add to this, the tension at home for marriage and my 'newly found' high blood pressure are giving me worries.
g) I need to work on my communication skill again. At several instances, I found fumbling or went out of words. Maybe I put lot of energy in understanding the mood of the person, and that negatively impacts my speaking capabilities. In any case, I need to put effort.
h) What's next after this? I am again blank on my long term career goals. After rejecting the UNDP interview, I think I must love this job. Should I apply for PhD this year? What topic should I choose?

What went well- the first day blog, going through the HR induction and subsequent meetings, meeting Ankit and Preeti of NISG, littke office commutation time, the Microsoft meeting, buying the Windows AC.

As a next step, I am setting up a month review meeting with MSP. I am also reading how to be an efficient Operations head. Wish me luck !



Sunday, May 13, 2018

Annual expense report should follow FY format (last 3 months of FY 2017-18)

In the beginning of 2018, I have realized there is too much to write. I need to write the year review for which the whole diary needs to be read. Again, I have to do the whole year financial calculation and write the financial review blog. This comes as burden to be honest since new year beginning usually comes with many other deliverables as well.
In India we follow April to March financial year and I need to make lot of financial decisions in the month of February and March. Overall, what I found this year, following the calendar year for my financial year review blog-post does not make much sense.
Hence, I redesigned my expense tracking excel sheet from April2018 to March2019. That threw away the first three months of this calendar. In this post, along with the decision, let me also place the raw data for the first three months of calendar year 2018 or the last three months of the financial year 2017-18.



INFLOW Table:
Salary
Loan Repay/ Rmbrsmt
Bank Interest
Others
Maturity of investment
Market
Total
Jan
108492
11420
2395
4872
127179
Feb
116380
17370
11167
144917
March
111376
33600
11501
630
625868
3023
785998
Total
336248
62390
11501
3025
625868
19062
1058094
OUTFLOW Table:
Upkeep
Food
Personal
Family
Investment
Transport
Travel
Gift
Recreation
Tax
Loan
Total
Jan
1373
5456
3299
1980
228163
788
6823
1165
1890
11800
1420
264157
Feb
22679
2289
2000
642
149368
2140
7422
14500
0
3916
7700
212656
March
14824
3394
300
1205
785413
1975
12846
2400
3001
3916
70434
899708
Total
38876
11139
5599
3827
1162944
4903
27091
18065
4891
19632
79554
1376521
Percentage
3.67%
1.05%
0.53%
0.36%
109.91%
0.46%
2.56%
1.71%
0.46%
1.86%
7.52%
130.09%