Banker. CFA | Alpha-seeker | Alum of @ICICIBank, @CRISILLimited, @nmims_india, @daiict| Amet-Gotan-A'bad-Mumbai-Surat | Listen more, tweet less | Views personal
On Mumbai-A'bad stretch!
Joined March 2009
- Tweets6.5K
- Following1.1K
- Followers419
- Likes798
Ankit Kothari retweeted
I have all the respect in the world for every delivery boy, carpenter, vegetable seller, labourer, shoemaker, auto-rickshaw driver, street food vendor, security guard, construction worker, plumber, sanitation worker, daily-wage painter.
Sometimes, when I see them on the road, I wonder if God has been a little too cruel to some people. To place so much weight on such tired shoulders, to demand so much from a body that barely gets enough rest, and to give so little in return for so much effort.
Some of them leave home before sunrise and return long after sunset. They work through scorching summers, freezing winters, and pouring rain. They might never have the luxury of taking a holiday, visiting a beautiful place, or even exploring the very city they have spent their entire lives working in.
Perhaps a man delivering food has never sat down at the restaurant he delivers from. Perhaps the person building luxurious homes will never own one himself. Perhaps the man polishing your shoes has never owned a pair that he could call truly comfortable.
And yet, the next morning, they wake up and do it all over again. Not because life is easy, but because someone at home is waiting for them. A child needs school fees. A parent needs medicine. A family needs food on the table.
I wish life were kinder to these people. I wish hard work guaranteed dignity, fair wages, and a little breathing room. Nobody should have to break their body just to afford the basic necessities of life.
The next time you see someone working on the street, remember that you are not looking at someone who is less successful than you. You are looking at someone carrying responsibilities you may never fully understand.
Be kind to them. Pay them fairly. Don’t humiliate them. A little respect can mean more than you realise.
Some of the strongest people in this world will never be called successful. They will simply be called a good father, a loving husband, a caring son, or a dependable brother.
And perhaps, in the end, those are among the most beautiful titles a human being can earn.
Ankit Kothari retweeted
I will give the benefit of the doubt to Ramesh ji here, because he is a satirist & we should treat his statement exactly like that, as a punchline. But beneath the joke lies a deeply rooted, systemic issue within our collective psychology.
Many look at a finished Western product (like a mature WhatsApp/X) & treat it as a static, perfect system, while looking at an Indian alternative as an isolated, flawed event.
In control systems engineering, no system can reach peak performance or stability w/o going through a continuous, iterative Closed-Loop Feedback loop. Silicon Valley products did not drop out of the sky perfectly formed. They spent a decade inside a massive, highly forgiving home market that acted as a positive validation loop.
When an Indian company tries to build a foundational alternative, parts of our own demographic act as an unfiltered noise vector rather than a correction filter. By trying to crash/ridicule/dismiss the product at version 1.0, they starve the engine of the operational data & evolutionary runway it needs to reach version 10.0. They demand a mature output while actively sabotaging the developmental cycle.
In ancient Indian logic (Nyaya), an argument must be rooted in valid validation (Pramana). The immediate tendency to look at a growing domestic product & declare "We can never build a global tech giant" is a textbook logical defect known as Asiddha (unproved premise), heavily driven by a colonial hangover.
Ancient logicians categorized this kind of lazy intellectualism as empty cynicism that confuses a temporary state of development with a permanent lack of capability.
We cannot mock a sapling for not yielding timber on day 1, while proudly importing wood from an older forest. If we want our own Google/X/WhatsApp, our mindset must shift from being cynical consumers to being active stakeholders in our own technological ecosystem. Sridhar Vembu disabling a feature to comply with regulatory changes is how a robust system adapts to changing real-world parameters.
Ankit Kothari retweeted
An Incredible Story!
A ₹3,480 crore IPO of Physics Wallah has hit the market. While reading about this issue, I came across information about a village called Patwa Toli in Bihar.
