Inscriptions is our house magazine meant for our associates. In this issue we Discuss about "Guilt Feeling and how to recover from that", Intrinsic Value for Business and Families, and Retirement Needs from the technical side and The selection of Mr Hari Kishore N for the Technical tour and his experience.
1. A MAGAZINE FROM THE GOPAST CENTRE FOR LEARNING
Inscriptions 36
TRUTH STAYS FOREVER
January 2022
2. PAGE INDEX
Page CHAPTER Topic By
1 SCULPTOR SCULPTS
Recovering from the Guilt
Feeling.
Coping up skills part 2
MR R.GOPINATH
10 GURUS SPEAK
Intrinsic Value of Business and
Family
MR R.GOPINATH
27 CATERPILLAR SPACE Retirement Needs MR NAYAN Bhowmick
28 WE ARE PROUD OF
MR HARI KISHORE N
SELECTED FOR THE
TECHNICAL TOUR
29 GALLERY
SCREEN SHOTS OF THE
SESSIONS IN PROGRESS
4. Recovering from the guilt feeling
Coping up Skill
“That one skill that makes humans Omnipotent”
Part 2 of the total 4 parts
R.Gopinath
gopinathr@go-past.com
Our emotions are the providers of energy to us. Nature’s
law is that energy cannot be suppressed or eliminated, it
can only be converted into another form of energy and it
can also be enhanced by combining other energies.
The feeling of guilt is a healthy emotion; it helps us correct
ourselves, It saves us from bigger trouble. However, like any
good thing this too has its limits. When we allow this feeling
to engulf our whole-self, it handcuffs us! It does not let us
move forward, instead it drags us into our past. We start
reliving the same experience again and again, similar to
cutting an already existing wound, deeper.
5. The fact is that we cannot escape the feeling of guilt that
we experience, which stems from a few mistakes we
commit. Remorse is a natural human feeling, it is triggered
by our conscience. But, some people become so
remorseful that they move into a state of depression; this is
un-healthy!
How to, therefore, handle this feeling of “Guilt”?
We humans have two sets of law;
1) The inner Law and
2) The law of the land.
Examples of the laws of the land: The traffic rules, Tax laws,
Penal Codes etc.
Examples of the Inner Laws: Only speaking the truth,
fidelity, respectful behaviour, keeping up commitments,
sticking to the promises made etc. These Inner Laws are
governed by our core values, that are so dear to our heart.
Whenever we violate these laws, we feel guilty.
Q) Why do we violate these laws in the first place?
Ans: For some gratification.
Q) How do we make these mistakes?
Ans:
1) Knowingly
2) Unknowingly
We violate traffic rules for the gratification of reaching on-
time, or to save fuel, or to show to someone that we are
6. bolder. This violation is mostly knowingly done, unless we
are new to that place and we are not aware of the rules.
People break tax laws for the gratification of money, this
violation is intentional.
We behave harshly with a weak individual, this may not be
our normal self. But, that incident was triggered by a
misunderstanding, or it may be so because we were in a
tense situation, so we did not have control over our
behaviour. This is a violation of our inner law “Respectful
behaviour” this will make us feel guilty later on. However,
this happened unintentionally, the gratification expected
could be “feeling important” or “punish the system (society)
that was rude to you”, only that we took it out on a wrong
person.
The above instances are examples of smaller
consequences. There can be instances with grave
consequences; a quarrel that breaks a relationship,
breaking a promise, causing distrust, an accident that
caused injury to someone, a negligence that caused losses
to others/family/self, letting others down to save our skins-
These are of bigger consequences, some of them are
irreparable. The actions that caused these instances can
push us into the valley of guilt.
Some of the mistakes we commit are in private and some
are in public. A wrong word uttered in a conversation with a
friend, is between two individuals. Whereas a wrong word
uttered in a televised interview is a mistake that millions
come to know.
7. We will be discussing about how to prevent such mistakes
in our next issue. What type of self-control exercises
required to become capable of preventing such mistakes.
Factors like ego, anger, greed and insecurities that cause
such guilt will be discussed in our next issue of inscriptions.
