Pravasi Herald

Hindu Scriptures – The Smritis

By Dr. Narayana Bhat

Mr. Bhat is a member of the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama, Huntsville, Alabama. Mr. Bhat will be writing for our Hindu Religion column on bi-monthly basis and will choose his topic from readers’ questions. Please send your questions to Mr. Bhat at:

The Smritis

Next in importance to the Srutis are the Smritis or secondary scriptures. These are the ancient sacred law-codes of the Hindus dealing with the Sanatana-Varnasrama-Dharma. They supplement and explain the ritualistic injunctions called Vidhis in the Vedas. The Smriti or Dharma Sastra is founded on the Sruti. The Smritis are based on the teachings of the Vedas. The Smriti stands next in authority to the Sruti (Vedas). It explains and develops Dharma. It lays down the laws which regulate Hindu national, social, family and individual obligations.

The laws for regulating Hindu society from time to time are codified in the Smritis. The Smritis have laid down definite rules and laws to guide the individuals and communities in their daily conduct and to regulate their manners and customs. The Smritis have given detailed instructions, according to the conditions of the time, to all classes of men regarding their duties in life.

The Hindu learns how he has to spend his whole life from these Smritis. The duties of Varnasramas (the four stages of life) are clearly given in these books. The Smritis describe certain acts and prohibit some others for a Hindu, according to his birth and stage of life. The object of the Smritis is to purify the heart of man and take him gradually to the supreme abode of immortality and make him perfect and free.

These Smritis have varied from time to time. The injunctions and prohibitions of the Smritis are related to the particular social surroundings. As these surroundings and essential conditions of the Hindu society changed from time to time, new Smritis had to be compiled by the sages of different ages and different parts of India. The time dependence of Smritis is the key to the survival of Hinduism in the face of foreign invasions.

Posted by ks on 03/01/10 at 12:18 AM
Living • Religion/Festivals • Permalink

Managing Risk in Volatile Markets

By Rajiv Hargunani

Every one who has been investing in the stock market over the past few years has been taken on a wild ride, up and down. We naturally enjoy the “up” ride more than the “down” ride. Even today, many investors are frightened about investing in the stock market because they neglect to utilize risk management strategies designed for their investments. While no strategy can be guaranteed to be profitable, nor protect against loss, there are ways to help manage risk.

So how does one manage risk in the portfolio? The answer actually is quite simple. It all comes down to understanding what risk means to you. Each one of us has a different tolerance to risk. Younger people & high income earners tend to be more risk taking where as older folks migrate towards risk aversion.

So what does risk really mean? In Finance terms it could be defined as the uncertainty associated with any investment. In other words, risk is the possibility that the actual return of an investment will be different from its expected return.

Here are few ideas that can help you mitigate the risk in your portfolio:

1. Proper Asset Allocation:

Asset Allocation is the process of distributing your assets into different asset classes that may reduce the overall risk in the portfolio. You can broadly define the asset classes as
a. Cash
b. Fixed Income (Treasuries, Domestic & International Bonds)
c. Inflation Protection Securities
d. Precious Metals
e. Commodities and Natural Resources
f. Real Estate
g. Domestic Equities (Large Cap, Small Cap, Mid Cap Stocks)
h. International Equities (Emerging and Developing Countries)

The rationale behind asset allocation is that different assets perform differently over time, where an asset class having a good year helps to offset an asset class not doing as well. Investing in asset classes that are negatively correlated (or less positive) helps in achieving true diversification. The key to helping reduce risk is to determine what percentage of assets to put in a particular asset class. A good financial planner should be able to achieve this keeping in mind your goals, time horizon and risk tolerance. Markets do and will go down from time to time, and at times those downturns will be gut wrenching, but a well planned portfolio should account for that.

2. Reassess your risk tolerance:

The potential return from any investment can generally be linked to the amount of risk the investor is willing to assume. Finding that balance between the return you desire and the risk you can handle has never been easy. What makes this problem even trickier is that your financial goals - and thus your risk tolerance - inevitably change throughout your life. Therefore, the investment that was right for your goals of yesterday may not be so appropriate today.

