It is ironical that in a world replete with investment gurus vying with each other in the financial media, a true guiding beacon remains as elusive as ever. Many who embark on this quest, come across charlatans and end up poorer, both, in wealth and spirit.
I count myself among the fortunate few to have avoided this debacle. For this, I profusely thank my mentor, Mr. Chandrakant Sampat, who passed away yesterday, after having lived a life that many would consider an ideal one and yet not have the courage and fortitude to emulate.
While I was acquainted with Mr. Sampat (Chandrakant Kaka to me and legions of his followers) for a long time, the first time I truly benefitted from his advice was when I was encountering an awkward phase in my student life in the mid 1970s.
I was at loggerheads with a Professor who had summarily rejected a novel idea proposed by me in a project report on 'Entrepreneurship' – involving the substitution of aluminium tubes with plastic tubes - on rather specious grounds. On reading the same report, Kaka affectionately admonished me that I was not suited to be an entrepreneur. Seeing that I was nonplussed, he explained that while he was aware of my passion for stocks and analysis, running a company was a different cup of tea. Here, I would have to not only deal with various sceptics, but also cut through a thicket of red tape, deal with labour-unions, encounter rent-seekers of all kinds, and dissipate my energies in fruitless administrative tasks.
He then suggested something which changed the course of my life forever...Why don't you consider investing in the stockmarket, he asked. Doing so, will channel your analytical abilities fruitfully and give you access to a wide variety of businesses. It will also provide the leeway to easily jettison businesses whose fundamentals turn sour, a move which was easier to say than actually undertake in the real world.
Seeing the light, I took my first step in 1979. Over the years, my company, Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Ltd. has morphed from a stockbroker to a Portfolio Manager and has recently sponsored a Mutual Fund.
During this time, he was my sounding-board on many occasions. While he readily provided advice when asked for, he also gave me the freedom to run my operation without pontificating needlessly. This, despite me and him not seeing eye-to-eye on certain matters.
Kaka's investing prowess is legendary. Various publications have listed out his winners. But, very few have dwelt upon his other equally commendable virtues.
To him, money was merely a unit of account. It did not change his demeanour in any manner. Given his wealth, he could have lived a far more luxurious lifestyle, but consciously chose not to. His contention was, that once one is accustomed to the 'good life' one gets enslaved by it. It then begins dictating one's behaviour, both, in investing decisions and in relationships. While some believe that he was frugal to a fault, it is creditable that he never imposed these beliefs on others. This extended to his world-view, which, as time passed, acquired hues of grey and black.
He was a firm believer in the aphorism that 'The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken'. That is why he did not neglect his physical and spiritual well-being. This was manifest in him being a regular sight on Marine Drive, in his jogging attire, and his inter-mingling of the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita in his investment discourses.
He was one of the finest examples of a person who was 'living' and not just 'existing'. Age fell lightly on his shoulders. While he knew that he must someday bow to the inevitable, to him it was merely part of a natural progression, and not something to be fearful of. Hence, I would like to believe that when death finally crept upon him yesterday, it too must have done so with a sense of duty, rather than joy.
Kaka...May your soul rest in peace. Your intellectual integrity has not died with you. We, your disciples, will strive to keep it alive in the years to come.
