Page 29 - Seniorstoday January 2023 Issue

investment schemes. Both had the point out to a hurry and burry and lack
investment potential in them on the face of adequate due diligence and long term
of it and I rushed into them based on the thinking.
information leaflets, driven by immaturity
and greed rather than doing my homework
and mulling. In those days, there was no
on-the-platter Google information to give
you any insights or wisdom. Suffice it to
say, I lost my investments completely.
Contrastingly, in the case of public issues
( IPOs) and retail share investing ( in
those days, except for UTI there were no
mutual funds ), I devoted enough time
and effort and researching the companies,
their balance sheets, market share,
potential, expansion plans, etc. before I
invested in them. This ‘pause and pursue’
approach based on solid rationale, which
pejoratively get termed as procrastination,
has paid me richer and assured dividends,
pun intended. So, has been my approach
in my corporate and professional career of
near 5 decades. Less to ruminate, more to
celebrate, as I look back. On the flip side,
some of my indulgences which turned into Take the case of Arjuna. At the crucial
obsessions and consequent stress were due stage of the Kurukshetra battle, he
to the absence of this ‘pause and pursue’. hesitated and stalled, not being sure
The corporate world is surfeit of failed if he was doing the right or the wrong
expansions/acquisitions as a result of thing. It was certainly not because of
lack of ‘pause and pursue’ approach by cowardice, but more to do with the need
irrationally and exuberantly giving into for the war and its aftermath. It was at this
the so called ‘strike while the iron is hot’ instant that Krishna counselled him and
mould, only to regret at leisure. Almost all imparted wisdom about life itself and how
of them have been due to the absence of to approach it. If it were not for Arjuna
doing a deep dive across the key metrics. pressing the ‘pause and pursue’ button at
Some notable examples are Time Warner the crucial juncture, mankind probably
and AOL (America Online), Daimler -Benz would not have benefitted from Krishna’s
and Chrysler, Microsoft and Nokia, Google pearls of wisdom in Bhagavat Gita, which
and Motorola. Closer home, we have the makes for meaningful and mindful living.
examples of, to name a few, Tata Steel – Rama could not have emerged victorious
Corus, RCom and Aircel, Bharti Airtel and over the formidable Ravana, without
Zain, Tata Tele and DoCoMo. The reasons pausing, planning and deep thinking
for these failures are aplenty, but it does before waging the war. It was about

SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #43 | JANUARY 2023 29