In this issue, let us talk about how to deal with the guilty
feeling. How to stop this feeling from robbing us of our
happiness that we deserve from our other deeds. We still
have a future, so we cannot just lock ourselves into our
past, even if the consequential losses of our mistakes are
irrecoverable. We cannot cut our wounds deeper, we must
heal them, we must move forward, we have responsibilities
to be fulfilled, we have duties to be performed. There are
people depending on us and we need to care for them. We
should not allow the feeling of guilt to start weighing heavily
on us.
You are a good person, you made a mistake, your action
was wrong, but as a person you are still a good person. The
very emotion of remorse, only shows you that your
conscience is still alive.
This doesn’t mean that we should never regret a bad deed
that we did, it means that we must endure the guilt that
follows, we must feel uncomfortable and the pain of such
actions, we must repent, for only then can we take remedial
actions. Then, push this behind us to proceed with our
future.
I would suggest a 8 steps approach to deal with the “Guilt
Feeling”.
8. 1) Re-pledge yourself to your Inner Laws that emanated
from your core values, which are so close to your heart.
This conviction in you that you have the will power to
stick to your rules will mitigate the remorse to some
extent. In the absence of this conviction your mind will
start projecting a bad future by condemning yourself. I
repeat here, your action was wrong, but you are a good
person! The first step in this recovery process is an
extremely significant step:
2) Take responsibility of the action that caused the loss, if
you don’t do it, you will not be able to set it right. Even if
you had a very limited choice to have behaved
otherwise, accept responsibility for having chosen to
act this way. Blaming others, the system, the society,
the circumstances etc will not relieve you from the
weight of your conscience, which is only going increase
as the time passes.
3) Confess and apologise; this needs a lot of courage, this
also needs a zero level Ego in the self, along with an
honest mentality. But this is a quick reliever of the
burden of guilt. The apology must be sincere, should
not be fabricated, should not be a compromise formula
for mitigating the consequence.
4) What if the apology is not possible? What if the person
is unwilling to forgive you? Or worse still, if they’re not
around, the forgiveness will not be forthcoming. Still,
you would like to set the mistake right, then sincerely
repent for the mistake committed. Look at options to
make good of the loss inflicted, To whatever extent
possible make good the loss. Financial losses are
9. comparatively easy to make good, but some losses are
very difficult to be compensated; like losing face in
public or around the people you care about. Even then,
strive hard to resurrect it. Some losses are not possible
to be made good, like loss of a life. Even then, find
alternatives, there should be something that the life
wanted to achieve in their life, is it possible to make that
happen? I am aware that it is not always possible, but
giving up is not an option, keep working to make good
the loss.
5) In most of such cases, seek divine help to forgive you; if
your sincerely regret the deed and are totally willing to
correct yourself, divine intervention will be forth-coming.
It can come in surprising and unseen ways. But be sure
that help will come.
6) Forgive yourself; tell yourself “this is not the end”. Push
that guilt behind you. “It is human to err, divine to
forgive” said his Lordship Pope Alexander. Please tell
your mind that you are not trying to diminish the offence
committed, you are sorry for what happened. You are
not escaping the punishment, you just want to push it
behind so that you will be liberated and go on to
accomplish good things in life, without this guilt
weighing you down from living a fulfilled life. Even the
law of land does not punish a person twice for the same
crime, then why should you inflict the pain on yourself
again and again? You can never reverse the clock, but
you can better your future. Forgiveness is the solution!
Seeking forgiveness from others who were harmed and
seeking forgiveness from the self for such emotional
accidents.
7) Do many good things to the needy; take-up a big cause
and dedicate your energy, your resources to that cause.
10. This will make you feel light and weightless, the
sharpness of the tormenting weapon of regret/guilt
becomes blunt. You will gain blessings and also build
strong relationships in this process.
8) Never ever take to addictions of intoxicating habits; they
will never be a solution at all. On the contrary, they will
pull you deep into to the valley of guilt, along with the
bad aspects such habits bring into anybody’s life. To
surrender oneself to such habits under the excuse of
escaping the pain of a guilt of the past, is a sheer
declaration of accepting defeat in life. A declaration of
having lost the fighting spirit that we have been blessed
with since our birth.
Dear reader, solve this case study and earn a reward.
Assume that you are a close companion of Mr Brilliant, how
would you guide him to get out his predicament, based on
what you have studied from this article. Please send me
your suggestions to Mr Brilliant by email:
gopinathr@go-past.com
Case study - Mr Brilliant
One of my friends (Mr Brilliant), is employed as a CEO of a
big financial institution of this country.
