Looking Back at 2023

22-Dec-2023

One year is a long time. I tried to recall what all I did this year, and I hardly remember anything from the start of year. I had to look at the google photos of the year to rewind. 

2022 ended with my father, sister and brother-in-law spending about 10 days in Bangkok to mark their 25th Marriage Anniversary in December and I travelled back to India soon after they left and celebrated New year in India. There were many things unclear at the start of year both on personal and professional front and when I look back, 2023 has been a remarkable year. 

• Anvay was preparing for 12th boards and what he would be doing next was one of the open items. At the end of 2023, he is already finishing his B.Tech first semester at Manipal Bengaluru campus. It's a long way to go but there is a path to follow. It's a tough journey being away from home, staying in hostel with other roommates, adjusting to the new setup etc. 

• It was also not clear at the start of year when Myra and Pallavi can move to #Bangkok, although there was a tentative plan dependent on where Anvay goes for his studies. Finally, they moved in Aug 23, and its 5th month running, almost half year. Myra already going to new school and seems to have settled well. 

• Pallavi is still busy with the new work she found, and it keep her busy.  It's a good thing in general.
• I also got promoted to Associate Partner effective 1st November, and it's a major milestone achieved from my career point of view. It comes with its own challenges but isn't it true at every step-up of job or business. There are new challenges and new expectations. I prefer to slow down a bit. Year 2023 is also marked with few travels. 

• First to US Miami, Florida in May for the Golden Circle award.  Winning IBM Golden Circle award is a true recognition of all the hard work done over last five plus years.
• To Phuket, Thailand in August to celebrate wonderful H1 in terms of signings, revenue and utilization. Only countries which achieved targets were invited. 
• To Singapore in August also to a CPM trainer program. I also met some old friends Gangadhar, Arun Prasad and Munish Chaturvedi. 

• The only thing not great this year is my trading. I was hoping to do better after turning 2022 as profitable, but it ended as worst year. The losses spike up causing 27% drawdown (Apr - Dec 23). The saving grace was equity investments which balance almost all the drawdowns saving me from a significant net loss. I am not sure if this can be recovered soon but too many lessons to be learned. As of now, I just can hope that 2024 will be a better year. 

There are so many memories created this year, and hope 2024 will also be same. More memories!!

vA

Last month of the year 2023 and deepening losses

05-Dec-2023

Last month of the year, hurrah! The month has started with spending left over employee budgets to spend on events and dinners. We already had one, the cruise dinner on 01-Dec-2023. It was sort of okay, food was not bad, and in the end, we hope teams had a good time. 

Most of us worked out of Starbucks post lunch. I would say good day connecting with people and working other than office. There are few more events/ dinners lined up to the 2024 countdown. 

Anvay is having his first semester end exams and Myra soon will be going into Year 6 Term 2. Everyone seems to be getting into the holiday mood at least me. Hope, the end of the year doesn't bring any unexpected surprises. 

Next few months will be busy at-least on the home front, with Anvay travelling to Bangkok from Dec 14 - Jan 3, 24 followed by Pallavi's parents travelling around Jan 10 - Mar 7. Looks like, Jan to early March, I will be working from office on all weekdays. 😊

Equity investments looking good but trading going from bad to worse. I am looking to hit by the worst loss in Dec as markets rally significantly and I have been positioned on the short side. I haven't learned from the past mistakes. This is again so disappointing and depressing. 

vA

Another Deployment weekend!

18-Nov-2023

It is early morning and I am done with moving screens on my phone. My insomnia is getting worse with odd sleep cycles where I sleep early and wake up at 3/4 am. A lot of screen time to be honest. Well, last week was quite heavy. We had a major blocker for go-live and Thursday to Saturday went into solving the issues and going live. Well, all is well that ends well. In the end, deployment happened successfully so it was worth it. 

The weeks are passing by fast and everyone in here waiting for Mr Anvay to travel. I guess, it will be fun and busy December. Our lives are now back to a bit of a routine with Myra going to school, I am busy with the same office routine, and Pallavi trying to adjust to a new project. Myra's first team will end on 15 Dec. Pallavi's mom and dad will travel next year (mid-January to the start of March) to Bangkok. 

There is not much action on the investment and trading side. Markets are less volatile and I got again stuck in a losing position. However, my bias is that markets need to correct so this loss position shouldn't be a worry. I need to watch this out carefully. Large equity positions in #infosys, #hdfcbank, and #reliance are below the buy price and out-of-money options are not offering great premiums. Therefore, it is a bit dull and has only one out-of-money position on #reliance. However, this is the best portfolio gain I have had over the last few years where the net portfolio loss is only 17% mainly due to #yesbank. 

vA

Remembering Mom - It's been 28 years..

12-Nov-2023

I can never forget the morning of 09-Nov-1995. It was the day my mother passed away in the morning. I don't recall exact time but guess between 8 am - 10 am. I still have memories of the previous night and those sometimes looks very fresh like it happened pretty recent. 

She was diabetic for long, and she got it when it was a very new disease. She was first on animal insulin for quite some time as we only discovered it one day when she fell down from bed in the morning in 1982/83 summer. The doctors administered animal insulin and she just on this deadly medicine from the early on. She shifted to human insulin in late eighties or early nineties. In nineties, she had lot of attacks where the glucose level fluctuated mostly on the low and she admitted to hospital many times that at some point she started saying she doesn't want to go to hospital. However, the damage was already done. Her kidneys suffered and gradually took a toll on her. She had a lot of suffering and the thought of that there was only one way it can end crossed our minds many times. It's easier to think that way, and the thought and something happening in practical is quite different. 

Every year, November brings memories of me losing her, and it really makes me sad. She was gone too early. We had a relatively very frugal living in those years, and I have always wished if she could be alive today and can have the life better than what she endured for 48 years. I was very close to her and witnessed her suffering very closely as spent more than a year in caring for her day to day. I wish I could have done better or tried harder to save her.  

