Of course, mere talk (and wishful thought) is unstructured and anything such does not assist in motivating me – true motivation comes from ‘experiencing firsthand’, correct? (Actually, I would have switched my rear with yours if you had ever asked for experiencing firsthand my father’s spanking, but that discussion is for some other time.) So, here I was, only half interested in making MY money, but not motivated enough, because my imagination had not been tickled through concrete visualizations of ‘money’. Therefore, I made some ‘friends’, got some invitations to a few parties and finally had the opportunity (actually several) to ‘experience’ firsthand how the ‘stock’ money had transferred itself through magical transformation into pieces of expensive, tangible materials. These materials made their presences felt from every corner of the humble (i.e. huge) residence of the person (persons, actually). Several of these quality objects were in the garages, and consisted of various makes and models whose ‘worth’ could easily be calculated as higher than my annual salary.

And there I was – fully motivated. The quest had begun. I took several academic courses, attended many seminars, collected tons of documents, read (actually memorized) websites, watched TV, talked hours on end with like-minded folks and finally realized some ‘truths’ along the way. It took me several months and several wads of my cash to realize that ‘making money in stocks’ ain’t easy, folks. It requires more courage than you think. It requires more luck than you imagine. And most of all, it ain’t easy at all for a layman (such as me) to strike it big. Let me lay out some of my learning.

The first truth is to either get solid advice on a stock from a proven advisor OR to know how to extract this ‘advice’ on your own. The easiest (and most profound) way is to discount advice from laymen. This includes the local gardener who suggests he knows someone, who knows someone and so the chain till someone who has inside information that a specific stock is terribly ‘undervalued’ and therefore (wonderfully) worth a fortune if you invested in it. Get over it – you are talking to a fortune teller. (Caution – If you like fortune tellers, read no further) There are several thousand professionals who are scouring the market for every stock available and giving their ‘advice’ on each of them. There are actually multiple analysts who are reviewing the same stock at the same time. These are trained people who have invested their money and careers into analyzing stocks and into understanding the hidden ‘value’ in each. You (and I) can do the same – the documents to analyze are public information and you (and I) can review these financial statements, review the same for competitors, understand economic forecasts and make smart decisions. Bottom line – there is a method employed by these professionals, and we can follow the same path. Fortune telling is not one of them.

Another truth is that for investing, one needs courage and mental strength if one is looking to make good money. I have heard the oft-repeated statement during my ‘research’ that the market balances risk with reward. In other words, the higher risk stock you invest in, the greater (potentially) the value that you may get out of it. Of course, it goes without saying that the ‘risk’ may manifest itself in terrible forms including loss of all investment. Some say that taking risky bets is fine if you know the market well enough to get out of it at the right time. (That is quite a feat to achieve.) The ‘market’ is nothing but your sentiments, my sentiments and those of all others taken together into a collective measure which soars or swoons based on events. Think 9/11. The terror attacks resulted in decimating airline stocks. I doubt anyone would have predicted such an event and therefore, if you (or I) were highly invested in a specific newly-launched super-duper (risky as well) airline stock, the ‘market’ would have thrown our plans down the drain (albeit temporarily). Also, how easy is it to quit when things are going for you? Imagine this scenario – you are half way eating the big steak on your plate and you know that you should not take the next bite. (Probably the wife told you) Can you quit right then? Can you simply give up right when you were about to gulp down one more juicy bite? Can you simply quit even when you are not close to your fill? That is exactly how I think ‘timing’ the market is, folks, and it is very difficult for me to do that.

The final truth as I understand is that it is better to have an advisor to handle some of your finances and to think about ‘diversifying’ your investment. Forget these awesome gains. Most people that I talked to have lost money in these get-rich quick result stocks. It is the loss of most that manifests into amazing stock market gains for some. The more I read and talked, the more apparent it became that I was potentially trying to gamble my savings away. It is better to have an advisor, and to invest your savings in ‘diversified’ portfolios. In other words, do not put all your money into airline stocks or steel or software. Put your money into different sectors of the market. And you will have the best insurance possible for rewards. I agree that these may not translate into superlative gains because one sector of the economy may pull you down. But as for me, folks, I had never guessed that Google would start under a hundred dollars and reach near seven hundred. And I had never guessed that Fannie Mae would drop from seventy five to seven within a year. So, there I am – still looking at my good looking workhorse Mazda in my two car garage and still figuring out how to ‘make money’. Anyone has better ideas, let me know and I will ‘research’, for free. Adios.

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The Online INDEX

Interviews

1. Hajar Konthe Rabindra Sangeet by Arundhati Deb
2. Srijato Bandhopadhyay – Exclusive Interview
3. Kothopokothone Tarun Kobi Binayak
4. Kothopokothone Kobi Abdus Sukur Khan

Data Analysis

1. CGC in the Sands of Time by Kaustubh Adhikari

Bengali Poems

1. Poem Collection by Amal Chowdhury
2. Poem Collection by Mriganka Chatterjee
3. Poem Collection by Roddur
4. Poem Collection by Sagarleena
5. Poem Collection by Satyabrata Acharya
6. Poem Collection by Soutik Singha
7. Poem Collection by Gabriel Sumon
8. Poem by Anirban Chanda
9. Poem by Chandrasekhar Bhattacharya
10. Poem by Dharabrishti
11. Poem by Monalisa Mukherjee
12. Poem by Pragga Mousumi
13. Poem by Shampa Sengupta
14. Poem by Soumyabrata Ghosh
15. Poem by Tirthankar Mukherjee
16. Poem by Kausik Dutta
17. Poem by Ankan Basu