His father was not keeping good health at that time. he had
brought up this boy (Mr Brilliant) as a single parent after the
death of his wife while this boy had just started going to
school. The father had made many sacrifices, including
selling off a big portion of his agricultural land to fund this
boy’s international studies. What now remains with the
father is a small house in the village and a few cents of farm
11. land, where he still toils to grow crops. Having been used to
his village conditions, the father could not feel at home in a
the city apartment of his son, so he preferred to stay back
in his village while the son went on to became a CEO of a
big company in a metropolitan city.
Mr Brilliant’s father had requested him to come with his wife
and children to the village, stay with him for a few days and
take part in the village festival that was round the corner.
This CEO was scheduled to go on a foreign business trip
and since the children too had holidays around the same
time, they decided to make vacation of the business tour.
So Mr Brilliant said to his father, “Not this time dad, we are
so immersed in our work, and the children’s education, it
may not be possible to make it. However, if any donation is
required for the temple festival, I will happily send it to you.”
The father refused the donation and said that his presence
mattered more than the financial support.
Mr Brilliant left for his foreign trip with his family, and
unfortunately, his father passed away almost a day before
Mr Brilliant and his family were to return to India. They
shortened the trip and came to the village to perform the
rites.
Mr Brilliant felt very guilty of not being with this father
around that time, for refusing his request and for lying to
him. Now he does not know how to overcome this feeling.
He stared cursing himself, he started feeling that he has
been an unfaithful son to a magnanimous father, he thought
that his priorities were wrong and he has been carrying this
12. feeling for almost 4 years now. This is affecting his
performance in his office too, He gets irritated, often with
small mistakes his team members commit in their work
(knowingly or unknowingly)
14. Intrinsic value of Businesses and Families
R.Gopinath
gopinathr@go-past.com
15. How would you decide to buy a company or some
stocks of a company? How would you decide on
the “right” price?
Well, there are many methods investors use to get
the answer for the above questions. Value
investors primarily use a method called Intrinsic
value for companies and stocks. They use
Embedded value for estimating Life Insurance
companies and other financial institutions which
carry an on-going fund. Warren Buffet called as the
Messiah of Investment invariably uses Intrinsic
Value method to pick his stocks.
Intrinsic value:
The following quote of Warren Buffet provides a definition of the term
intrinsic value.
"[Intrinsic value is] the discounted value of the cash
that can be taken out of a business during its
remaining life."
Warren Buffett in Berkshire Hathaway Owner Manual
So the Intrinsic value is the Net Present Value
(NPV) of the sum of all future free cash flows (FCF)
the company will generate during a specified term.
This intrinsic value reflects how much the business
underlying the stock is actually worth if you would
16. sell off the whole business and all of its assets.
Investors have different parameters to decide the
specified term, for some it is 10 years for some 20
years and for investors like Warren Buffet it is even
100 years.
In corporate finance, free cash flow (FCF) is the
amount by which a business's operating cash flow
exceeds its working capital needs and
expenditures on fixed assets (known as capital
expenditures CAPEX). It is that portion of cash flow
that can be extracted from a company and
distributed to creditors and securities holders
without causing issues in its operations. As such, it
is an indicator of a company's financial flexibility
and is of interest to holders of the company's
equity, debt, preferred stock and convertible
securities, as well as potential lenders and
investors.
Let us look at an example:
A business called “Jupiter tools” which has a
revenue of 10,00,00,000 and the money used for
its working capital and fixed capital is 70% of that
that is 7,00,00,000. We are projecting that the
growth in the revenue expected at 10% year on
year. We are using a discount value (NPV factor)
6% considering a 20 year outlook :
18. How can companies increase their Intrinsic value?
They do it so by focussing on Value Drivers and
allocating resources to those aspects.
Value Drivers:
A value driver is an activity or capability that adds
worth to a product, service or brand. More
specifically, a value driver refers to those activities
or capabilities that add profitability, reduce risk,
and promote growth in accordance with strategic
goals.
Picture of the 3 significant areas which are
considered as value drivers of companies:
19. The value drivers for a business that contribute to
the above three areas are (illustrative list) are listed
below.
But in arriving at the Intrinsic value certain
assumptions are made. These assumptions are
made based on certain logics, like the past
performances, the orders in the pipeline, the vision
of the company and its expansion plans.