It is a good idea to review your investments periodically with risk tolerance in mind.

3. Understand What you Own:
The design and formulation of your portfolio is based on your goals, time horizon and risk tolerance. Understand that what may work for your friend, cousin, or co-worker may not work for you because one size does not fit all.

4. KNOW WHEN TO CUT LOSSES:
Many investors do not know when to get out of an investment. If your investment selection is heading south and most likely won’t return to previous form, face the music and consider getting out before your lumps get too big.

5. Opportunity Loss vs. Capital Loss:
The markets are always presenting investors with potential opportunities to invest. I said invest and not speculate. As long as you have the capital, you can participate in the different opportunities that are presented. That’s why point # 4 is important. Preservation of Capital has to be an important goal.

6. Keep Emotion Out:
Don’t check your portfolio every single day. More importantly, don’t adjust it based on what you hear on TV or read in the papers. You are investing for the long haul. The analyst on the television or in the magazine does not know you or your goals. Use them only as a data point in your overall portfolio design.

7. Plan your way:
Just like when you start up a business, you draw up a business plan or when you go on new road trip, you take out your GPS to guide you. Similarly, having a plan for your investments will go a long way in dealing with market volatility. Knowing ahead of time as to what to do, when the markets go up or down, will keep the emotion out and you won’t be second guessing yourself.

8. Do you manage your own money?
If you are managing your own money, read as much as you can from different unbiased sources. Collect as much data as you can. The best thing to do is to write your thoughts and reasons down on paper. That way you can go back and verify if your thesis was correct or not. Always be willing to think outside the prevailing opinion. Your best results could be achieved if you have answers to the “What-if” questions.

9. Be Proactive:
If you have an Advisor or a Planner managing your money, ask them tough questions about what kind of strategies they are implementing to plan your portfolio for market downturns?

For sophisticated investors, I can share in person more advanced strategies of hedging against a market decline. You can call me at (205)939-0100 to set up an appointment.

This material was prepared by Rajiv Hargunani, Financial Advisor of Raymond James Financial Services Member FINRA/SIPC
Ash Place 2100 16th Ave S, Suite 1, Birmingham, AL 35205.

Rajiv’s financial planning philosophy is really very simple: Plan, Communicate & Perform. In addition to working with individuals, Rajiv helps small businesses set up retirement plans such as 401(K), SIMPLE IRAs, SEPs and takes an active role in educating the employees so they can make solid informed retirement planning decisions. He can be reached by phone at (205)939-0100, (205)541-7438 (Cell) or by email at

Posted by ks on 03/01/10 at 12:16 AM
Living • MoneyWise • Permalink

PepsiCO’s Nooyi on 2010

Posted by ks on 03/01/10 at 12:13 AM
Living • MoneyWise • Permalink

Citi’s Pandit on 2010

Posted by ks on 03/01/10 at 12:12 AM
Living • MoneyWise • Permalink

His Name is Khan (And It’s the One You Might Know)

Star-Crossed: In My Name Is Khan, Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol Devgan play a Muslim man and a Hindu woman who fall in love in San Francisco — and find themselves struggling after tragedies both intimate and epic, including the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

Click Play button

Posted by ks on 02/11/10 at 09:44 PM
Living • Bollywood • Permalink

Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol Ring NASDAQ Opening Bell

Feb 1, 2010
Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol today became the first Indian movie stars to ring the opening bell of the New York stock exchange NASDAQ.

The duo are in New York to promote their latest film My Name is Khan and were invited to by Fox Searchlight Pictures, who are distributing the film in the US, to open trading at the world’s biggest stock exchange at 9:00 am (local time) today.