She wanted to live and during her last days, she kept on saying "meinu dilli le chalo", take me to Delhi for treatment. Listening to that was so hard as we knew it's not going to help. My father did all he could to save her including going to some priests and other religious pandits across faiths. In the end, prayers didn't help at least keeping her on earth. Well, I can only wish and hope that she rests in peace. 

One particular experience that I can't relate to science. She was in coma for almost few months and, two to three days before her passing, she woke up in the morning like there was no disease. She ate well, talk to everyone including my grandparents (they are no longer with us). It was like, wow, feeling was what on earth happened. The day went too fast, and she went to sleep close to midnight. Next day, she was back to old coma state. I am not sure how is it possible to be like that for a day. I did hear some stories where your inner sense, or "Chetna" come back before your end, but experiencing it firsthand was incredible. Hope she rests in peace. 

Today is a Diwali day and this is my first time in Bangkok as Pallavi and Myra are here. This is also first time, when my son will be away during this day. Also, my father will be celebrating this with my brother. Many new directions this year. 

It's looks like another day here but my whatsapp full of Happy Diwali wishes. I wish all a very happy and prosperous one and have a good weekend, if you still get some time. 

vA

Got Promoted!! - It took so long to get there.. :)

04-Nov-2023

After long wait, I finally got my promotion confirmed. It took a long time, and the weird processes at HR where there was almost zero communication was depressing. Anyways, it happened finally so let's be happy about it. 

On other stuff, 

• Work life is busy as usual.
• Improved on my walking this week.
• Myra already back to school after her term break.
• Pallavi still recovering from health issues.
• Anvay back to college and must be preparing for the semester exams. He will travel to Bangkok for December vacations. 
• There are lot of official events / dinners in Q4. 
• On investment front, Oct was a good one and one of the best months of this year. Need to go with a careful approach.

We explored some roof top bars few weeks ago and I guess both Myra and Pallavi enjoyed it. We have explored two so far.

• Yao Rooftop at Marriot Surawong
• Brewski rooftop at Radisson Sukhumvit

Next week will be Diwali, and this is the first time in last six years, I will be in Bangkok. It's going to be a boring one as I see it. 

I have no specific plan for the weekend, probably some Diwali shopping and some sleep. 

Have a good weekend!

vA

It was Ukraine, and now Gaza - World is in more chaos

13-Oct-2023

Last week was a set of bad news across with Israel-Hamas war broke in Gaza killing people in hundreds, and a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan killing more than 2500 people. You read all these news and say thanks to God that you are not anywhere near these places. 

We still have Ukraine-Russia war on, but no one is talking about it. A whole country has been destroyed, although not the first time. Syria war is still going on and no one talking about it as well.  It is bit ironic how world and people (including me) move on so easily. Having said that, what normal people can do when the powerful governments, organization like the United Nations can't do anything. Bodies like United Nations have lost their purposes long back as their decisions are taken with vested interests who can contribute more money to these organizations. It simply means these are no longer autonomous, guess has never been.

Well back to our lives, Anvay finally travelled back to Delhi this week and hopefully he will get a much-needed break from the hostel life. I am not sure if he wants to go back, but this is not a choice anymore.

Myra having her mid-term break starting from 16-Oct to 23-Oct. Pallavi is dealing with pains which seems to be caused by the re-occurrence of endometriosis. I am bit anxious as seems like a visit to hospital is due. Hoping she recovers without going to a hospital.  

My morning walk schedule is in shambles for last two weeks. I am feeling deprived of sleep or tired as workdays are usually long. I plan to fix it soon as my glucose records are still on higher side, and this one thing is important. 

Nothing great happening on the market side. I have few options trades which I am not sure will be positive in the end. I guess it's the same old problem and I am getting tired of this. New investments in #hdfcbank and #reliance will need to wait for some time to bring some short-term profits. However, some short calls on both gave me some 10k of gains (this is so satisfying). It's not even 1% of total investments on these two stocks but better than nothing. #Infosys is back on my buying radar. 

Interest rate has been so high now, previous bond investments causing massive losses and loans are expensive. However, markets seem to be so jubilant across the globe. I am getting biased towards a short position in mid to short term. However, first I need to clean up the current option trades. 

vA

Back in black

01-Oct-2023

Last two weeks were busy but had some fun events two. We were able to organize team events, or I should call it dinners with the team and remaining direct people reports. As per the ground feedback, people enjoyed large gatherings and had a good time. For vegetarian people, the food was kind of manageable. Q3 ended on a party note, and I am sure Q4 will not be less. 

Finally, I am "back in black" in terms of trading in Sep 23, ending with a 16k in profits. I am still down in five digits for this financial year, so nothing much to cheer about. I definitely have slowed down taking trades, and guess September should be the lowest in count on F&O trades. 

I don't expect to change the strategy, will focus on equity in the short term and less F&O. As one can see from below chart, equity indeed doing better than F&O. The one-time gain in Jun-2023 is exceptional and Aug-2023 looks lower as did some tax harvesting of about 119k. I hope to better the final %gain/loss by the end of financial year but don't think can break last year number (42%). 

Most of my money is going into banks and IT. I am heavily invested in banks in terms of direct equity and my MF portfolio now shifting gears to IT. 

Back to the personal front, Anvay had to cancel his Delhi visit as exam postponed to next week due to #Bengaluru bandh, surely instigated by political masters. I feel bad for him, and there is nothing we can do. First semester is always difficult when you away from home and it's usually a big change if you have been away from family in the past and can't travel frequently. Hostel life can be very limiting in the first year, and then you get used to it. We offered him to travel back to Delhi on another date, may be on his big eighteen birthday. Wow! He will turn #18 in October, and officially will be an "adult". 

Pallavi and Myra going through their usual lives here in #Bangkok. Pallavi's job is bit unsettling these days and seeing some changes. Hopefully, she can find something back soon. It may be difficult as she is out of India. One option is to try something here but not that straight forward. 

Below is the picture from last week's bowling.

This has been a lazy weekend. I am planning to spend rest of the Sunday catching up with some office stuff as next week looks very busy as always. 

Have a good rest of the weekend!

vA

Time really flies..

15-Sep-2023

Good evening...