This year, 45 students from this village cleared JEE, and 38 of them cleared JEE Advanced, meaning 38 students from a single village secured admission to IITs.
Patwa Toli is a village of traditional weavers. There is not a single coaching institute here. Instead, it has a community-driven education system run by current and former students of the village.
The Patwas are traditional weavers, originally from Rajasthan. They were brought to Bihar by Raja Man Singh during Emperor Akbar’s reign to produce a specific type of cloth used in Hindu funeral rituals. Over time, their weaving industry flourished so much that the village earned the title Manchester of Bihar. Today, however, it is better known as the Village of IITians.
The spark of educational transformation was ignited in 1991 when Jitendra Patwa became the first student from the village to gain admission to IIT. His success inspired an entire generation. Although he now lives abroad, he has never forgotten his roots. Through the NGO Vriksha Foundation, he and other IIT alumni continue to support educational initiatives in the village.
The educational model followed here is truly unique. Students from earlier batches mentor the next generation. Whenever a junior student faces difficulty, they seek help from their seniors. Over time, this has created a continuous support network where everyone helps one another move forward.
The foundation has established a digital classroom and a well-equipped library. Expert teachers from cities such as Delhi and Mumbai conduct online classes. A dedicated team continuously monitors students’ progress to ensure that no one is left behind. This is a remarkable blend of modern technology and community participation.
This is more than an educational program—it is a movement that is transforming lives. For many students, attending expensive coaching classes in big cities was once an impossible dream. Today, they can pursue those aspirations from their own village. Most importantly, the doors of opportunity have also opened for girls, enabling them to dream of a brighter future.
Patwa Toli teaches us an important lesson: when an entire community decides to invest in its children, extraordinary things can happen. A united community is the real need of the hour. If schools improve, villages will progress. #Bihar #education #IIT
Ankit Kothari retweeted
5–10 years in markets and suddenly everyone becomes a part-time Nobel Prize economist, full-time policy advisor, and weekend geopolitical commander.
A 2% move in crude oil and people start explaining Middle East diplomacy.
One Fed rate cut later, the same person is practically shortlisted to run the central bank.
A semiconductor rally and now they’re discussing Taiwan strategy like they’re in closed-door defence briefings.
By year seven in markets, reading one thread on X and two brokerage PDFs is enough to confidently solve:
inflation,
fiscal deficits,
currency crises,
trade wars,
election outcomes,
and occasionally civilization itself.
The best part?
Every opinion is delivered with the calm certainty of a man who has personally briefed presidents between market hours.
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Einstein's birthday, and Pi Day today. Because March 14 is written as 3.14 in the US, the first 3 numbers in the irrational number Pi.
And what could be more irrational than thinking that, exactly 25 years ago, two batters could last through the whole day and lead India to one of the greatest ever test victories against the Australian juggernaut.
March 14th, Einstein Day, Pi Day, & Dravid and Laxman Day!
Ankit Kothari retweeted
What a story!
After winning the World Cup, Shivam Dube took a 5 am train from Ahmedabad, quietly slept on the upper berth and got off at Borivali!
All because flights to Mumbai were fully booked and he couldn’t wait to get home :)
It's not often that a top Indian cricketer travels by train. But that's what Shivam Dube did a few hours after the #T20WorldCup final because flights to Mumbai were fully booked. He wanted to get home quickly to be with his children.
By @pdevendra
indianexpress.com/article/sp…
Ankit Kothari retweeted
We are a generation that grew up admiring McGrath, Lee, Gillespie, and Fleming and their collective strength as a bowling unit. To watch Bumrah play and win in this fashion gives that childhood memory of ours a calming closure.
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Deep sympathy for our friends in UAE and for their leadership starting with MBZ. India stands by its friends. Our mutual goodwill will only increase. An oasis maybe occasionally overshadowed by a mirage, but it nourishes many. UAE will come out strong.