One important aspect of estimating the Intrinsic
value is considering the probable risk factors,
impact of the same and adjusting the Intrinsic
20. Value appropriately. Without this the calculation of
Intrinsic value will remain just a partial estimate.
We have so far discussed what a company means
to its investors. Suppose we extend this topic to
families and ask this question what does a man
mean to his family? What is his contribution to the
family. If all the members of the family like parents,
spouse, children and other blood relatives are the
stakeholders of the unit called family, then what
does this man mean to them. These family
members have invested their love, time, concern,
support and many other things in this person, who
also returns almost of all that and plus his
earnings.
What if we extend the concept of “Intrinsic value”
to a person and his family? How do we estimate
the Intrinsic value of this person?
The profits generated by the business gives
dividends to its investors. It is the income
generated by a person that helps fulfilling the
needs of the family members, who are the
stakeholders of that unit called family.
21. This income provides for all that is needed to under
these 3 major categories. (We earlier saw the 3
aspects of value drivers of businesses.)
What are the value drivers of the income that a
person generates? The following 5 factors
contribute as value drivers:
22. Intellect: His business related knowledge
Talent: His skills that are put to good use in
business
Brand: The opinion the society has about him as a
professional
Experience: The number of challenges faced by
him in so many years of the business/profession.
You will observe from this list that the value drivers
of the businesses are mostly external to the
businessman and that they can be compensated
or acquired from other sources also.
Whereas the value drivers of the individuals
income are internal to him and can not be
compensated from other sources. They are
highly individualised.
What if we use the same method of calculating the
Intrinsic value of the business to the Intrinsic
value of the individual (for the benefit of the stake
holders of the unit called family)?
While for business arriving at CAPEX figure is easy
from the list of the income and expenses
statements and cash flow statements it may not be
so easy to find it out for families. Families do not
23. maintain accounts to that detail. In fact the unit of
production for the family is that individual
himself. So we must consider the expenses made
on himself as the CAPEX for the family.
We earlier estimated the Intrinsic value of Jupiter
tools. Let us say Mr. Mars is owner of Jupiter tools.
Mr Mars has a family and his share of profits
received from Jupiter and also his other
remunerations received from Jupiter tools is
1,00,00,000 and the money spent on self is 20% of
that and parallel to the Jupiter’s revenue his
income also grows by 10% year on year. Using the
same discount factor 6%, what could be the
Intrinsic value of Mr Mars to his family?
The result will be like this:
24. The Intrinsic value of Mr Mars as calculated above
is 21,95,33,257.
We saw in our earlier discussion on the Intrinsic
value of the business that an important aspect of
estimating the Intrinsic value is considering the
probable risk factors, impact of the same and
Intrinsic Value of Mr Mars
Year Revenue (Post tax
income)
Capex (Money
spent on self)
Free cash flow to
the family
1 1,00,00,000 20,00,000 80,00,000
2 1,10,00,000 22,00,000 88,00,000
3 1,21,00,000 24,20,000 96,80,000
4 1,33,10,000 26,62,000 1,06,48,000
5 1,46,41,000 29,28,200 1,17,12,800
6 1,61,05,100 32,21,020 1,28,84,080
7 1,77,15,610 35,43,122 1,41,72,488
8 1,94,87,171 38,97,434 1,55,89,737
9 2,14,35,888 42,87,178 1,71,48,710
10 2,35,79,477 47,15,895 1,88,63,582
11 2,59,37,425 51,87,485 2,07,49,940
12 2,85,31,167 57,06,233 2,28,24,934
13 3,13,84,284 62,76,857 2,51,07,427
14 3,45,22,712 69,04,542 2,76,18,170
15 3,79,74,983 75,94,997 3,03,79,987
16 4,17,72,482 83,54,496 3,34,17,985
17 4,59,49,730 91,89,946 3,67,59,784
18 5,05,44,703 1,01,08,941 4,04,35,762
19 5,55,99,173 1,11,19,835 4,44,79,339
20 6,11,59,090 1,22,31,818 4,89,27,272
NPV@6% 21,95,33,257
25. adjusting the Intrinsic value appropriately. Without
this the calculation of Intrinsic value will remain
just a partial estimate.
This is applicable to case of family and the person
earning for the family also. We have seen in the
picture above that there are 5 factors that
contribute as value driver for the person who is
earning income: 1) Intellect, 2) Talent, 3) Brand, 4)
Experience and 5) Passion.