It's a late evening Friday here in Bangkok, and we are sitting at the client office for another deployment.

Last two weeks were quite busy with the office work and it is not looking any better for next few weeks. Workplace is going through lot of changes mainly:

• Due to new subsidiary, lot of unplanned work is flowing in. 
• New to catchup on the new role, and that's not clean slate with so many stakeholders.

Myra and Pallavi will be completing one month in Bangkok soon. Time really flies sometimes. Initial days can be boring as less Friends and life-style changes. Myra indeed feeling the same as she hasn't made any play friends yet. Guess, it will take some time. They also have got their dependent visas on 08th Sept, and now they can travel outside Thailand easily, if there is a need to do so. 

Anvay got little sick last weekend, so we got very worried. He has a habit of making things worse and this is the first time he was dealing with sickness and sounded worried. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad, and he recovered with little to no medication. I am sure he is adding lot of experiences on a daily basis living probably one of the best parts of his life. Being in college, away from parents and a hostel life. He is definitely home sick so will be making a short trip end of September. 

Now back to deployment, and it is still going on. As per the plan it should end early morning (16th Sep) assuming no challenges. Looking for some sightseeing within Bangkok and some sleep. 

Have a good weekend.

vA

Myra's New School, Catching up with old mates in Singapore

03-Sep-2023

It was a settling week for Myra in the new #School "Garden International Bangkok", and she did it well. It may be because school environment was less stressing due to the unusual methods of teaching where you don't get any homework. Let's see how it goes, as I am now starting to get worried about the teaching methods, where you literally don't get to know what the weak subjects are that the kid needs to focus on. 

I was back from #Singapore on 30th Aug, and it was nice to go back to the CPM course and now in future you have to teach that or facilitate that. I call these as co-curricular activities like we use to do in school. 

27-Aug

• 2:45pm - Landed at Singapore, reached hotel by 3:45pm SGT
• 5pm - Drinks with Gangadhar, back to hotel at 10:30pm SGT

28-Aug

• 9am - 6pm Day 1 CPM class
• 7pm - 10:30pm Dinner, Aditya came down to see k Phuree, k Pare

29-Aug

• 08:30am - 08:55am - Coffee with Arun Prasad (my Ex-RBS colleague)
• 09:00am - 6:30pm - Day 2 CPM class
• 07:15pm - 10pm - Planned to meet Vaibhav, who ditched... Me and Gangadhar ended up with Pizza
• 10:45 - 00:00pm - Munish Chaturvedi drove to hotel and we had a nice chat outside on the bench

30-Aug

• 08:30am - Checked out of the hotel
• 09:00am - 2:00pm Facilitation class
• 5:30pm - Take off to Bangkok, reached home around 9:40pm

Once back to Bangkok, spent next two days catching up with pending emails and also at new job orders. I eagerly waited for weekend to get some sleep. 

Have a good weekend!!

vA

H1 Success Celebration at Phuket

27-Aug-2023

I am writing this from the Phuket International Airport, waiting for the flight to Singapore. It was a good week with lots of wine. 😊

The top leadership team of ASEAN met in #Phuket this week from Aug 25th to Aug 27th. It was fun and at the same time able to connect with many faces we otherwise just talk on phone. We arrived on an early morning flight from Bangkok --> Phuket and checked-in at around 11:30am BKK. 

25-Aug-2023 (Time in Bkk)

• Arrived at JW Marriot around 11:30 am
• Lunch from noon to 2 pm 
• Business Sessions from 2 pm to 6:30 pm
• Dinner, drinks and karaoke 7 pm - 11:30 am - Humma song was a hit :)

26-Aug-2023

• Morning walk from 6 am - 6:45 am
• Breakfast 7:30 am - 8:00 am
• Business Sessions 8:00 am - 10:30 am
• 11:00 am - 5 pm Old Phuket town visit
• Dinner and drinks - 7 pm

27-Aug-2023

• Breakfast 7:30 am - 8:30 am (Had a good chat with Ankit, our CFO)
• To #Singapore 11:40 am - 2 pm SGT
• Meet up with Gangadhar - 4pm SGT +

I still found myself a bit lost and need to think carefully how to be more visible and make a mark on senior leadership. It will be a constant fight as being a non-TH, there will be some disadvantages. I can focus on business depth and delivery leadership. Need to find my way. 

After Anvay, it was Myra turn to settle in new school. We sorted out admission to Garden Internation School at Yenekat, and she has started to attend the classes from 25th Aug. 2023 should be called year of transition and travel. 

• Transition wise: 1) Anvay moved to college 2) Myra and Pallavi moved to Bangkok 3) Myra going to new school 4) I will be transitioned into new role (wip). 
• Travel wise: 1) Travelled to Miami, USA - May 2023 2) Bengaluru - July 2023 3) Phuket - Aug 2023 4) Singapore - Aug 2023... It's still 4 5 months to go. I am not counting numerous India trips. 

Coming back to resort, it was a nice resort with some nice food to spend quality time. I will bring in kids and Pallavi sometime here back.

My trading skills have gone from bad to worse. I am about to burn my hands again on a wrong option trade which went bad, and I did cut it for losses. I really feel bad about it. 

vA

Couple of firsts this week...

20-Aug-2023

The week went in very fast as it was a short 4-day week. I ended up with couple of firsts' this week. First was a Tesla ride (k Pete's drive a Tesla) and other one was attending a Thai Buddhist Funeral. 

Thai Buddhist funerals are short which start with Sanskrit prayers followed by Thai messaging. It takes only 30-40 minutes. You are expected to give some money in a packet and usually black is the preferred dress code.  As many of IBM leadership was present, we also went out for a dinner after that.

Earlier, we drove in Pete's Tesla to the place. It was first time for me in the car. Doesn't feel much difference in the rear seat for a 2.2m THB car but the display looks very nice. 

As flying to Singapore on 27th Aug, went in to apply for a SG visa. It's a smooth process, just had to wait for 10-15 mins outside VFS gate. I am looking forward catching up with few old mates. 