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Modi lands in Israel today. And the deals being signed tell you this visit was never about diplomacy.
Israel has offered India full technology transfer for Iron Dome and Iron Beam. Not a sale. A transfer. Joint production, domestic manufacturing, integration into India’s multi-layered air defense grid. $8.6 billion in defense agreements expected to be formalized before Modi’s plane leaves Israeli airspace tomorrow.
Iron Beam is the part that should stop you. A 100-kilowatt laser weapon that destroys incoming drones and rockets at $2 per shot. Two dollars. An Iron Dome interceptor costs $50,000 to $100,000 per missile. Iron Beam makes the economics of attrition warfare irrelevant.
Israel has never transferred this technology to anyone. Not the United States. Not the UK. Not Germany.
India is the first.
Now ask yourself why Israel is handing its most advanced defensive technology to the world’s fifth-largest economy this week, of all weeks.
Because Netanyahu is not selling weapons. He is buying an alliance. The “hexagon” he described publicly, a coalition against what he called radical Sunni and Shiite axes, requires India to have skin in the game. You do not give a country your most classified defense technology unless you need that country committed to your security architecture for decades.
Iron Dome technology transfer makes India structurally dependent on Israeli defense integration. Maintenance, upgrades, software updates, threat library sharing, all of it creates institutional ties that outlast any single government.
This is not a transaction. It is a binding commitment disguised as a procurement.
And the timing is the signature.
Modi is addressing the Knesset at 4:30 PM today while a 48-hour deadline expires on Iran. He is signing defense agreements while 11 F-22s sit on Israeli tarmac. He is formalizing a security partnership while Turkey plans border incursions and China sells Iran supersonic anti-ship missiles.
Netanyahu is assembling his coalition before the action, not after. Every alliance signature collected before the first bomb falls becomes a diplomatic asset that cannot be retracted once the operation begins.
India cannot condemn an Israeli military action 48 hours after its Prime Minister stood in the Knesset endorsing the security partnership that enables it.
Modi did not travel to Israel despite the crisis. The crisis is why the invitation was sent.
Nobody is talking about the most important variable in the strike timeline. It is not the deadline. It is not Geneva. It is not the carriers.
It is Narendra Modi.
Tomorrow, February 25, the Prime Minister of India lands in Tel Aviv for a two-day state visit. He will meet Netanyahu. He will address the Knesset at 4:30 PM. He will visit Yad Vashem. He represents 1.4 billion people and the world's fifth-largest economy.
The 48-hour deadline expires the same day Modi's plane touches Israeli soil.
You do not launch a strike on Iran, triggering retaliatory ballistic missiles aimed at Israeli territory, while the leader of 1.4 billion people is standing inside the Knesset. The Secret Service equivalent for both nations would physically prevent it. The diplomatic fallout of endangering a visiting head of state during a military operation you initiated would collapse the very alliance Netanyahu is trying to build. He literally described the Modi visit as constructing a "hexagon of alliances" against radical axes, meaning Iran. You do not blow up the hexagon while assembling it.
This means the earliest realistic strike window opens the evening of February 26, after Modi departs. Which is the same day Geneva talks resume.
The timeline architecture is now visible in full.
The 48-hour deadline expires February 25. Nothing happens because Modi is on the ground. February 26, Modi leaves. Geneva talks convene the same day. If Iran arrives with nothing, or arrives with a proposal that does not meet zero enrichment, the diplomatic failure is now documented, witnessed, and internationally legible. The off-ramp has been publicly offered and publicly refused. The legal and political predicate for military action is established in front of the global press corps.
Then comes March 2. Purim. The Israeli holiday celebrating deliverance from a Persian plot to destroy the Jewish people. Multiple analysts, including the Sri Lanka Guardian, have flagged this date as a speculated strike window. The symbolism would be unmistakable and deliberate.
That gives you a seven-day sequence. Deadline expires Tuesday. Modi provides diplomatic cover through Wednesday. Geneva provides the documented failure Wednesday evening. Thursday through Sunday are preparation and final authorization. Monday, March 2, is Purim.
