Investment opportunities - Kuwait India International Exchange

R.KUPPANNA General Manager Kuwait India International Exchange Company [email protected]

DECEMBER 19, 2009

Dec 19, 2009 Dear Customer, Friend & Well-Wisher of Kuwait India, "We try to price, rather than time, purchases. In our view, it is folly to forego buying shares in an outstanding business whose long-term future is predictable, because of short-term worries about an economy or a stock market that we know to be unpredictable." - - - Warren Buffett

Contents: > Limericks - form, history and examples > A message to graduating students > How to Evaluate Investment Opportunities (power-point presentation .. attachment) > In Lighter Vein > Posers > Thought/Quote for the Week

Limericks A Limerick is a form of poetry, simple, funny and its subjects, more often than not, are bawdy or even dirty. Limerick poems have received incredibly bad press and dismissed as not having a rightful place amongst what is seen as “cultivated poetry". The main reasons are: * The content is often of a bawdy and humorous nature * It is short and simple - has only five lines * Its somewhat dubious history has contributed to the critics' attitudes History of Limericks

Limerick poems can be traced back to the fourteenth century English history. Limericks were used in Nursery Rhymes and other poems for children. But as limericks were short, relatively easy to compose and bawdy or sexual in nature they were often repeated by beggars or the working classes in the British pubs and taverns of the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventh centuries. The poets who created these limericks were therefore often drunkards! The word derives from the Irish town of Limerick. Most likely, a pub song or a tavern chorus based on the refrain "Will you come up to Limerick?" where, of course, such bawdy songs or 'Limericks' were sung. Sections in poems following the limerick form can be found throughout known history, from the work of Greek classic poets to the first known English popular song, Sumer is icumen in (c. 1300) and the works of Shakespeare. Othello, King Lear, The Tempest and Hamlet all contain limericks within longer segments.

(For the technically-minded, in the "poetry" sense, the following couple of paragraphs; others may skip this)

Limericks consist of five anapaestic lines. Lines 1, 2, and 5 of Limericks have seven to ten syllables and rhyme with one another. Lines 3 and 4 of Limericks have five to seven syllables and also rhyme with each other.

The rhyme scheme is usually aabba, with a rather rigid meter. The first, second, and fifth lines are three metrical feet; the third and fourth two metrical feet. The foot used is usually the amphibrach, a stressed syllable between two unstressed ones. However it can be considered an anapestic foot, two short syllables and then a long, the reverse of dactyl rhythm. However, many substitutions are common. The first line traditionally introduces a person and a location, and usually ends with the name of the location, though sometimes with that of the person. A true limerick is supposed to have a kind of twist to it. This may lie in the final line, or it may lie in the way the rhymes are often intentionally tortured, or in both. Though not a strict requirement, the best limericks are usually those that additionally show some form of internal rhyme, often alliteration, sometimes assonance or another form of rhyme. Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense included the poetry form of Limericks. His work with limericks were, however, not in any way indecent and this particular book proved to be extremely popular in the nineteenth century . Its popularity was contributed to by the humorous magazine Punch which started printing examples of limericks leading to a craze by its readers. The first edition of Edward Lear's Book of Nonsense was published by Thomas McLean on 10th February 1846. There were altogether seventy-two limericks in two volumes. These limericks have proven to be extremely popular with children.

For your reading plesure, here are some limericks (of the purely, vegetarian kind, if I may so call it!) The limerick packs laughs anatomical Into space that is quite economical. But the good ones I've seen So seldom are clean And the clean ones so seldom are comical. There was an Old Man of Madras, Who rode on a cream-coloured ass; But the length of its ears, So promoted his fears, That it killed that Old Man of Madras There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, 'It is just as I feared! Two Owls and a Hen, Four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard!'

-- Vyvyan Holland --Edward Lear

--Edward Lear

There was this lady from Niger Who smiled as she rode on a tiger They came back from the ride With the lady inside And the smile on the face of the tiger

--Anonymous

A canner exceedingly canny One morning remarked to his granny: “A canner can can

--Carolyn Wells

Any thing that he can But a canner can’t can a can, can he?” There was an old man of Darjeeling Who boarded a bus bound for Ealing It said on the door `Don't spit on the floor' So he stood up and spat on the ceiling

--Anonymous

To Miss Vera Beringer There was a young lady of station "I love man" was her sole exclamation But when men cried, "You flatter" She replied, "Oh! no matter Isle of Man is the true explanation"

--Lewis Carroll

A combustible woman from Thang Exploded one day with a BANG! The maid then rushed in And said with a grin, "Pardon me, madam -- you rang?"