Myra and Pallavi are flying on 21 Aug night, so will be here 22 Aug morning. Too many things are running in office, and I am already feeling very tired. I thought about going for a day, but it will be just going and coming, and I won't be of any help. It's difficult to bear the emotions around this change. I am feeling too emotional about the people and the house that will be empty. I didn't feel it when we left for Singapore as Nitin was staying with us. For last five years, Pallavi, Adi and Myra were there along with my dad along with Pallavi's parents and me spending half the time there, so it didn't feel like leaving.

Also, had spoken to Nitin this week and got a feeling his Job is not going so well as expected. I never good about Indus Ind bank and his move to take a job there sounded rushed. Hopefully, it will go well for him.

Have a good weekend!

vA

Equity play week, and a long weekend

12-Aug-2023

Another weekend! In fact, it's a long weekend with Monday being a local holiday.

It was mostly work heavy week. No major challenges, but just too many open items on work side. I will call it a better week, as not carrying much for the weekend to think about. 

Aditya was in Bangkok, so we had breakfast and dinner on different days. I probably will see him again in Singapore when I travel on Aug 27 - Aug 30 for T3 CPM. 

Pallavi and Myra will now be travelling on 21 Aug. They could have traveled on 13 Aug as per original plan as they already got O visas on 11th Aug, but bags are not ready yet. 

Anvay seems to have settled in his college life as classes has already begun from 31st Jul. He is making new friends and exploring city. 

Next week, going to be another week and I will have to prepare for upcoming travel to Phuket and Singapore towards end of August. 

After the Q1 losses in F&O, I am doing more equity trades instead of F&O. It is going okay with #LIC generating around 42k of short-term gains. I also have adjusted #NBCC for long term losses with IDFC long term profits. It is something called as tax harvesting, but the losses were only approx. 20% of the gains. Therefore, I may adjust #YesBank long term losses at a later date. I am constantly adding YesBank equity with a bias that it will either perform very well in long future or subject to acquisition or merger. The average buying price should be close to spot price for any big losses. 

I have a feeling that equity works better for me than F&O, but the problem is of scale. Anyways, I am not giving up on options yet. 

Started binging #Made in Heaven - Season 2, it is intriguing, touching and entertaining at the same time. It challenges the society taboos and reflects, how we are still a very old school society. Too many kisses though. 

vA

Deployment time again

05-Aug-2023

Happy Weekend!!

I am back in Bangkok on 03 Aug morning as the big bang EIPP deployment this weekend. It's a 16+ hours runway but hoping for it to go smooth. It is unbelievable that it's already August and half the year is gone. It is going to be a busy H2 with new role and some travel. A good problem to solve. 

Anvay is settling in college and Pallavi and Myra preparing to move to Bangkok. Their visas should be sorted shortly, and they should be here by mid of Aug. 

The week was largely uneventful with work and home stuff as usual. The trading side was bit exciting as made some money on LIC Trade (~22k) and Bandhan Bank (~3k). I am still holding LIC (~500 qty) and hoping that will yield good results. Infosys trade is supplemented with the covered call and showing decent profits. 

I did play around options with very minimal three digits gain. The scare of loss is still very fresh in my head and it's making me do less trades. I think I am going to stick with equity trading more. 

vA

Anvay New Phase of Life, College it is..

31-July-2023

Anvay moved to #Bengaluru to attend college and now will stay in hostel for at-least next few years to study B Tech CSE. It will be a long journey as he ventures into a #newphaseoflife. I am sure, he is excited, but it will be a lot of hard work. 

It was an emotional moment for all of us. We won't see him for months and when we see him it will be for a few days whenever he comes back for a break or vacations.  He has left the house for good and will be now charting his own journey without us being physically present with him. I hope Anvay will learn from his past and will do his best in this new phase. All I can wish him is best of luck. 

I spent last weekend in Bengaluru with Anvay, sorting out the admission, hostel and other paperwork. It was my second time in Bengaluru. The weather was nice at 21 degrees Celsius. The campus looks appealing. I haven't had the opportunity myself to go to a campus like college, but these days there is a lot of push on good infra. It has a jogging track, a football ground, a basketball ground and an open gymnasium, food court etc. We were told that full sports building coming up in few months along with a separate cafeteria or food court building. The hostel space looks also nice and worth the money. Sometimes, I wonder how they are going to maintain this with all the cost they charged.  

We also went to see Ginni and Mayank on Saturday and spent a night there. It was sort of nice to see them after a long time. Avantika aka Ginni was busy with her two kids, and Mayank supporting her well, wherever he can.

On my way back to Delhi, I had almost missed my flight. The flight was scheduled for 5:15 pm IST, and at 4pm I was at the hostel waiting for the taxi. A lot of things had to go right for me to get there. I think I got lucky. Web check-in saved me as check-in counters were closed by the time I got at the airport. Originally, I had planned to leave by 2pm, but somehow, I didn't feel like leaving and keep dragging. It was kind of nice to see him around or at home. 😢

I also met Rishu on my way back at #Gurgaon. It was kind of nice meeting him after long. However, we both were very tired so slept like after few drinks and dinner. There was nothing new, we both are busy with our work lives. Rishu keeps on travelling a lot as sales his primary job. We gossiped about the same shit, talked about new developments in our life and called up Raju to make him jealous about our meeting. Raju is now posted in #Faizabad near Ayodhya travelling in and out from Barelli. 

I will be travelling back to #Thailand on 3rd morning as key deployment coming up on 4th Aug. Hope the visa issues for Myra and Pallavi will soon be sorted and they can join me at Bangkok in next 2 weeks. 

As written earlier, it's a big change that is going to impact many lives. My father has to shift to my brother's place (that's what the thinks, but I think he will be back here in this house soon) and Pallavi's parent will be also alone. They moved to our building back in 2021, and it was a sort of arrangement which was quite symbiotic. Back of my head, I don't want it. I still like it here, but I don't want to mess with my work, and I also don't want to change. I am not sure, if this is right or wrong and yes, as a son, it is not so great for the parents on both sides. I wish I could have done better. 

