On Kerala - Gold's own country...

Wealth is a state of mind and in Kerala is the status of your gold jewellery. Fascinating but true ! When you are totally flummoxed by the throng in the jewellery shops in Kerala , come rain or sunshine ( read recession or economic boom ), you are even more amused by the attire of the average buyer. You will see white lungi clad men and women wearing the most casual sarees and perhaps even a pair of bathroom slippers - the ubiquitous Hawaii chappal.. The only sign of wealth is the dilapidated handbag safely tucked in the arm pits and which they carefully caress every now and as if they are the stroking the mane of their chihuahua pets ! And then lo the smiling salesman at the counter brings out a six figure bill and they don't bat an eyelid ! Three minutes down, you will see the same customer negotiating tooth and nail with an autoriskshaw driver who is asking for 20 bucks over the normal 16 or 17 rupees ... In most likely they will skip the luxury and head for the public buses ! Well, that is Kerala for you !

So why this fascination for the yellow metal which is of course a wonderful investment but limited in value of use. Most of the purchases are for one time occassions like marriages and most of it is hardly worn by besides on the big day. The liquidity content has never been a big motivator perhaps till recently since no middle class or uppper middle family wants to pledge their jewellery for loans. But that is changing... Gold finance is ctahcing up steam and is flying ahead in its business. Gold has truly replaced land as the prime asset to watch out for as the prices seem to the steeping up the curve come whatever economic macro situation.

So how come gold came into fashion in Kerala which does not have any metal deposits to boast of.Well, history tells us that when the spices were more popular than metals , a bag of pepper or cardamom fetched bags of gold from the traders from other coutnries. So gold started being the foreign commodity which was wanted much by the rich and famous and their ofcourse their wives... Then of course the craftsmen took to the design and the artistic talent burgeonef across generations...

Well let me not bore you more history than can be palatable - Check this out - an average middle class woman wears a chain ( avg. 3 sovereigns), two bangles ( 4 sovereigns ), a ring ( one sovereign ) and a pair of earrings ( 2 sovereigns). At today's cost that is Rs one lakh seventy thousand rupees - equivalent of $ 3,200 ... And that is only for accessories ! Maybe I am exagerrating but that is something - What say you D&G, Versace, Gucci and my Italian friends ...

On the new year ...

Another year go by ... Lots of new things, tons of old and no question that I had a whale of a time ! Hope this year brings in its own bouquet of the old and the new...

Have never really been the 'new year resolutions' kind but have been quite successful in changing habits these days. Whether it is teetotalary ( which is total ) or vegetarianism ( which is an on-off fad ), it has always been a pleasure to embark on the journey and see how one manages the various twists and turns...

But there are several facets of 'new habits' which has reconfirmed that the times are changing ....

1. One of my close business friends addressing a public gathering lamented " Signing of cheques is fast becoming a rare activity"... While the humor in the statement hits you fastr than the true meaning - these are the ominous signs of times to come...Stinginess is in...There will be a lot of caution execised by corporates while spending. The good timeas are around they say but this habit is here to say. So the days of doing less with less have gone and now are days of doing more with less ...

2. Methodologies and 'the way we do things' is changing faster than one can fathom... The regular terms like long term strategy and 5 year plan are passe and now the horizon decision making is smaller. So what does that mean - getting back to the drawing board much more than often...

3. The last point also ushers in the new competence - ability to unlearn. The changing landscape not only reiterates the point of picking up new skills but also permanently erasing some business practices of the past

4. The 'how of doing things' have also changed. Ethics are good business practices are much more in cmversation and for once most senior business heads urge their teams to walk the talk and constantly reinforce the need of following these practices. If one if doing or abetting the wrong things, he / she can be sure that the damocles sword is much more closer to his/ her head than it was couple of years ago. Luckily a lot of rhetoric in the media speak this language of straightforward deals. Quoting Subroto Bagchi in Professional - " Ethics is about dong the right things even when no one else is watching" I cannot imagine it be more succintly put ... Or what Narayana Murthy says - " Integrity is the sofest pillow"...

So are we in for more learning and fun this year... I am sure it is - There will be more roads to cover and alleys to traverse and I touch the feet of Ganesha and walk on ...