--Spike Mulligan

Another favourite of mine was penned by Woodrow Wilson, who was President of USA just after the First World War: I sat next to the Duchess at tea It was just as I feared it would be Her rumblings abdominal Were truly phenomenal And everyone thought it was me! For those interested in this form (especially the bawdy ones) here's a reference: The Limerick by G.Legman, Random House (1988) ... has a fascinating, extensive and an exhaustive introduction to the limerick form and its history; book contains over 1500 limericks, all of the "bawdy" variety.

A Message to Graduating Students ( by Edwin A. Locke -- May 28, 2005 )** An imaginary letter from parents intensely concerned about the fundamental ideas their children, who are about to graduate from college, have been taught. Dear John and Sue: First, we want to congratulate you on receiving your degrees. We know that you both worked very hard over the past four years. Second, there are some dangers we want to warn you against. Ironically, these dangers lie in the very ideas you have been taught in your college classes. We know, from having worked in the universities ourselves, that two broad themes dominated most of your courses: that human reason is unreliable and dispensable, and that the individual should be subordinate to the collective.

For example, in psychology you were undoubtedly taught that free will is an illusion, and that your life is ruled by your unconscious feelings. In sociology you were taught that you are the passive product of social conditioning. In history you were taught the multicultural dogma that nothing can be known objectively, because all interpretations are "biased" by one's race, gender and economic status. In literature you were taught that the individual is doomed to lead a hopeless and tragic life in an incomprehensible universe. In economics you were taught that the needs of society supersede the rights of the individual. In politics you were taught that individual rights are arbitrary assertions made by the people in power. In philosophy you were taught that one cannot know anything with certainty, and that all moral values are nothing more than subjective, unsupportable preferences. At the deepest level you were taught that there is nothing sacred in this world, not even your own mind. If you want to lead a successful life, our most urgent advice to you is to reject your professors' assaults on reason and individualism. It is your capacity to reason that is your most sacred possession. It is reason that is your means of knowledge and your means of living a human--rather than an animal--form of existence. It is the rational thinking of specific individuals that has made possible every step of man's progression from the swamps to the stars. It is your reasoning mind that enables you to be objective and independent--to determine what is true and to repudiate any "social influences" you judge to be wrong. It is only your rational faculty that makes you an individual, and not a mindless, interchangeable member of the herd. To give up reason--for faith, or "instinct," or emotionalism, or any form of mysticism--is to surrender your life to the beliefs, and the dictates, of others. It is to declare that you do not know how to live--and must be dependent, cognitively and practically, on those who claim they do. By the way, there is one last academic danger you must face: the commencement address. This bromide-filled talk invariably reinforces the same falsehoods you have heard in your classrooms. The speaker will tell you that your highest moral obligation is to choose a career in which you pursue not your own interests, but those of society. You will hear the statement that self-sacrifice is the noblest ideal for which any American could strive. The truth is exactly the opposite. America was founded on the principle of individualism, the principle that the individual is sovereign and has an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In America, virtue was meant to consist not of self-negation, but of selfassertion--not of collective servitude, but of individual achievement. Defying centuries of statist political thought, the Founding Fathers declared for the first time that the individual does not exist to serve the government, but that the government exists solely to protect the rights of the individual. The principles of America are the polar opposite of those that governed Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. The philosophies of those--and of all--dictatorships were based explicitly on the premise that each citizen has a duty to sacrifice his own interests to those of the collective. So, John and Sue, as you start out on your careers and your adult lives, we urge you to hold two ideas as absolutes, never to be breached or compromised: that reason is your means of knowing reality, and that your life belongs only to you. These are the principles that made America great and that will enable you, if you embrace them consistently, to live productive and happy lives. Love, Mom and Dad (** Dr. Locke, Dean's Professor of Leadership and Motivation at the University of Maryland, has published more than 230 articles, chapters, and books on subjects such as leadership, work motivation, goal setting, job satisfaction, incentives, and the philosophy of science. He is internationally known for his work on human motivation. He is the author of such books

as The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators and Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works (with G. Latham). He is also the editor of Principles of Organizational Behavior. Dr. Locke is a consulting editor for professional journals, and his commentaries on such topics as animal rights , environmentalism, American values, and education have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Houston Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the Cincinnati Enquirer. )

