a message to heed

True that humans or Homo sapiens are the supreme of all the beings that exist today. Their ability to think and transform even the most impossible into possible makes them invincible but, does it mean that they can defeat everything so created-naturally, without repercussions? 

The answer perhaps, may be debatable by many intellectuals. But for a minute if we can stop to think, the answer is almost negative. To challenge that which is natural or formed naturally is an invitation in itself to disaster and destruction. And to what extent, the effects can be felt and gauged almost other year that passes by with some heavy destruction or damage that nature inflicts on us.

What Phailin did this year or what the disastrous landslide did to the heavenly abode of Lord Shiva some months ago is not unknown. What we are doing on a day to day basis is not under cover either. In the name of development we can see a greater erosion of green cover that is an inevitable necessity. However, losing our conscience to the comforts of a few square feet of concrete beauty, we decide to forget something very important – conservation of natural resources, forest cover and trees plantation in urbanized areas.

To illustrate how the depletion of green cover is impacting our day to day living, we need not travel far. Take the case of Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. The patch from Raj Mahal square to Vani Vihar square which once, wore a green cover enviable to others is now gone- fading in fact! The summers are unbearably hot as the impact of the heat is more than direct. There are no tree shades to protect during those hot afternoon hours or there be any in the near future. The reason for such depletion is nothing but our own need and desires to stretch as much as possible our carpet of comfort giving it different names and terminologies- beautification, infrastructure development etc. 

While on one hand we have dedicatedly put our development and ease as a top priority, on the other hand, we forget that if that this is all we want to achieve at the cost of some trees and greenery, then, we are heading to a future where there will be an Ozone layer only in history books and none above us.

If we cannot ponder over the issue now, which is already late, and then there will be a time, when we will be left to live, to the mercy of time and its assaults. Himalayan glaciers are fast melting thanks to the global warming, there are manmade islands coming up as a result of some magnificent engineering by some stalwarts who have been successful in diverting the regular flow of water to enable the structures stay strong even in the currents and now, plans to live on Mars… when are we going to stop assaulting the nature in name of development either by force or by choice? 

While there is much that one can speak in length about the atrocities that we commit on the silent beauty called earth and its green cover, I would like to end the article with a small question – what would you want to gift your future and generation next with – clean and green environment or polluted and depleted environment ridden with all sorts of ailments/ nature’s assaults ready for your future generations?  

It’s your call. Think before you cement your home sans trees.

 

SALES PERSONS AND SALES TRICKS

I seriously am in a fix…

Where do I start this idea from is a million dollar question today. There is not one issue that has taken the market off its hibernation mode but, several in number which means that it’s now a chronic disease which needs a panacea!

I am stunned by the fact that while these fraudsters are easily able to net in the savings of the people without an iota of doubt arising from the side of the investors, there are thousand rejections coming from the same bunch of so called wise investors when it comes to instruments and schemes from reputed and well established houses!

More than a why the question that pops up is how??

How is it that such firm as AT group, Seashore and Sharada have been successful in fooling people with more than financially seductive offers which are perhaps beyond the radar of the authorities framing regulations for this industry as such or is it that these type of companies and groups are autonomous in nature and have no rules governing their sources of investments and revenue generation?

How is it that such companies have been able to amass wealth and their promises have not even caught the eye of the authorities policing over such dubious schemes and companies per se?

Stranger than all is the question as to how, people who bargain left and right while buying a Kilogram of vegetables, cross examine a durable or for that matter, an android, take their time to decide about a son in law or daughter in law, fall into the trap of juicy returns, without even a second thought and park in their hard earned money with such firms?? How?

How urgent is it to invest in a scheme which offers and promises 12pc returns every year (the person talked to claimed that the bankers were unknown to such schemes available where in the govt bond funds gave a return of 1pc every month) vis a vis a scheme assured by the government or for that matter certified by the authorities like RBI, AMFI or IRDA where the returns are around 10pc, promised by the foxes in disguise?

Why do we keep on making mistakes and then crib that the investments market is as such a crap when it is we who desire to be made fools by those who design and implement their strategies to be a conqueror of wealth of the fools!

While we know how to save money by working hard, they know how to make money by flushing such funds of yours and mine, in a day.

Day in and day out, my meetings with different classes of people here in Bhubaneshwar has made me understand that none of them understand as to why they want to invest nor are they aware of the schemes they are investing into except for the fact that they park in the money more on the basis of brand name than the benefits it accrues to them in the near future. The returns that would come to them in future are also dismal.

While such classes of investors as mentioned above are common, it’s now not so uncommon to find the so called wise and greedy investors who had guts to park in money in lacs with companies like AT group and Seashore but had little money to protect their own future and life! 

Strange as it may seem, there are people as well who have taken protection for life beyond a required limit so much so that even the IT department was tempted to issue a notice to them wherein it has asked the person in question to clarify the sources from which he was paying the premiums which per annum were twice the salary he earned per annum!

I can cite n number of such cases where these so called businessmen and entrepreneurs have been effortlessly able to fool us, amassed crores of rupees, dumped the amount somewhere which is untraceable  and perhaps in the lifetime will never be seen again but it won’t serve any purpose because we don’t want to wake up against Ponzi schemes however, have our feet ready to kick the butt of the financial consultant or the manager from a reputed financial firm who genuinely wants to give us an advice.

The point of punching in the keys and wasting the time scribbling this all is that I desire to spread the information far and wide about the awareness levels we have with regards to investments in financial markets and about how much more we need to get ourselves educated so that no companies with false claims and glittering returns can fool us. As we ask a thousand questions and cross check with n number of sarees before we pick one from the lot, there has to be a same thought and process in understanding as to why I need to invest here or why not?

Being a common man does not mean we can shelve our responsibility of being aware about the market regulations and load the same onto the financial intermediaries who only are there to earn a rupee extra from every sale done! We cannot blame for the erosion in the value of our investments on the sales manager or the financial consultant only because, if it is my money, I need to grill the person before me, cross check with the market information available and then invest instead of blindly following the person representing the company…

Remember… an investment is like your own child. Ask questions and be satisfied the same way as a father would be about the groom before marriage is fixed for his lovely daughter. A small clarification to those many who feel insurance to be investment – it’s an assurance to the life of your own as well as to the lives of those who love and live with you. Hence, instead of planning it later, plan it immediately and weave a net of financial safety so that the loved ones do not fall into the abysmal situations when you are not around!