🇮🇳 Republic Day:
January 26th commemorates the formation of the Indian Republic — the day on which our Constitution was proclaimed by the Constituent Assembly, which also doubled as the Lok Sabha until 1952, when the first general elections were held. The Republic Day parade was introduced only in 1955. ‘Beating the Retreat’ occurs every year at Vijay Chowk on January 29th, marking the conclusion of the R-Day celebrations. This practice dates back to the 1690s, when James II — the King of England, Ireland and Scotland — ordered the soldiers to beat drums and parade the streets to commemorate the end of a day at the battlefield and withdraw to the safety of camp at the sounding of the Retreat. Apparently one of Gandhi's favourite songs ‘Abide With Me’ is played during the Retreat to show that India is a True Republic. If you wish to listen to this lovely song with the lyrics, please watch the video below.
Unfortunately, this year the R-Day celebrations will be rather subdued due to the COVID pandemic.
💉 COVID Vaccine
While the vaccine is making waves in the news cycle, there are many who are quite sceptical. Some want to take the shot and some don't want to give it a shot. Theories are floating about various vaccines including the Chinese Sinovac vaccine which is currently being used in the UAE. Given the lasting effects of anything Chinese, I would say that there is nothing Woo-Ha about it.
Like any other word that gets slanged, vaccine has become ‘vaxx’, yet no one is vaxxing eloquent about it.
Speaking of vaccines, did you hear about the old scientist who discovered an Anti-Alzheimer's vaccine? Unfortunately he can’t remember the formula!
🚣🏽♂️ Up a Creek Without a Paddle
This English idiom simply means ‘being in an unlucky or a bad situation’. Though at first glance it may sound like an empathetic idiom, it has some lessons in it. You might have heard the idiom “look before you leap”. These two sayings, when read together, constitute a life lesson not to get into a situation without weighing the pros and cons — and more importantly not without a clear exit strategy in the face of adversity. The way out is more important than the way in. Apparently, the langur (a species of monkeys) always makes sure it can get out of a place before it gets in. This is of course hearsay.
If you find yourself in an unlucky situation, you need to reflect on how and why you got into it in the first place. Let me give you an example: you are caught in the rain and you take shelter under a tree. If a branch breaks free in the wind and falls on you, one could say you are unlucky not to escape that falling branch. Contrast this with a situation wherein you knock down someone while driving without having a driving licence and your two-wheeler is badly damaged. Your insurance company rejects your claim. This is a really bad situation but not an unlucky situation.
A gambler may go out cursing their stars when they lose. They forget that they had thanked those very stars the previous day when the gamble had paid off. Trust me, this cannot be called an unlucky situation. Let me explain - here is a clear distinction between a ‘Game of Chance’ and a ‘Game of Skill’. When you play a game of chance, as the name indicates, you may win or get something by pure chance but with no cerebral engagement. A game of skill on the other hand involves a certain amount of analytical thinking or requires the knowledge of that particular game or activity.
Would you believe if I said that both games of chance and games of skill require an informed decision to participate? If I want to bet on a horse I need to know its pedigree, the track record and the consequence of losing. Particularly If I am putting the money that was meant for paying bills. If I want to play a game of chess in a competition I need to have a good understanding of the opponents track record and anticipate the moves that he normally makes. You can see this in action in the Netflix serial The Queen’s Gambit. If you have not watched it yet, I highly recommend it.
Informed decisions can be taken only if you have done some due diligence. An impulsive decision is, in almost all cases, an irrational move.
You might have heard of people boasting about how they bought some shares impulsively and ended up making a profit. But that impulse is not cerebral, which means that the decision to buy those shares was based on intuition or instinct rather than intellect. The same person could regret his impulsive decision to buy those shares if the prices tanked.
Being up the creek without a paddle could also mean not having a backstop, contingency plan or an exit strategy. Backstop is a fallback position. The insurance that you take is a backstop. It is also a contingency plan. Imagine if a person had no health insurance coverage and is required to sell something to save himself. Would you consider him to be unlucky or just careless in not taking a medical cover?
In the financial world, the backstop has a different connotation. A simple example is that of a loan taken by a subsidiary for which the Parent company provides a backstop which in reality makes the Parent company a guarantor.
In life, there are millions of transactional activities. Each such transaction is supposed to be profitable, not always in terms of money but in some other intangible way. It will be worth your while, provided you undertake some degree of due diligence.
Let me cite a simple instance of which I am personally aware. A person whom I know very well chose not to consult a lawyer to save some money and took a residential premises on lease and gave a hefty deposit. The rent was not much since the deposit was interest-free. One fine day, certain officials from a bank came and gave the family a few hours notice to vacate as they had an Order to possess the house for non-payment of loan by the house owner. It transpired subsequently that the house owner had mortgaged the house as security for a loan from that bank. The tenant and his family were asked to get out with their belongings and they literally found themselves on the streets.
Friends, renting a house is like owning it for a given period for a certain deposit and rent. If the person enters into a lease without title verification, he will have no way of knowing that the owner has pledged the title deeds for a loan. There have been instances when a scheming owner has shown certified copies of the title deeds to get a hefty deposit on the back of a lease and the tenant made no effort to ask for the originals which of course were with the bank as security. In these cases, the hard-earned money given as deposit was irretrievably lost or had to be written off when the money that the bank got by auctioning the house was inadequate to square off the dues to the bank.
Choosing a tenant is also a matter of concern. Some consider themselves lucky to have found a tenant but soon realise that it was a mistake not carrying out a background check when the tenant starts defaulting on rent or makes your life difficult. You are really up the creek if you have to fight with them. You realise you weren’t lucky after all.
I can cite any number of examples of how one can end up in a bad situation. Whether it be choosing a business partner or life partner, or changing jobs just for more money rather than for better career prospects. If one sat down and reflected on the way things unfolded they would discover either an error of judgement or lack of due diligence.
In one of the future editions of FC, I will provide guidance on taking or giving property on lease and differentiate it from Leave & Licence.
Whether you are up the creek or down the creek, if you don’t have a paddle you will be in a bad situation — don’t blame your luck!
After Biden’s inauguration, many wisecracks about Trump made rounds. The one I liked was: After Trump left “Washington Sundar”!
That’s it for now dear readers. Take care and continue to observe the rules.
As always most insightful.
Prasanna, Another nice write-up. I particularly enjoyed the part of clearly understanding the pros and cons to tackle a situation. One needs to have the patience to do this as at times, we jump in looking at what looks rosy on the face of it. Vasant Cavale