English Poems

1. Poem Collection by Jibendu Narayan Majumdar

Bengali Story/ Articles

1. Daak by Shabari Ghosh
2. Onorthok Aghater Daag by Ankan Basu
3. Ontorongo Bonya Masi by Amrita Banerjee
4. Gorur Kotha by Arobindo Bandhopadhyay
5. Biplabi Bimal Nandi by Arup Chowdhury
6. Ek Kalo Boisakhi Jhore by Juthika Barua
7. Shoro Rifu by Kaustubh Adhikari
8. Chayaneel by Md. Shahed Faisal

English Story/ Articles

1. Mr. Ghosh by Arunava Sarkar
2. Knock – Knock by Arunava Sarkar
3. CGC-Stalwarts by Onkur
4. Spring – Renewal of Life by Swati Singh

Bengali Recipe Collection

1. Bhoj Koi Jahare by Soumyasree Chakrabarty

Photography

1. Amader Bangla by Annonymous Friend
2. Photography by Dipankar Saha
3. Photography by Soutik Singha

Art/Drawings/Paintings

1. Drawings by Haraprasad Singha
2. Painting Collection by Indra Majumdar
3. Painting Collection by Jibendu Narayan Majumdar

Travel Journal

1. Sunrise in Egypt by COCO

Kid Section

1. Drawing by Diya Ghosh
2. Drawing by Eemon Mukherjee
3. Drawing by Shrishti Sarkar
4. Drawing by Reeti Guha Neogi

Audio Section (Online only)

1. Bengali Song by Juthika Barua
2. Oorja – 20 Years Later – The Story of Generation by Supratim Sanyal
3. Recitation by Aditi Biswas

When: April 14 th, 2008 (Poila Boishakh)

Theme of Palki V.4: “Bangla O Bangali”

Palki Awards from Kolkata Board.

We are happy to announce small awards for best 3 submissions in Palki. “Submissions” could be a story, poem, painting, songs, jokes, etc. Winners will be decided by a public poll at Kolkata Board. The Poll will begin after 1 week from the release date of palki (14th April). The winners will be announced on March 7 th. Winners must provide us their address, phone no. to receive the award money.

1 st Prize: 45 USD
2 nd Prize: 35 USD
3 rd Prize: 25 UDS

We are changing our direction over the years, and this award will be awarded to the creative members in our board. We can send you a check or send the award money directly to your account (if you can provide your account details). So, be creative and also let you friends know about the small awards.

Note: ADMIN group will not be able to participate even if they submit any article for PALKI 4.

What is Palki?
Palki is the official e-magazine published bi-annually by Calcuttaglobalchat.net. We publish submissions in English and Bengali. With more than 6000 members in our community and thousands more guests everyday, PALKI give you a chance to experiment with your creative mind.

Why to submit in Palki?

Calcuttaglobalchat.net is one of the most popular websites targeted towards bengalis all over the world. Our registered members count beyond 6500 and more than 100,000 unique visitors (and growing) visit us every month. We try to showcase the talent of all new writers, as well as the contributions from renowned writers of Kolkata and abroad. Palki is your chance to reach out to more than 100,000 people just by submitting your compositions to us. We try to accept and publish as much as we can.

What can you submit?

1) Rommorauchona
2) Attaukauthamulauk (Hotey parey probaas jibon) Rauchona
3) Bangla gaan/Kobita/Natok niye alochonabhittik lekha
4) Bangla o Bangalir oitijjho ebong saunskriti niye lekha
5) Bishauybhittik Gaulpo o Kobita
6) Bangla r jibon niye chhobi (Photgraph)
7) Echhara o Paalki k rongeen korey ditey thaakbey chotoder pata, sekhaney ja ichchhey tai korbey chotora .. Amader member der barir choto je keu ja kichu (Lekha / Anka / Gaan/ Chhaura) pathatey parey.

Any other related material that follow the theme of PALKI.

9)Also remember that we have a AUDIO VISUAL section now. You can also send us your song, recitation etc.

When to Submit?

If you are submitting in Bengali Language, deadline: February,29, 2008
If you are submitting in English Language, deadline: March 15 th, 2008

Guideline for submissions in Bengali
Please use any free bengali typing softwares to write your bengali composition. Check spellings. Attach the .doc file (.bwd file if you are using bangla word) and email to us. Font size for bengali: 16.

Guideline for submission in english:
Use “Times new roman”, font 14. email the .doc file.

Where to find previous versions of Palki?
http://calcuttans.com/palki

What to include while you are emailing Content?

1. Name (Please include your real name, if you don’t want to publish your real name, suggest your preferred name)
2. Address
3. Phone No. (not required, useful if you would include.)
4. Your Photograph (We will love to add few lines about you and picture along with your composition. Please send us your picture with your composition)
5. Your userid at calcuttaglobalchat.net/invboard if you have one.

Bangla Typing guide:
http://www.calcuttaglobalchat.net/2007/08/03/bangla-typing-softwares/
Note: This post shall be updated as soon as we start getting submissions. We will update list of authors and name of submission as we go ahead.

Where to Submit Articles?

paalki@calcuttaglobalchat.net

use subject: Submission for Paalki 4