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.)

Name Games

Correspondent

Dec 28, 2025

2 min read

If Rahul Gandhi and the Congress he claims to lead wish to be taken seriously as a challenger to Narendra Modi and the BJP, they might start by choosing their battles better. Instead, the Congress has launched itself into a melodrama over nomenclature by mounting a ‘Save MNREGA’ campaign not because rural India is being short-changed, but because Mahatma Gandhi’s name has been removed from the title of a reworked employment law. In doing so, Gandhi and his party have managed to turn a potentially substantive debate about welfare design and federal finances into a fatuous quarrel over symbolism.

The Modi government has not scrapped the guarantee of rural employment; it has merely replaced the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act with a new statute - the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin). The new law promises 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the earlier 100 days, and retains its statutory character.

Yet, Gandhi has framed the change as an assault on rights and evidence of Modi’s “one-man rule” while alleging that the decision was taken by the Prime Minister’s Office without cabinet consultation. Such a claim does little to explain why the party has ignored the more consequential change embedded in the new law: the shift in funding. Unlike MNREGA, which was overwhelmingly financed by the Centre, the new programme requires a 60:40 cost-sharing arrangement between New Delhi and the states. That has real implications for poorer states, fiscal federalism and implementation capacity. This is where the Congress’s outrage comes a cropper.

An Opposition serious about governing would have seized on such details. Does the increased guarantee come with assured funding? Will states already drowning in debt be able to meet their share? Could uneven state capacity lead to patchy delivery and fresh rural distress? Instead, the Congress has chosen to swear oaths to defend a name.

Invoking Mahatma Gandhi has long been the Congress’s emotional reflex. But politics by genealogy is a poor substitute for policy. Rural households care less about whose name adorns a law than whether wages arrive on time and work is actually provided.

There is also a whiff of hypocrisy. When in power, the Congress never hesitated to rebrand schemes or centralise credit. Now it decries rebranding as sacrilege. Worse, by portraying the issue as an attack on Gandhi rather than a restructuring of welfare architecture, it hands Modi an easy riposte that the opposition prefers sentiment to substance.

Gandhi has often accused the PM of ‘distraction politics.’ However, it is he and his party which have often indulged in such theatrics. Instead of a data-driven assault on the Modi government’s priorities, the Congress prefers to fritter away time and political capital on a semantic crusade.

By mistaking symbolism for strategy, Rahul Gandhi once again confirms his knack for missing the open goal while Modi watches untroubled from the other end of the pitch.

Modak and the Art of Investing

Name Games

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