The intelligent investor

Talent was the name of a coin in ancient times and those who had a lot of talent, or money, then-just as it is now-were indeed the ones who saved and invested gainfully. Before making a long journey, the Bible says, a rich man called three of his servants and "unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one."

He that received the five talents went and traded with the same, and gained another five talents. And likewise, he that had received two, also gained another two. But he that received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.

After a long time the master of those three men returned, and reckoned with them. He that had received five talents came and showed another five talents, saying, "My lord, you delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained five talents more."
The master said unto him,"Well done...I will make thee ruler over many things." The master was also pleased with the man who had doubled his two talents. "Well done... I will make thee too ruler of many things." These two men would now lead a more joyous life. They were talented!

Then the man who had received the one talent came to his master and said, "Lord, I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth: here take what is yours." The master answered and told him, "You wicked and slothful servant... you ought to have put my money to the exchangers and at my return I should have received it with interest."

Obviously, this man had no talent. "Take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which hath ten talents," the master then ordered. "And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness."
-MATTHEW 25: 14-30 in the Bible.

Learning lesson from this story I purchased the bestseller "The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham.- My first investment towards investing.
What was your first investment towards investing?

Food for thoughts

Got late this time, was busy with exams and their aftershocks {marks:)}.
In my previous post I shared about the change I’m experiencing in my reading habit. So thought why not encourage friends into reading!

Let me start with a real incidence. Former U.S president Theodore Roosevelt found persons stealing his row boat. He followed them in other boat and finally caught them at the point of his gun . While returning back he was 60 kms away from his place.
Now you might be wondering about: what makes this incidence worth quoting? Well in the meantime he covered 60 kms, he completed Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. Isn’t it great?
Normally a person is not much involved with literature (though he/she might have scored highest in college or school). But read we must. Read for fun, read for entertainment, read things which suite your taste and with passage of time you’ll realize that you read not only because books are men’s best friends but also because it’s food for soul {thoughts}.
Once a great man handed his son a poetry book by T.S.Eliot with a complement: “with a great person in your pocket you’ll never be lone in life”.

I would like to point out a problem which I faced in my initial days of reading as a hobby. Main problem is perplexity about what to read and what not? As per I feel, conventional novels like those of Sidney Sheldon are nothing but a mere time waste & all they give you in the end is 2-3 more words in your vocabulary. So don’t waste time on such craps.-I did and when I came across classics and good novels I thought why didn’t I read them earlier?
Reader’s Digest defines a classic as a book which remained in print for a long time span. So if you think you have your own philosophy, start reading classics & philosophies. To name few:
-Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy,
My experiments with truth by Gandhi ji,
Riot by Shashi Tharoor,
War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy,
Crime & Punishment by Dostoevsky,
Hunch back of Notre dame by Victor Hugo

One more thing I would like to point out is that many people view a novel as a mere story & read it as a story. A novel {good ones only} is much more than a story. Its imagination (universe) bounded between two covers. And if you feel that the novel at hand is a mere story, just drop that.
So if you are not a regular reader, take a start and one day you’ll love yourself for loving books. Just be voracious reader and read what ever {relatively good} comes your way. Just discover the undiscovered horizons.

The Fountainhead –A book worth reading

Desiderius Erasmus once said: “When I get a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes”.
This thing holds true in my case also. So today I’m sharing views & memoirs about my all time favorite novel- The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.
In the present era, novels are written as an article for any monthly magazine-It looses its importance in a month or so. But when it comes to everlasting literature, THE FOUNTAINHEAD is the name everyone is aware of. Written more than three decades ago, The Fountainhead was turned down by more than a dozen publishers naming it as too intellectual. But a masterpiece can’t be locked & kept in backyard for a long time, one day it’s bound to accomplish the purpose it is made for. After such a fierce competition in the market Fountainhead managed to survive in the all time bestseller list.
In the words of Ayn Rand:
“This is the motive and purpose of my writing; the projection of an ideal man. The portrayal of a moral ideal, as my ultimate literary goal, as an end in itself—to which any didactic, intellectual or philosophical values contained in a novel is only the means”.
“I write-and read—for the sake of the story….My basic test for any story is: Would I want to meet these characters and observe these events in real life? Is this story an experience worth living through for its own sake? Is the pleasure of contemplating these characters an end in itself?”

“Since my purpose is the presentation of an ideal man, I had to define and present the conditions which make him possible and which his existence requires. Since man’s character is the product of his premises, I had to define and present the kinds of premises & values that create the character of an ideal man and motivate his actions, which means that I had to define and present a rational code of ethics.
But neither politics nor ethics nor philosophy is an end in itself, neither in life nor in literature. Only Man is an end in himself.”

The main idea behind the novel is Ayn Rand’s portrait of an ideal man. -A man’s ego is Fountainhead of all the progressions in world.
Howard Roark an architect student is thrown out of Stanton Institute of Technology because of his nature of experimenting with his architectural work. With a strong heart and egotist mind he starts his struggle in the professional world. He remains unaffected by the moments of penury & frustration because of his even-minded approach towards life. A twist comes when the woman of his love-Dominique Fracon marries his worst enemy-Peter Keating.
Each and every piece of architecture created by him is criticized by the newspaper dailies but people with an eye for architectural master piece(only) appreciate his work.
Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead is a philosophy comparing two kind of people in society, the first kind: Egotist & dedicated towards their work-Howard Roark. Second one: Altruist & could do any thing in order to enjoy pleasures of world, having no moral characteristic-a reprobate-Peter Keating. It shows that a person of uncompromising wit is the final winner in any walk of life, & the path is strewn with thorns and hardships but finally it’s only the way worth living.

Answering the internal quest of a common person, The Fountainhead is truly a master piece created not for once generation but entire mankind. Victor Hugo once said: “If a writer wrote merely for his time, I would have to break my pen and throw it away.”
Philosophical books available today in market are in the form of advices where as the life of the author him self is controversial. Regarding this Ayn Rand quotes: “The essence of the bond between me & my husband is the fact that neither of us has ever wanted or been tempted to settle for anything less than the world presented in The Fountainhead. We never will.”

There are a rare breed of quality books available in the market today and The Fountainhead is a must read for every individual aspiring to be perfect in whatever he or she does.