Have a good week ahead!!

vA

Back in India, Anvay going to Bengaluru and losses continue

22-July-2023

Finally, Anvay got into #Bengaluru campus of Manipal Institute of Technology. He will be leaving on 23 July to start a new phase where he will be of his own. It's an amazing feeling but also an emotional one. Seeing him grow from a child and now to set him free. Hope he finds his path for a successful life. I am back in India to see him off and drop him to the college in Bengaluru. 

2023 though going well, it's year of change. Anvay is moving out, later, Pallavi and Myra moving to Thailand. My father also has to move out as no one at home. Later is due to the fact that my job is at Bangkok, Thailand, and I don't want to shift. It's an impact and outcome would have been different if I would have decided to stay back in India. My move also impacts Pallavi's parents who will also be lone back here. It's a difficult decision and a very emotional one. I am not sure, what is correct, but I am bit tired of running. 

My trading has been worse this year and impulsive trades are not helping. I took few trades to help me out of losses, but then same mistakes and it didn't turn out well. I ended up wiping out all the profits I made on Infosys trade. I definitely need to slow down and alter my ego and strategy. Sometimes, I had a thought, should I let go this part of my life. It's too much and too long. It's not working out the way I want. I am not sure if I am too ambitions on this. Going in next few weeks, I will try to focus on equity side and avoid options or futures trading. I have bought #LIC and #Infosys (back again after the bad results). I think IT is a good, staggered buy, and returns in next 2 years will be decent. With that view, I also have diverted almost all the mutual fund investments to the IT funds. 

Noting special happening, but I will be travelling a bit in the coming days. Going to Bengaluru this Sunday, and then will be travelling to Thailand on 03 Aug for an important deployment, and then may have to travel back to pick Pallavi and Myra. There are few planned events outside Bangkok, towards end of Aug. 

Happy weekend!

vA

Q1 Disaster on options trade

09-July-2023

There is no running away from the fact that Q1 was a disaster with markets reaching new heights. I have cumulative losses of INR 425k. Following the principle of not adding new capital, the losses were recouped for time being from selling #IDFCFirstBank equity which net gained INR 609k. It's just a condolence trade, but I need to see how to recover the losses. Anyways, I am taking a short break to get back in my normal mindset and not to do anything crazy. The principal and left-over gains will be going to the #Infosys. It has already run up by a few percentages before I could buy the target. I still have like 500k of buy left. I will wait for the price to fall back close to 1300 levels. 

IT is slowing down due to recessionary fears, and I feel it's a good time to double the investments on the IT sector. Therefore, I am moving a lot of new money that goes into the mutual funds to this sector for few months. I am going to have the highest exposure to this sector after banking. The banking exposure have come down significantly after I sold IDFCFirstBank equity. 

Hope this year will be another net green on F&O :)

Happy Sunday!!

vA

IDFCFirstBank was a good bet

25-Jun-2023

Finally, I decided to sell #IDFCFirstBank equity that I held for last 5 years or so. It was difficult to resist a INR 600k profit but the other reason that prompted me to sell it was my big losses on the options trade that continue to pileup, and I don't want to invest new money in direct equity.  Once I sold all (4300 still remaining), I can likely still take-home net INR 100k. I should have had let it go when I exited the May positions. I intend to buy #Infosys from the principal amount that comes out. IT sector is fairly going down the turn and it will be good time to accumulate slowly, 

I think, IDFC bank was a good bet. I am selling almost at 67% gain, which is like 12% per year. On the other hand, even Infosys stock does not perform in near future, I expect to get at-least 1-2% in dividends per year. 

On the personal front, the week was largely uneventful apart from the fact that Myra and Pallavi went back this week, to be back in Thailand by end of July or early August. The transition to Bangkok finally happening. I hope they had a good one month spent here. It was slow in site seeing, but there was no need to rush things as well. 

Anvay book is finally published, and I guess, it is a good thing for this age. It is difficult to write a book. I hope it appeals to young adults as he calls, it is for specific audience. 

Anvay travelled to Bengaluru last week to try for PES, but unfortunately seats finished at 4830 rank much lower than his rank which is in 7ks. It was largely expected but you just wanted to take a chance. 

He now has to finalize from #KIIT and #Manipal University Jaipur (MUJ). I think the inclination is towards MUJ. It has to be closed this week, as you have to pay the fees :)

vA

Bring My Infinity Alive

11-06-2023

#Bring My Infinity Alive is the title of book written by my son. The things have changed from past where a publisher will review and see its potential and publish it at no cost. These days, the competition and ecommerce has made it easy that you can pay to get it published. I appreciate his effort and zeal in getting here, writing a 150-page book is no easy feat. All my ask was to make it catchier to the readers in order to bind them in reading it full. Hope he learns by this experience. 

Myra and Pallavi, I hope enjoying their Bangkok trip, with now 2 weeks more to go for this round. They will soon be back on dependent visa, and Myra will go to new school here.  

We had the first family dinner yesterday, at Dipak's place. It was kind of nice for a change. The key goal was to have some introduction to Pallavi and Myra, to keep them engaged and also make new friends in this new country. I have known Dipak for years now and we almost meet every day during morning walk. 

Going back to Anvay aka Aadi, we still sorting out the admission to university for him. There is a lot of confusion, but we don't have many options. In case, he could have done little better scoring he would have better college to go. Anyways, the message is simple. Accept what you have and work hard to make it better. After a decade the score or XIIth marks discussion would look childish and insane. 

On the markets front, I am literally struggling to make any money this year so far. The losses are piling up as nifty continue to drive up slowly moving the supports higher gradually. It's going to be a tough ride back to green. I have kind of lost hope and now aiming to make a lesser loss. A profit will be a bonus. I am trading less due to this hangover position that I am rolling over since April 23 and it is already June. For me to make a profit, nifty needs to go down at least 400 points which is very unlikely.

Happy Sunday!!

vA

Myra and Pallavi in Bangkok

28-May-2023

Myra and Pallavi arrived in Bangkok on 23rd May, and so it's been a busy week doing homely settlements with buying lot of kitchen stuff, taking water bottle subscriptions, and some site seeing. Life at Narathiwas was bit peaceful in this sense that you don't have to buy a lot of stuff, but now since I have moved to a rented place which is going to be my #Bangkok home for at-least next one year, it needs all daily utility stuff from kettle, utensils to cleaning methods. 

