Shouting into the void

It is too tiring,

Shouting into the void;

The echoes call back,

As if they mock;

 

Why make yourself hoarse,

Talking to the wind;

There's no one to hear,

Pleas on deaf ears!

 

We have senses five,

Gateways to the world;

The mind needs to open,

What's firmly shut!

 

Everyone resides,

In an echo chamber;

Shouting into the void,

With no one to hear!

 

Dinesh Gopalan,

10 September, 2025

Gold!

Gold has appreciated by fifty percent in the last one year, from Rupees 74000 to 110,000. 

Gold is by far the safest and most liquid asset in the world. It is not amenable to control of any one authority. It remains the ultimate fallback in case of economic collapse or war. It is easy to buy, easier to store,  and easy to keep hidden from the greedy eyes of Big Brother. 

All fiat currency is maya, illusion. All economies are run by a seat of the pants approach, with covering fire provided by so called economists who are clueless. 

It is good to ride the bubbles created by fiat currency and the chaos of the financial markets. Stocks are a good investment, but they are like riding a roller coaster, you should know when to get on and get off. 

Bonds are great to provide a steady income stream, and to prevent erosion of wealth that is measured based on that illusory piece of paper called money. 

But the only things that offer protection from inflation and preservation of wealth in the long run are gold and real estate. Of the two, gold requires zero knowledge or technical expertise, carries zero risk  and involves zero active management. 

The price of gold today, or the percentage increase in the last one year are irrelevant. We make the mistake of comparing gold with that constantly fluctuating chimera called money and think that the price of gold is going up or down. Actually, gold always remains steady, like a rock anchored in crashing seas, while the waves around it roil in turbulence.  

All portfolios should have a significant allocation to gold. Especially when times are turbulent, like now, and like every other time in history!

Price does not equal value

The most expensive schools are at best average in learning outcomes. 

The more expensive the hospital, the more damage they will do to your health. If it's a "corporate for profit" hospital, run for your life. They will empty your wallet, and ensure you suffer permanent damage also. 

The more expensive the handbag, or shoe, or whatever, the more bizarre it is likely to be. 

The more expensive the cosmetic, the less you need it. An oil bath twice a week with cold pressed oil ( one tablespoon per bath), is all you need for a flawless skin, and healthy skin to boot. 

And so on...

Doesn't apply to all circumstances though. Chocolates in India are normally around one thousand rupees a kg. They can't afford to use  real cocoa beans at that price. Buy artisanal chocolates only, expect them to cost six times as much. 

The modern marketing machinery convinces us that expensive is better. The messaging is in your face, and also insidious. 

Go back to the base principles. Trace everything to the source, question every so called benefit. 

And then hunt for real value. A life of abundance is a life worth living and it need not be expensive at all.

The saga of gold

It all starts with India not having gold mines. 

3000 tons annual world  production, India close to zero.

But Indians buy 800 tons of gold annually. 

Which is a huge loss of foreign exchange. At current prices, hundred billion dollars annually. 

So the government has a problem. How to reduce the foreign exchange outflow? 

Remove the Indians' love for gold, says one economic advisor! Make them love other things! Ha ha! Easier said than done. Love of gold is congenital, embedded deep in our genes. 

Educate them, says another advisor. About how gold is an unproductive asset, about how it does not contribute to national development, about how holding gold is unpatriotic! Problem is, Indians are not prone to receiving education, like presumably the Chinese are. Indians don't listen to governments, they pretty much do what they want. 

Ban gold imports ! Ah, the ideal bureaucratic solution! But unfortunately, gold is very high value packed in a very low volume. Every Indian coming from abroad decks himself in gold. Gold still somehow manages to find its way in somehow, even if shoved up people's large intestines. 

Ok, how about levying a customs duty? It will reduce imports, reduce consumption, make Indians more patriotic! Bad idea. Like we know after watching so many Hindi movies, the smuggler sitting in his underground adda stirs into action. Every dingy, every ship, every plane has gold stowed away inside, and India still manages to get its due share. 

There is a further  problem when gold gets smuggled in in such large quantities. It's an entire black economy that is created because of the arbitrage. 12 percent duty being evaded effectively means 12 lakh rupees profit for every kg of gold at today's prices, evaded money, evasive money, that gives rise to a huge, black, money laundering economy. Why do you think there are so many jewellers from Kerala opening multi storeyed showrooms in every city? 

And how do the smugglers send money out of the country to pay for all that gold? Some of it may go out as cash, but a lot of it goes out as a reverse flow of goods. Other goods. Like drugs. What enters from the golden triangle or golden crescent exits from the docks of Mumbai or Cochin, cutting a huge swathe of destruction across the country in the process. 

So duties don't work, the finance minister has to roll them back. 

So what next? What to do? Every government, every finance minister, every central banker, hates gold. For it is the one thing that takes away their power, the crazy illusory power that fiat money bestows. If left to them, they would make owning gold illegal. They tried that, in several countries across the world, including India and the US, but it didn't work. 

So now what to do? New finance minister, new scheme. Sovereign Gold Bonds! Give the public a piece of paper linked to the price of gold! No forex outflow! The public doesn't bite so sweeten the deal with an additional 2.5 percent per annum! Very very ill advised. The government ended up giving IOU's based on a commodity it has no control over. Just ten years, and they realised their folly. The government faces a big fat redemption bill. No more IOUs, scheme closed. 

In the meanwhile, Indians continue to consume gold happily. All of 800 tons a year. And we can explore all we want, we will even strike oil, but no gold. Dev Bhoomi we may be, but Swarna Bhoomi we are not. 

Indians are smart that way. They know what is good for them. They continue to buy gold, lots of it. 

Mera Bharat Mahaan...

Food is life

The longer the shelf life, 

The shorter is yours; 

Food that is cooked outside, 

Is what poisons us! 

Longer the factory chain,

More the filth within; 

Healthy is bought and cooked, 

Into food at home! 

Even the salt that you eat,

Is chemical gloop; 

Not the way God made it,

No, it's not NaCl! 

Always eat food that spoils,

But eat before it does; 

Cooked at home and with love,

Beats outside anytime! 

Buy them whole, cook them fresh, 

And eat within hours; 

If what I eat is old,

What am I alive for?