nanna Bengalooru

Am writing this post from the city I have come to love - Bangalore. Met up with WSR and ST from my old company. These guys were my bosses and are all the inspiration behind my desire to be a purist value investor. At about 36, they are doing exactly what I would like to do at that age in life. Had a good time discussing prior investments, interesting stocks, drinking beer, getting b-school gyaan from both of them ( & their wives! ) and generally having a great time. The more I interact with these guys, the more I'm convinced about what I want to do after b-school - get into domestic equity research. But as both of them told me - 'Keep an open mind, learn as much as possible & see how you feel one year down the line'. I would be taking their advice.

The past week has been really busy. Reached Mumbai on Friday morning & had a nice lunch with R (aka the original T). He has got admits from a couple of really good US b-schools and he may take up one of them as against applying to ISB next year. Saturday was spent waltzing around Bandra with R (not the original T! :) Evening, met up with a group of ISBians at 'Out of the Blue' near Carter Road. It was a nice place & the company was even nicer. i continue to be impressed by the diversity that ISB is offering. The group consisted of engineers, CAs, a guy from the hospitality industry, a guy from advertising who had done some tsunami relief work in Sri Lanka - the list goes on!

Sunday morning left for Mahableshwar - it was heaven. Perfect weather, long winding roads with spectacular views of small villages tucked in valleys between the Sahyadri range, rivers winding down, the usual 'sunrise' & 'sunset' points that all hill stations have to offer along with stories about each point (most of which had to do with the British since they were the ones who discovered & developed this place). One of the nicest experiences was plucking fresh strawberries out of a field & having them - yummy! Did some nice horse riding at Panchgani, had a lot of Bacardi, played a bit of carrom & table tennis, walked quite a bit! All in all, a very good break.

Reached Mumbai back on Wednesday afternoon & immediately left for the airport to head for Bangalore. ( Met Sehwag at the airport counter! :) Started to chat with him about the test that we lost but he didn't seem too enthused by the topic & so I just cut the conversation short! ). Am putting up at G's place - I have known him since when we were 4! Yesterday night, again had an ISB get together. An open terrace, Bacardi Breezer, bitings, a nice chocolate cake we cut for good luck during the year ahead all ending with swigs from a bottle of white wine made up a fabulous evening! Just trying to soak up as much of Bangalore as possible while I'm here. Sleepy now. More after I reach Ahmedabad!

I really respect people who take up jobs where they love the work irrespective of the money. I used to be like that at one point of time & hope to be like that after ISB too. Instead of aiming for the lucrative jobs which BPO, I-Banking & Consulting firms offer, I hope to join equity research into the Indian markets - an area which has none of the sex appeal that an i-banking job offers, none of the awesome salaries that BPOs offer and none of the brands that consulting offers BUT if done with dilligence will be very close to my heart & will be far more lucrative than all the aforementioned jobs in the long run i.e. in 10+ years. I hope that I don't follow the crowd one year down the line.