Well, the week has gone very fast with next set of tasks lined up. I need to sort out their dependent visas, find school and also close on the university for Anvay in next few weeks. Also, it's going to be slightly busier in office as next MVP of corporate portal will start and we get into the same routine of morning standups and evening leadership calls. 

On the trading side, I am too disappointed with my results of May as have to take an INR 125k loss while rolling over the positions to June, and June is also not looking better. In retrospect, it's the same old problem of not accepting a loss easily. I should have moved on after April adjustments and follow my intraday system. Markets seem to be euphoric with no signs of retracement. Everyone seems to be very bullish, and it's not looking wrong. 

I assume markets have already priced in that interest rates now peaked, and inflation is on downward trajectory which means any hard recessions fears already discounted. Also, no one is talking about #Ukraine war anymore. The world has moved on and country now part of ruins. 

Part of my strategy will be to get out of this trade without any losses. I am not sure now, that it can be done. I need to get more aggressive in selling puts to recover some and minimize losses. 

Also, I am getting a bit greedy on #IDFCBank which is showing 45% gains. I am getting biased to book profits and buy #Infosys last week. However, #Infosys has already moved up from lows lately, and one reason, I couldn't sell the bank equity last week as most of my IDFC bank equity is pledged, and I need to get it un-pledged before selling. I still think, Infosys is a good buy and it also pays dividend regularly. You can easily get 40k in dividends if you own a 1000 stock, which is not a great yield (<1%) but when compared to IDFC Bank, where zero returns for last five years. It's still a thought at the moment.

Have a great day!

vA

Golden Circle Week, and Miami

21-May-2023

Good morning ...

I had a really great time in Miami attending the Golden Circle event. In retrospect, it looks time went by in too fast like we just went in there.

Day 0 

We onboarded Emirates A380 to Dubai and then B777-300 to Miami from Dubai. First time in A380 and it looks bigger and spacious. It took around 6 hours to reach Dubai and another 16 to reach Miami. It was quite a long flight end to end, but able to get some sleep during the Miami flight.

Day 1 15th May

Reached at Airport around 10:40 local time and we were onboarded onto a bus to hotel. It took like two hours before we finally checked-in around 1 pm. We relaxed a bit, get some sleep and go to Reception and Opening Session at 5pm followed by a Welcome Dinner from 7pm to 10pm. Day 1 was largely uneventful; we could have done more with pools guess. 

Day 2 16th May

Started with missing the yoga session at 6am. We freshened up and went in to get our breakfast. Two sessions Why the world need IBM and then off to lunch. I had chosen CSR activity, so we were taken to an elementary school. I ended up cleaning and picking up dead leaves from the garden. It was kind of okay but looks very much staged. It was still little fun and different. Later, in the evening we went in for an Italian dinner at Dolce Italian. The food was okay, may be American Italian. We ended up walking to the street and shops at Lincoln Avenue, it looks like a good shopping and eating are. 

Day 3 17th May

Decided to go for a walk to see sunrise, we got up bit early and ended on the beach walk road. It was a good start of the day followed by a little more relaxing breakfast. We got into Garage sessions post breakfast and then seems like there was no other till late. K Daranee and team decided to explore the Lincoln shopping area, so me and Pasin also tagged along. I bought some artificial jewelry for Myra and Pallavi and ended up with a black T-Shirt for Anvay. We came back around 1pm, just able to get our Lunch and I moved to the learning class of Ceviche and Mojito. 

I was taken to OLA bar about 15 mins ride from the bus. It was a good session, ended up learning making a fish dish and mojito with Rum. 

There was another dinner in the evening from 7pm, "Celebrity Evening". We thought, it was like another dinner, so we ended up in casual, and to our surprise when we went down, each one was dressed like going to a red-carpet event. It was dinner, drinks, shows and then a concert by One Republic. I never heard of this band, but the music was good. I came back to the room around 11pm but Pasin stayed for another 30mins or so. He really seemed to have liked this. 

Day 4 Departures

We started early with a walk, and then spent some time in the pool. We wanted to spend more, but as we planned for some shopping little far away, we got out around 9am, packed our stuff, got ready and went in for breakfast. We came back to room, freshened up, checked out and moved our baggage to the luggage area. The shopping outlet was really far away, like 45mins taxi ride. It was a Saw Grass Mill in Sunrise City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The place was really nice, and prices were great. I probably end up spending the largest amount of money I ever spent on one single shopping. 

We came back around 04:30pm local time and a black SUV waiting for us, thanks to Emirates business class tickets back to Bangkok. We reached airport at 6pm, checked-in, spent some time in Turkish Lounge. 

On the flight, had 2-3 drinks and didn't realize when sleep took over. I slept for 8-9 hours and then, had a good breakfast and we landed in Dubai around 07:35 local time. I did some shopping, and back to A380 business class which was another level of luxury. I had few drinks, dinner and slept for about 3 hours. It was a good flight back to Bangkok, and a Limousine was waiting for you to drop at home. 

I arrived back to the apartment around 9am. Back to work fellas ....

vA

The Big Interview

14-May-2023

12-May was a big day; It's more than cracking a simple job interview. It's like now or never. I felt very nervous, and anxiety took over all of me. In the end, I think I did okay. The presentation was perfectly 14.5 minutes followed by 30 minutes of Interview. I was able to answer most of the questions to the best, I think. I can't explain the feeling once it was over. It felt very much relaxed like someone has taken off tons off weight from your head. Now, I have to wait for the results and hoping for the best. 

Post interview on 12-May-2023 and after some work, went out for one beer with Deepak, Pete and Arup. I promised my father-in-law a night food and a drink. I reached back home at 10pm, and then went out to Vertigo, and to our bad luck, it rained that night. Nothing we could do, so had one beer at inside bar and went out to get some pizza at Sukhumvit around 1 am. I guess, he was getting worried that he might miss the flight as it was too late, and he need to get up early to catch up flight back to India. We finally came back at 2am and slept at 2:15. I hope, he had fun and enjoyed his stay at Bangkok. I could have done more but it was too busy and stressful due to the interview. 

