Gujju Ahoy

So there i was ambling along the road from KC college to the station along with my classmates who never stop speaking in gujrati. I do not understand this language though can follow it in bits and pieces. So usually when they chatter amongst themselves in guju toungue i drift off with my own thoughts. And as i was busy thinking about pratically nothing, my intense thought process was jolted by a slap on my back. He was one of my gujju clasmates who thumped me on my back and congratulated me , as if he had known me since ages and had changed my diapers, on my performance in CAT. And the whole group started to pester me for a treat and i assured them that it would be due once i get a final call from somewhere. At this juncture the back thumper told me that i could give one right now and he would lend me the money if i don't have any and would charge half the interest rates the banks charged. Though he told this jokingly , i am sure the conditions would have applied if i had actually taken some monye from him.

This little anecdote is just to highlight the commercial instinct of the Gujrati community which is simply great. I guess after Mom and Dad, 'Profit' is the word the young of the community learn first. Every single Gujrati i have known has always looked to invest somewhere and improve his financial standing. This community is responsible for the growth of the Indian capital markets. Just like the Jews who are the worlds best bankers , the Gujrati community has to be the most capitalistic and profit oriented community in the world. It is just in their blood.

In contrast i am a south Indian and people from my part of the country are not known for outr buisness skills. One can argue that Narayan Murthy is a big buisnessman but i really dont think he fought too many odds and set up what he has right now. I am not undermining his performance in any way , he has done a great thing but more because he was there at the right place at the right time. Contrast his style of functioning to that of the Ambanis and one can clearly see the demarcation in their leadership styles. The Ambanis advocate extreme capitalism whereas Infosys is more about socialist capitalism. My friend Srinath who is doing his masters in london went there along with a gujrathi friend of his to study. And that guy is more busy worrying aboput recovering his investment than studying and is doing two jobs and placing bets on football matches. At this rate he will break even, end up with a degree and mostly come back to India after making a decent profit. Even at the finance diploma classes i attend, students from this communtiy spend a majority of their converstaions discussing about investments , shares and company performance.

Ahh well in the end at least i know whom to approach next time i need a loan......
P.S. - Gujju girls are hot... err so are Punju girls...:))))