Peter and Paul are best friends and neighbors in an imaginary village of Goa. Both stay in houses next to each other, behind it, is a property lying idle which was purchased by their ancestors. Although the property is not divided by any boundary wall, Peter and Paul have separate papers that say they own an equal amount of the property in terms of size. One day when both are relaxing at Paul’s backyard, overlooking the property, Peter decides to brain storm an idea with his friend to do something constructive on the property.
Since both are educated, they do their own research and finally zero onto a business plan of organically growing exotic fruits and vegetables, in a controlled environment, and then plan to sell to starred hotels in their vicinity. Instead of growing first and then look for a market, they work backwards and survey all starred hotels as to which fruit and vegetable is the most in demand and at the same time lucrative. After soil testing and taking into account the weather conditions, they finalize on the product, grow samples of it and supply it to the hotels. Once the produce is accepted for quality, they work out the quantity and price and accordingly start growing it as per the exact demand of the hotels. With an initial capital of rupees three lakh each, Peter and Paul seem to have worked out a business model which generates steady revenues and give value to a property which otherwise was lying idle and till date had made only notional profit in terms of price appreciation.
Word goes around in the village and although everybody is only focused on the moolah that is raked by Peter and Paul, most ignore the fact that they risked the initial capital, or the hard work they consistently put and pay no attention to their basic decision of going against the tide not withstanding their education. Word finally reaches another set of friends, Tom and Jerry who are keen on replicating Peter and Paul’s success because of their similar circumstances of owning a common property in their backyards also purchased by their ancestors. Problem is Tom and Jerry are essentially lazy and because their parents never bothered to educate them, their decision making is seriously jeopardized. Their parents’ belief that leaving property behind is the ultimate fulfillment of their responsibility and resolution to all their children’s problems, education be dammed, has come to haunt Tom & Jerry’s ability to do any meaningful research or the initial marketing exercise Peter and Paul undertook.
So instead of taxing their brain for too long, they finally decide to sell the property for a price which will not change their financial goals significantly, but hereon will give them a head start in whatever endeavors they choose. But start they must, and because they heard many stories of people making a quick buck in gambling, they too start gambling the money with each other under the silly impression that their money will multiply. Immediately they figure out that this gambling is turning out to be a zero sum game, which means if Tom wins, it is always at Jerry’s cost and vice versa. Their friendship is too strong to see each other’s loss, so they end this exercise abruptly and go on and try their luck in gambling on events where they eventually win some but lose all.
Peter, Paul, Tom and Jerry had one thing in common all four had the desire to create wealth. While the first two chose to create value in what they inherited with a plan, the last two too left it to chance, eventually losing the only monetary asset they had. Nothing wrong in monetizing an asset, but if there was no definitive plan to make that money work for you, means they invited trouble at the doorstep. Goa boasts of very few Peter and Paul’s that create value, but Tom and Jerry’s exist a dime a dozen.Two days before the election results came out declaring Modi as the prime minister, the Indian Stock Market got wind of the decisive vote, and stock prices have been rising since then, with some intermittent corrections on the way. Market analyst are of the view that with a decisive leader in place the market has now entered into a positive zone which in stock market lingo is called a ‘bull market’ where the term ‘bull’ is used as a metaphor that signifies rise in stock prices. Assuming Modi will walk the talk, Indian and foreign investors are now on the look-out for companies where they see value and growth. Therefore, if two friends like Peter and Paul invest in the right companies, chances are both create value for themselves and not at the cost of each other.
During that same election time, Goa had its own bull market, the difference being this is no symbolic ‘bull’ in play, but the real thing. Bull fights all over Goa are popular not because the thrill it creates, but gives an opportunity to Tom and Jerry’s types to make money through betting, or so they think. Not wrong to have fun and maybe squander money, once in a while, if you must, but the real problem arises when these Tom’s think that by betting they will attain their financial goals and enhance their net worth.
Since casinos are present in prime places of Goa they usually take the flak as the main cause of gambling addiction in Goa, but we seem to never dwell on the reasons of gambling. In this material world there is pressure on the Generation Next to perform, so those who plan need not gamble, but those who leave it to fate, feel they will gamble away to prosperity, only to fall by the wayside. An educated Generation Next Goan might easily understand the theory of a zero sum game, while the not so educated usually struggle to grasp the fact, thereby getting lured into the world of betting and gambling. While there will be stories doing the rounds of some guy that made a killing on betting and gambling, there are very few Goans ready to explain to those fixated on gambling that invariably the house always wins.
(Plastino D’Costa is a business consultant)