I count this week as one of the productive ones, as was able to also make a rental lease starting 20th May at Belle Park. I no longer need to carry stuff all around with me on India trips and have a permanent home at Bangkok at least for the next one year. I personally liked the house; the only drawback is that it's a lower floor and probably not a great view. 

And, yeah just to mention, I am writing this from Suvarnabhumi Airport #Bangkok, waiting to onboard Emirate A380 to Dubai and then to Miami. The task looked not possible in March but here I am. I really wanted Pallavi to travel this time, but anyways, Pasin was destined to be part of this. I am not sure whether we have the right frequency or not, but he truly deserves it if you ask me. The man does the job for more than 5 persons, can handle client and run things independently. I owe him my success big time. He is not the only one, but it wasn't a difficult choice. 

Moving to the markets, and that's something not going as per my guess. #Nifty continues to rise, making it difficult for me to exit without loss. I am still trying to bring this wrong direction trade either to green or minimal loss. It seems like an uphill task, and maybe I have to do roll this position off to June. Hoping for a gap down tomorrow as BJP loss Karnataka state in the assembly elections. People saying it's already priced in. Yeah, may be, because the markets like certainty, and a full majority is a certainty. Well, for me there will be limited action as I will be busy at #Miami.

Pallavi and Myra are coming to Bangkok on 23rd May for a month, and I want to make it one of the best vacations for them. I guess, there is a lot of complaint and I hope they come with the list of places they want to explore. Wish me luck :). 

vA 

Visa is here finally

 07-May-2023

I finally got my US visa on Saturday, a task which looked impossible few weeks back. Hey Miami, I am coming. It's a very short trip from May 15 - May 20, with 30% of time in travel. Not sure whether it's worth it or not but will be a good break. 

The past week was quite eventful with my father-in-law deciding to visit #Bangkok and I ended up seeing the city again. He arrived on Thursday, and Friday we spent visiting Sukhmvit and spent some time at Bewski Radisson Blu rooftop bar. On Saturday, visited central world and spent our evening visiting AsiaTique, ferry rides and visiting ICONSiam mall. Sunday was no different as we visited a Vishnu temple and Khaosan road in the evening  it was a short trip as it was very hot and we were really tired from last two days. I wanted to make best use of holidays and the weekend as the coming week going to be very busy with my big interview on 12th and also, preparing for the US travel. I just hope to balance out between work and spending time with him showing the city. 

Anvay, still struggling on getting things right for his admission and this is the most worrying part or me. I am not sure what exactly I can do to get this sorted. I still need to sort out on the housing front in Bangkok and seems like I will have to stay another month at Narathiwas. I am now quite tired of moving with a suitcase, so really looking to get into a year long rental lease. 

On the markets, I am still struggling badly on the bearish trade and in all likely hood, I will get a big loss in May. The market seems to be very bullish with no sign of retracements and the underlying premiums are very low in offering any substantial benefit on put selling. It is going to be very tough to get in green. 

vA

Covid-19 is booming back

29-Apr-2023

Last Saturday I met Deepak Bhatia and Pete over dinner, and I was told by Deepak on Sunday that his son is now positive for covid-19. That's like oops, and there started the isolation for next couple of days. Unfortunately, I had met Dipak Mishra in the morning. I cancelled my morning walks and any plan to go to office this week. A couple of planned dinners were cancelled. Suddenly, there was more, Arup got positive last Monday too and then a couple of few more here and there. #Covid-19 is still scary and socially pressuring as everyone gets conscious of it. Well, the good news is that by end of this week we all who had dined last Saturday still remained negative. I started my walk back today and it feels very refreshing. 

Next two weeks looks very busy, guess nothing new. My visa appointment is on 3rd May, hopefully it will go well, and I can travel to US. I still have to close on the house, and most important is my interview on 12th May. It is stressing to be honest. 

Spoke to Venky this morning and he will be shifting to Atlanta end of May in the home he already bought. I am not sure, whether he is still active in trading, but he talks less about it. May we both have accepted that it has to work this way only for us, where we continue to focus on our jobs and still keep entertaining us with the trading. It will only be a side gig. I am looking forward to seeing him if I am able to visit Miami on 15th May, but it looks tight unless I go a bit early. Well, let's see. 

Home scenario is still the same, looking forward for Pallavi and Myra to travel to Bangkok after 20th May. Anvay is still juggling with what he is going do next. He must have got some confidence after his acceptance to Penn's State. However, it is without any scholarship offer so have to pass it guess due to large fees and expenses. It is estimated to cost $50k for a year, which is like fucking too much for someone earning in India or Thailand. 

Markets looking so bullish and India #VIX (Volatility index) under 11. I read its lowest in last 40 months and seems like nifty is going to fire a bit more on the upside. This is not good news for my positions as I rolled over short 17200 CE to May which is taking heavy losses. April was a total disaster; however, net P&L was positive 3k. It's a shame, but I like green. I think I am stuck in this short call trade and a positive May will be a bigger challenge than April. Premiums are low as VIX is lowest, and there is no money on the adjustments when you sell more PEs. It's not an ideal scenario for option sellers. 

I took few aggressive bets to adjust April toward positive, like traded #banknifty, #adanienterprises and it helped to some extent. The trend is so directional that you just have to sell puts to make money. I am stuck because of my short call position, and I didn't see this big bull trend coming. I don't think we will see 17800 on #nifty during May. 

Suddenly, everything on economy locally and globally looks so vibrant (Ukraine war still going on, and I don't know whether I should call Zelensky very brave or idiot. World seems to be more chaotic this week with fighting in Sudan. 