Awareness on Islamic/Sharia Compliant Investment Opportunities to NRIs in Kuwait & India - A Seminar A seminar, on the above theme, was organised by FIMA (Federation of Indian Muslim Associations) yesterday -- Dec 18. Eminent speakers dwelt on various aspects: Importance of Financial Planning, Wealth Planning in Islamic Perspective, Concepts of Sharia Compliant Investments & Terminologies and Evaluating Investment Opportunities. A presentation was made by me on "How to Evaluate Investment Opportunities?". The power-point presentation, made by me, is provided as an attachment.

In Lighter Vein Santa, Banta and Preeto went for a test for getting hired as detectives. To test their skills in recognizing a suspect, a police officer shows Santa a picture for 5 seconds and then hides it. "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?" Santa: "That's easy, we'll catch him fast because he has only one eye!" The policeman says, "That's because the picture I showed is his side profile." He then flashes the picture for 5 seconds at Banta and asks him, "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him?" Banta: "Ha! I'll easily catch him because he has only one ear!" The officer angrily responds, "Of course, you can see only an eye and an ear because it's a picture of his side profile! Is that the best answer you two can come up with?" Then he shows the picture to Preeto and in a very testy voice asks, "This is your suspect, how would you recognize him? She says, "The suspect wears contact lense." The officer is surprised, "Well, that's an interesting answer. Please wait here for a few minutes while I check his file and I'll get back to you on that." He comes back with a beaming smile on his face. "Wow! I can't believe it. It's TRUE! The suspect does in fact wear contact lenses. Good work! How were you able to make such an astute observation?" "That's easy," Preeto replies, "He can't wear regular glasses because he has only one eye and one ear."

POSERS Answers to last week's posers: 1. I said to the Lord, I am slow of speech, and slow of tongue (not a good speaker). Who am I? a) Shem Ans: b) b) Moses exodus 4:10 c) Sidon d) Callah 2. I am more subtle (cunning...deceiving) than any beast (animal) of the field which the Lord God has made. Who am I? a) the donkey Ans: c) b) the camel c) the serpent gen. 3:1 d) the fox 3. The Copenhagen Climate Conference logo has COP 15 written under it. What does COP stand for? a) conference of the parties Ans: a) b) climate change of climate c) congress of the parties d) Copenhagen convention of the parties 4. Which human activity is responsible for 40% of all the carbon emitted in the atmosphere? a) building coal-fired plants Ans: b) b) razing forests c) excessive use of fossil fuels d) none of the above 5. Those destined to become queens are fed large amounts of royal jelly, much of which they store*. Who? (* some people exploit this situation, and take away and sell this jelly) Ans: Queen Bee Mr. Sritheran, Mr. Imtiyaz and Mrs. Rena Kalaiah answered correctly 4 out of 5 questions. Mr. Murali Manohar Annadatha and Mr. Wahid Abdul got 3 out of 5 correct. None got question 4 right. Kudos to all !! Please keep it up. Posers for the week: 1. 2.

3.

4.

5.

A system of jungle trails used as supply routes by the North Vietnamese in the 1960s and 1970s took its name from the country's leader. Name this trail system. He proved that the area and volume of the sphere are in the same ratio to the area and volume of a circumscribed straight cylinder, a result that pleased him so much that he made it his epitaph. Who? The "Three Musketeers" is a famous novel, a historical romance, written by the French writer Alexandre Dumas. But this was the first in a sequence of six novels, featuring the same characters/musketeers (Athos, Aramis, Porthos and D'Artagnan). Can you name the rest of the novels? All but two of Ram's shirts were red in colour. Again, all but two of Ram's shirts were blue in colour. Finally, all but two of Ram's shirts were black in colour. How many shirts did Ram have? A flock of sheep; a pride of lions; a herd of elephants; all collective nouns. What is the collective name for a) CROWS and b) GOATS

Thought/Quote of the Week: "Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear" Thomas Jefferson in a famous letter to his nephew, Peter Carr

"The State of Nature has a Law of Nature to govern it, which obliges every one: And Reason, which is that law, teaches all Mankind...that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his Life, Health, Liberty or Possessions." John Locke, "Second Treatise of Civil Government," in Two Treatises of Government.

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Best Wishes R. Kuppanna