INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ace investor Shankar Sharma, VC Joint MD at First Global, is brutally candid and sharply focussed
He has a take on virtually everything under the sun
Apart from stock markets, another thing which is very close to his heart is food
In an exclusive interaction with ETNOW's Nikunj Dalmia, he reveals his favourite dish, restaurant and the one thing he envies about Warren
Edited excerpts - Nikunj Dalmia: Instead of this normal market talk, I thought we will go on a food trail
Our viewers know how one should invest the Shankar Sharma way, but today we will talk about how should one reallyShankar Sharma: Especially,
eat or I eat to liveShankar Sharma: I live to eat
I am sure you have followed whatever I tweet
So, yes.
Nikunj Dalmia: Some of those recommendations would be coming about what you like, what you eat
So I am afraid I may not be able to savour some of your recommendations
But what is that ultimate dish you would say you have eaten in India or outside which you would say is my all-time favouriteShankar Sharma:
There is no one dish, but one thing I always say is you cannot eat badly in India
And trust me, I live in Dubai and obviously been around
But the kind of food you eat in Bombay, you get in Bombay -- particularly I am not talking about Indian food, it is more like the fusion of
Indian versus Western food -- is unparallelled, it is brilliant and so many new restaurants opening
You are just spoilt for choice
Nikunj Dalmia: When I ask people which is your favourite dish, I always get this very cliched answer maa ke haath ka khana, is it true for
you alsoShankar Sharma: Oh, not at all, not at all
My mother was a woman ahead of her times
She said kitchen is not meant for me and my father was a great cook, my mother never cooked
The only thing I remember is she cooked one fish pie in my entire life of having known her
So, there was no maa ka haath ka khana
I have always preferred to eat out to eat in
Till date, I always preferred hotel food to home food
So, yes for me, those typically Indian or even mom cooking kind of thing has never worked.
Nikunj Dalmia: Have you ever cooked apart from
boiling water, maybe making somethingShankar Sharma: No, no, no, I cook, yes of course
I am actually a pretty good cook.
Nikunj Dalmia: So, alternative profession, if not a stock market investor, I want to be a cookShankar
Sharma: Not profession, but I can tell you I cook a lot better than many restaurants where you pay a lot of money to eat
It is not difficult, cooking is very simple, it is a matter of process, good ingredients, I think you will do well.
Nikunj Dalmia: Buffett
says that look, I get up in the morning, I eat my burger, I enjoy my coke and I can do that 365 days in a year
I am a great investor, but I love my food and what I like about my food is my habits do not change.Shankar Sharma: The only thing I envy
about Warren Buffett, trust me the only one thing, is his genetics, the eating that crap, trash, that he has eaten for so many decades,
drinking sugary Coke and eating burgers and he is he is batting like he can go on forever
Trust me that really makes me completely envious, not his wealth or his achievement, that is okay
We can all make a lot of money in that context, but to live eating burgers and Coke and live to be 90 or whatever 95, 100, God knows where
Brilliant.
Nikunj Dalmia: You have spent a reasonable amount of time in Mumbai even though you are not from Mumbai
But knowing your habits and how experimental you are by now, you must have experimented with all those small restaurants, the big fancy ones
What comes on the top of your mind as the go-to placeShankar Sharma: Well, I typically never go to five-star hotels, I mean that is
something I think they give you absolutely rubbish food, overpriced and they serve mostly the foreigners who are coming in, who are not very
knowledgeable about local food is
It's really independent restaurants and The Table where we are shooting is a great place, one of my favourites
There are many around Fort Colaba and I live in South Bombay
I do believe there are a lot of good restaurants in North Bombay, but I can never make that traffic trek there
But this side, Excellency is a great seafood restaurant
You know when I used to work out of Fountain in Fort with one of our offices, there are so many small eateries around, Apoorva was there or
Ankur was there, Trishna was there, the whole Rampart Row areas is now teaming with small eateries
It has just become so lively in South Bombay, you are just really spoilt for choice.
Nikunj Dalmia: So, how would you connect markets and
foodShankar Sharma: Well, we have to work very hard to support all this eating out
So Monday to Friday That is what I spend a lot of time doing, to find money to spend on Saturday and Sunday.
Nikunj Dalmia: There are 6,000
listed stocks and a stock picker will be able to identify those 10-15, maybe 50 stocks which would change the course of your life
That is not the case with food
You can be experimental, but when it comes to markets, you really have to go in depth, analyse and study.Shankar Sharma: It is same in food
You have to keep an open mind and there are stuff that you might not ordinarily want to eat or have thought of eating like you go to China,
you get served things
Nikunj Dalmia: You do not talk about it on cameraShankar Sharma: Exactly
It is not polite to talk about those things
But I have not gone to the extremes, but I have kept an open mind in the middle and some of them are fairly interesting things to have eaten
So, in markets too, keep an open mind
I mean that is what I always say
The biggest pitfalls -- and I am equally prey to that
We all get sort of straightjacketed in our thinking and our approaches and philosophy
While in markets, something works for some time
But nothing works all the time
So, you either have growth or value or momentum or you have to move with the times
So, the one thing I really want to always keep doing is to remain flexible, not to become hardened in my approach.