Well, I don't want to think too much, and will handle as it comes. Next week is a very short week, with few holidays so looking forward getting some rest and focus on my big interview. It's like finding a new job.

vA

Catchup week and a decent recovery from a potential loss

23-Apr-2023

It was a quite productive week as I was able to complete and got few reviews done on the profile. I was able to catch up on my walk. It is still fewer steps from normal but better than the last few weeks. I had small session on tennis also this morning. Also, looked at few home options at #Bangkok, though didn't find anyone great. I am still awaiting on US Visa moving forward but have only 3 weeks left to sort this out. I guess, next few weeks are going to be busier with a lot of action coming on the work front. It always like this, so I am not panicking and take a step at a time. 

I am glad, Pallavi is okay after recent infection that she got and that kept me very worried. She needs to gain weight as it is already at a critical point, so she has to be happy, less stressed and also feel content from her job. This is my top priority, and a part of my brain keeps on thinking about it. Second on the personal front is where Anvay going to land up. I prefer he gets to some NIT, but that doesn't seem to be an option so have to look for alternates. And yeah, I need to read his book.

Yesterday, I had a catchup with Tina and k-Fon and also met Deepak Bhatia and Pete over dinner. Some gossip, personal lives and yeah, usual chit-chat. It was nice to see the guys after long. I guess this is the important part of our role that we do to drive things and relationships pay an important role in making that happen. 

I am still juggling to make the profits for April, but as of last Friday, I have considerably recovered from the loss-making nifty call positions with the net loss of around 29k. I am not sure if I can turn it around from red to green in next 5 trading days. I should be thankful to #Infy, whose results spook the markets and stopped the upward trend giving me a chance to recover. The direction is not very clear, but banking can drive it up as large banks seems to post good numbers and most of the downside from the tech is already priced in. 

My going in strategy is to add some short positions on the May calls and more puts on the downside to catch up with my April loss.  I will still call it a decent recovery for my positions as, last week I was looking at around 200k loss, which would have been very bad. My priority is still to get April to profit and see how to improve on my trading positions setup. I need to look at the hedging options like moving to iron fly or iron condors from strangles. 

Read this week that #India is now the most populous country something we shouldn't be very proud of. The load will put further constraints on jobs, and limited resources that the country has. It will now take decades to rollback this, once everyone starts to think about this problem from objective reasons. On the economy side, the rates cycle seems to have peaked out and this likely to be the good news for the bulls which means downside risk for markets may be limited. 

vA

Travel to Bangkok via Mumbai

 16-Apr-2023

I am writing this from Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport. Mumbai is the financial capital of India and this my first time going to Bangkok via Mumbai. The side effects of booking ticket late. The international departure terminal is nicely built and looks quite beautiful. It was way less crowded compare to Delhi one, and especially the immigration and security part was much faster.

A lot was achieved this week after the hospital episode last week. We got the post hospitalization consultation completed, able to pull through my promotion candidate package, pest control done for the beetles and still able to find time for some outing with kids. The biopsy report was negative, which was a big relief and guess Pallavi also got relieved. I still feel deprived of sleep as it was an overwhelming week but will find time to cover it next week :)

The plan for the next few weeks has already been laid, it is going to be focused on my promotion presentation and rehearsal, sorting out US visa for Miami travel and also, finding a new home at Bangkok as Nararthiwas is no longer affordable. Well, that's what Life is, you finish some tasks and new tasks get added, and you reset your brain to chase those. 

On the trading front, it looks like I have to take a heavy loss in April series. The #banknifty bullishness is not going to die even the IT pack is weak. It seems like I have to move to condors that short strangles sooner as the possibilities of recovery from such scenario where index rallies 700-1000 points in 2-3 weeks is not going to be manageable with the current margin I have. Also, the other mistake this time was not sticking to the same position sizing of 400 qty. My action will be to recover as much as possible within April and then rollover this to May. Short terms scenario for #nifty looks to be 18000 in April series, though #Infy results on Monday may try to trim bulls. I need to do some action on Monday morning, if Infosys plays in my favor, though I have a feeling that it will be an initial jerk and bank-nifty will pull the index up. Hope for the best, which is not the right this to do in trading "rely on hope"

vA

Back home and a difficult week at markets

 
09-Apr-2023

We ended a difficult week with few days at hospital where my wife got admitted for some tests as she continues to lose weight over the past few years w/o the real cause found. It was supposed to be 1-2 days procedure, but we ended up spending three full days with the total expenses exceeded our estimates. It was far more of a mental harassment than the money I would say in the end.  I was regretting my decision to choose this path for tests; however, our doctor was equally responsible for misguiding us. The ordeal is far from over as all test results don't show any significant issues. We need to continue finding more causes with CT/MRIs advised at the discharge. However, we are glad that we are back home after this ordeal.

Our #anniversary will be low key affair as Pallavi already feeling very weak from the endoscopy and colonoscopy tests which normally drain you out.  I am hopeful that she will feel better after few days. 

Anvay had his second attempt at JEE Mains, with 49 Q attempts. It is going to be busy few next weeks for him as its most of the competitive exams will be held in next two months. I need to travel back to Thailand on 16th due to upcoming work permit renewal, and as I was telling my wife that Apr-Jun seems to be very chaotic and busy with lot of different priorities. a) Pallavi's medical attention b) Work-permit renewal c) Anvay's test for under-graduate admissions d) Travel to US for Golden Circle e) my presentation deck, prep for my interview and panel interview for my next step. On top of it, I now have to find a permanent home in Bangkok as Narathiwas Residences has gone very expensive, and I can't afford it.  

I didn't trade this week much as it was a short week, and I was only adjusting my loss-making positions on the 17200 CE. Markets has shown bullishness and it is going to hit 17700 shortly, it seems like. I guess, I am caught on the wrong side, as I was expecting a pullback from 17500 levels. I will now have to spend quite a few days/weeks to adjust these positions to avoid big loss, and therefore, I expect to make less trades. The positions now showing an unrealized loss of 100k, with 24k of realized gains, net unrealized loss of 76k. I have been through similar situations and my learning curve on this is still how to don't get into this kind of situation. I guess, it has to be not mixing up short term with long term #macro trends. In short, markets were over-sold and a 700 run in two weeks is difficult to protect. I hope I will be able to manage this as in the past.

vA