Modak and the Art of Investing

As the aroma of freshly steamed Modaks fills homes during Ganesh Utsav, the festive spirit comes alive instantly. My mouth is already watering at the thought! The humble Modak, prepared with love to honour Lord Ganesha, may look simple from the outside. But anyone who has tried making one knows that a good Modak depends on several things coming together - the right ingredients, the right recipe, patience with the process, and finally, enjoying the result. Investing is surprisingly similar....

min read

As the aroma of freshly steamed Modaks fills homes during Ganesh Utsav, the festive spirit comes alive instantly. My mouth is already watering at the thought! The humble Modak, prepared with love to honour Lord Ganesha, may look simple from the outside. But anyone who has tried making one knows that a good Modak depends on several things coming together - the right ingredients, the right recipe, patience with the process, and finally, enjoying the result. Investing is surprisingly similar. Choose the Right Ingredients A Modak is only as good as the ingredients that go into it. Fresh coconut, good-quality jaggery, properly prepared rice flour and the right flavours all contribute to the final result. Our investments and financial products are the ingredients of our financial plan. Equities, mutual funds, fixed income, gold and other investments each have a specific role to play. The objective is not to pick whatever appears most exciting at the moment, but to select suitable, good-quality investments that match our financial goals, time horizon and ability to take risks. Health and life insurance are equally important ingredients. Adequate coverage helps protect savings, the family, and their financial goals and dreams. Good ingredients provide the foundation. But ingredients alone are not enough. Get the Recipe Right You may have the finest ingredients in the kitchen, but if the proportions are wrong, the Modak may still not turn out well. The same applies to investing. Asset allocation is the recipe of a financial plan. Too much of one ingredient can spoil a Modak. Similarly, excessive concentration in one asset or too much money in low-return products can spoil a portfolio. Balance is key. A thoughtfully constructed portfolio brings different investments together in the right proportions. To keep asset allocation very simple - short-term goals can be planned through bank fixed deposits, recurring deposits and debt mutual funds. For long-term goals, one can consider hybrid mutual funds, equity mutual funds or direct stocks. Trust the Process Once the Modak is shaped and placed for steaming, constantly checking whether it is ready will not make it cook faster. Investors often make the same mistake. We keep checking markets, reacting to every correction, chasing recent performers or changing strategies because of short-term noise. Good investing requires patience and discipline. Invest regularly, review periodically and allow your financial plan enough time to work. Compounding is powerful precisely because it rewards those who remain invested for long periods. Sometimes, the best thing an investor can do is simply avoid unnecessary interference. Enjoy What You Have Created Finally comes the most important part - eating the Modak! The purpose of investing is not merely to accumulate the largest possible number on a statement. Wealth should eventually help us fulfil our goals, support our families, create financial security and enjoy life with greater peace of mind. A good Modak needs the right ingredients, the right recipe and trust in the process. A good investment journey needs exactly the same. This Ganesh Utsav, may Bappa bless us with the wisdom to make good financial choices, the patience to stay disciplined, and the prosperity to enjoy the fruits of our efforts. Ganpati Bappa Morya! (The author is a Chartered Accountant and CFA (USA). Financial Advisor. Views personal. He could be reached on 9833133605.)

Gallery Politics

Correspondent

Dec 14, 2025

2 min read

The recent Salt Lake Stadium fiasco where iconic Argentine footballer Lionel Messi’s visit unravelled amid a welter of chaos and fan ire was yet another brazen display of the megalomania of the leadership of the ruling Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).

Messi’s Kolkata leg brought with him the promise of joy for a city that has long treated football as both religion and refuge. Legions of his fans paid exorbitant amounts - up to Rs. 14,000 - for the chance of a lifetime to see the greatest footballer of his generation. What they got instead was a masterclass in TMC misrule. Messi was corralled into a tight ring of ministers, party fixers and VIP flotsam, barely visible to the crowd that had come for him. When this unqualified disappointment spilled into frenzied vandalism, the police responded with baton charges.

Kolkata’s Messi mess was political culture made flesh. Under CM Mamata Banerjee, public events have become private spoils, gargantuan photo opportunities for ministers, rent-seeking exercises for organisers and ordeals for ordinary citizens and fans. Messi was reduced to a prop in the ruling party’s ‘Khela Hobe’ carnival, surrounded not by players or children but by second- and third-rank politicians and their wives desperate for proximity to reflected glory.

Given that West Bengal is already sensing poll tremors, the Chief Minister’s response followed a well-worn script of shock and apology.

The deeper embarrassment is not that Messi event in Kolkata was mishandled, but that this outcome felt inevitable. His Hyderabad leg passed without drama. Mumbai will likely manage the same. It was in Kolkata alone that the event turned a celebration into a crude and grasping circus. That is because Bengal’s ruling class has internalised the idea that the State exists only to be consumed by ministers, their relatives, their courtiers. The fans were not merely forgotten but were considered utterly irrelevant.

Consider the small humiliations layered atop the larger betrayal. Water bottles were first banned, and then sold inside at extortionate prices. Tickets sold at premium rates for seats that offered no view. Security arrangements that protected VIPs but treated paying spectators as a nuisance. This is nothing if not feudal extraction.

West Bengal’s problem today is one of a feudal political ecosystem that rewards loudness over competence and theatrics over administration. Banerjee, who once promised to smash this culture, has instead perfected it.

What is most shameful for Kolkata is that a city which once prided itself on its cultural seriousness now makes heroes of political loudmouths and social-media grotesques.

The Messi fiasco has palpably exposed the ever-widening gulf between rulers and ruled in West Bengal. Messi will move on. But for his fans in Kolkata, the memories that will linger will not be of greatness glimpsed, but of betrayal endured. If this is Banerjee’s idea of ‘khela,’ then Bengal’s spectators may yet decide to change the rules in the coming election.

Modak and the Art of Investing

Gallery Politics

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