Now understand why India issued an advisory telling all Indian citizens to leave Iran immediately. Not "exercise caution." Not "defer non-essential travel." Leave. India knows when its Prime Minister is scheduled to depart Israeli airspace, and India knows what the window after that departure looks like.
Modi is not visiting Israel despite the crisis. Modi is visiting Israel because of the crisis. Netanyahu is collecting alliance signatures before the document they are signing onto gets executed. When the strikes come, Netanyahu needs to be able to say that the leader of the world's largest democracy was standing in the Knesset forty-eight hours earlier endorsing Israeli security partnerships. That is not a diplomatic visit. That is a pre-strike legitimacy operation.
The market is watching the deadline. The market should be watching the departure.
The clock does not start when the deadline expires. The clock starts when Modi's plane leaves Israeli airspace. And India just told its citizens to get out of Iran before it does.
open.substack.com/pub/shanak…
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Wonderful to speak with my dear friend President Trump today. Delighted that Made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18%. Big thanks to President Trump on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India for this wonderful announcement.
When two large economies and the world’s largest democracies work together, it benefits our people and unlocks immense opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation.
President Trump’s leadership is vital for global peace, stability, and prosperity. India fully supports his efforts for peace.
I look forward to working closely with him to take our partnership to unprecedented heights.
@POTUS
@realDonaldTrump
Ankit Kothari retweeted
As I have said many times, President Trump genuinely considers Prime Minister Modi a great friend! Thrilled by the news of the trade deal this evening. The relationship between the United States and India has LIMITLESS POTENTIAL!
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Salute the 10 Indian Army Bravehearts who made the supreme sacrifice in a tragic vehicular accident while moving on operational duty through treacherous terrain and extremely challenging weather conditions in the general area of Doda in J&K. Aum Shaanti! 🙏
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Expensive real estate destroys demographics. Any society that traps its young people in debt, because of expensive education or expensive housing or expensive health care (or all of the above in many cases) is a society that is destroying its own demographic future.
If you love children, enable lower cost of living for prospective parents.
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Info Edge started investing in startups due to compliance requirements and discovered Zomato & Policybazaar, according to Sanjeev Bikhchandani.
In 2006, as Info Edge prepared for its IPO, there was a need to clearly outline the objectives for going public. The IPO would have provided an exit for early investors and liquidity for ESOP holders as well.
However, Bikhchandani’s primary reason for going public was to maintain the company's independence.
“Most of all, it's very hard to take over a listed company in India in a hostile manner… We wanted to have an independent path,” says Bikhchandani.
However, the bankers advised that the IPO objectives needed to focus on how the company would use the funds, not on its motivations.
The IPO size was about Rs 170 crore, and it was a primary offering.
“The truth was that the company was profitable. There was cash in the bank. And the cash was going up every month.”
That’s why the company allocated a large portion of the IPO proceeds to inorganic acquisitions, within the 4–5 permissible parameters for the use of capital.
After the listing, auditors would ask how the company was using the IPO funds, and the answer was zero. There were no meaningful acquisition opportunities at the time.
“After two quarters, the board was concerned that SEBI would be upset. So we had a brainwave… why don’t we invest in startups? Lots of founders were trying, and there wasn’t enough venture capital. That counts as inorganic growth, and the board said it made sense.”
The board approved an allocation of up to Rs 150 crore to be invested over three years. “So we began to invest out of a need for compliance, not as a strategy. Now people say, what a visionary.....”
Between 2007 and 2010, Info Edge invested in 10–11 companies, out of which came Zomato and Policybazaar.
Ankit Kothari retweeted
Early feedback is usually better than late criticism.
Delaying the conversation or stringing someone along with indirect feedback won't make them feel better once the real issue is finally addressed.
Nobody likes being turned down, but everyone appreciates clarity.