Before the event, Shah Rukh said on his tweeter account: “Nasdaq will be fun. Have to make sure I reach on time, otherwise will end up being blamed for economic upheaval across the world too..Ha ha.“

Shah Rukh and Kajol will also be talking to New Yorkers, later today, through an online chat show hosted by the South Asian Journalists Association.

Their latest movie centres around a Muslim man, who faces difficulties in social interaction, and falls unconditionally for the beautiful Mandira, a Hindu single mother living out her version of the global dream of success.

The movie, also starring Jimmy Shergill and Tanay Chheda, will be released on February 12 worldwide and will also premiere at the 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival during the week of its release.

Posted by ks on 02/01/10 at 10:44 PM
Living • Bollywood • Permalink

Foreclosures new hot spots – Birmingham, AL

The new foreclosure plague is tied more to the economy than bad mortgages. According to CNN, Birmingham is one of the ten cities where defaults grew the fastest in 2009.

Foreclosure rate: One in 61 homes
Percent increase: 267%
National rank: 85th
Unemployment rate: 9.5%

The recession did more damage to the Alabama’s economy than it did nationwide, according to University of Alabama economist Sam Addy. The unemployment rate swung from lower than the national average to greater than the national average.

In the Birmingham metro area it went to 9.5% in November from only 5.2, 12 months earlier. Employers laid off many workers in the state’s manufacturing sector.

The big run up in unemployment turned Birmingham from an area relatively free from the foreclosure plague to a foreclosure rate of one for every 61 households. That was still slightly lower than, but much closer to, the national average of one filing for every 45 households.

The rapid rise in foreclosures is almost totally related to the economy; home prices in the area have remained very favorable with a median price of around $130,000 according to the Wells Fargo-National Association of Home Builders figures. With prices so low, few buyers had to rely on exotic loans to get them into homeowners.

Courtesy money.cnn.com

Posted by ks on 02/01/10 at 06:35 AM
Living • MoneyWise • Permalink

2010 Roth IRA Conversion – To do Or Not to Do

By Rajiv Hargunani

Rajiv Hargunani is an independent Financial Advisor based in Birmingham, AL working at Raymond James Financial Services. Rajiv specializes in wealth management with an emphasis on risk management & asset protection for his clients. He helps small businesses set up retirement plans such as 401(K), SIMPLE IRAs, SEPs and takes an active role in educating the employees so they can make solid informed retirement planning decisions. His financial planning philosophy is really very simple: Plan, Communicate & Perform. He can be reached by phone at (205)939-0100, (205)541-7438 (Cell) or by email at

In a few months something very exciting is about to change the world of retirement planning. I am talking about the Roth IRA Conversion. Roth IRAs have always been an attractive vehicle for retirement savings given their primary benefit of tax free distributions. However, if you were a high-income earner, most likely you were unable to contribute to a Roth IRA. Well, that’s about to change in 2010, thanks to the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act signed in 2006, anyone regardless of their income or filing status will be able to convert their traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.

Posted by ks on 01/07/10 at 06:08 AM
Living • MoneyWise • Permalink

Hindu Scriptures – The Srutis

By Narayana Bhat

The Vedas are the oldest texts of Hindu literature, stemming from an oral tradition believed to be of unknown origin so much so that they are held to be transcendental and immutable gospels (apourusheya prabhu samhitas). They are the eternal truths revealed by God to the great Rishis of India. The word Rishi means a seer, from the root dris, to see. The Rishi is the Mantra-Drashta, a seer of Mantra or thought. The thought was not his (her) own. The Rishis saw the truths or heard them. Therefore, the Vedas are what are heard (Sruti). The Rishi did not write. He (or she) did not create it out of his (or her) mind. He (she) was the seer of thought which existed already. He (she) was only the spiritual discoverer of the thought. He (she) was not the inventor of the Veda.

Posted by ks on 01/07/10 at 05:45 AM
Living • Religion/Festivals • Permalink

Vande Mataram/Matarm - Lata Mangeshkar

Posted by ks on 01/07/10 at 05:36 AM
Living • Indian Music • Permalink

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