The 'RJ' commandments

I vividly remember this incident. It was in the early 1990s, post liberalisation.

- AMBI PARAMESWARAN

I was at a magazine stall in Chennai, hoping to pick up a few application forms for good upcoming initial public offerings (IPOs). Yes, in Chennai these forms were widely distributed across various types of outlets including magazine stalls. As I was browsing, I saw an autorickshaw screech to a halt outside the stall; the khaki-clad autorickshaw driver stormed in and asked me “Edhula Podalam Saar” (On what can I put my

money, sir?). Itold him that he may be better off buying a lottery ticket than betting on a hot IPO where allocation was a gamble akin to a lottery.

Twas reminded of this incident asI was reading RARE - Investing The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Way by Nandini Vijayaraghavan. In the chapter titled “Mahalakshmi Race Course and Arthur Road Jail”, the author says ,"A tale that RJ (Rakesh Jhunjhunwala) often narrated goes: ‘I was drinking at Geoffrey's when a pretty girl walked up tome and asked ‘Give me a tip to double my investmentin three years’. I told her ‘Go to Mahalakshmi Race Course’.”

‘The author is a Singapore-based financial analyst whose columns appear in various leading newspapers. She has done meticulous research to put together this book on RJ and his investment strategies. The book boasts of a foreword by Bhaskar Bhat, former managing director of Titan Industries, a company that RJ backed to the hilt.