What types of risk can these value drivers be
exposed to:
Death, Disability, Critical Illness. These risks have a
very severe negative impact and long lasting
impact. There are other risks too, but they don’t
have such serious impact. For instance loss of job
or losses in business. As long as the above
mentioned 5 factors are in tact, there will be a
quick recovery from the loss of a job or from the
losses of a business.
Strategically the best option to manage these three
major risks, death, disability and critical illness is
“Risk Transfer”: meaning insurance. To decide the
quantum of the risk cover, we can use the Intrinsic
value method.
26. Risk management is a science. Like any other
science this science also operates on principles.
So it is advisable to play by principles.
There is a deep underlying connection between our
Business and our family. The gains of our
businesses pass on to our family and the gains
from the family pass on to our businesses.
Look at this picture, depicting these
interconnections.
Money earned from business, intellect, talent,
confidence, contacts developed, status achieved,
27. the love of the team and the happiness derived
from running the business goes to benefit the
family in a very big way.
So also the Love, happiness, the belongingness,
the emotional support and the skills in tackling
domestic issues in the family go the support the
business performance.
Running a business successfully depends on two
important qualities attributable to the business
leader (Businessman) 1) Responsibility and 2)
Accountability. The responsibility of the leader
reflects in his vision and the value systems he has
developed for his business. Accountability is to do
with the transactions of the business. The way the
resources are planned, used and recorded
(accounted for).
To fulfil his responsibilities he needs the support of
the accounting process. Responsibility undertaken
without a mandate of being accountable for the
resources used, is like a barren land. Land that
hardly produces anything and even it does, it was
by a sheer lucky chance. Accountability without
being responsible for the results produced is like
pages written in an alien language, not making
sense. Good calligraphy but no meaning.
28. If this is true for the good governance of the
business then it should be also true for the good
governance of the family as well. Please look at the
following quotes from two great personalities of the
economic science:
29. These statements justify the Intrinsic value
calculation is relevant for the families as much as it
is relevant in businesses and its valuations.
In businesses there are so many men who
contribute for its economy, like the shareholders,
the working team, and consultants. But for families
mostly the number of people who contribute for
the economy of the family is one or two or just a
couple more. That means protecting the economy
of the family needs significant attention and
planning.
While the Intrinsic value of the business belongs
to the shareholders, the Intrinsic value of the
person belongs to the family members. The
shareholders are demanding, and they also have
legal recourses to secure their investments. But the
family members are never demanding. There is no
law that protects their investments in this person
and the benefits that should flow to them from
such investments. It is therefore the responsibility
of this person to protect the rights of his family
members voluntarily.
Life insurance is therefore a primary need. It can
not be an option for consideration. The premiums
paid to secure that life insurance cover should be
treated as if it is a part of the cost of the essentials
30. for the family like food, clothes, school fees etc. To
stress this point let me also provide two more
quotes from the learned Prof S S Huebner:
32. 5
Nayan Bhowmick
Retirement
Needs
“When I want to understand what is happening today, I try to
decide what will happen tomorrow; look back; a page of history is
worth a volume of logic.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes.
A self sufficient economy does not trade with other countries
because it can produce its goods and services using its natural
resources, sustainable agriculture, and reasonable energy.
Financial independence can be defined as reaching a place
where we are able to afford our day-to-day essentials without
outside support from friends and family.
After my many years of studies on ‘retirement needs’, I always
advocate that an individual must enjoy financial independence
during the phase between retirement and death. This is because it is
in this phase that an individual needs sufficient care financially
and emotionally in order to live a purposeful life.
Why is this financial independence is so relevant?
Retirement, as we understand it today, did not exist in the
pre-industrial era. In those days, older members of society were
not relegated to the sidelines. They actually held a prominent
position in their families and their society and were respected
for their insight, knowledge of skills and crafts and lesson
gained from experience. It is the industrial age that ushered in
a profound redefinition of work and gave us the now popular
notion of retirement. Mass production became the common
mode of work and workers began to be viewed as parts in the
system, subject to wear and easily replacable.
In his book The Sociology of Retirement, Robert C.
Atchley made an insightful comparison between a craftsman
and a worker. Atchley also noted that the words “job” and
“occupation” soon began to replace the term craft and vocation.
New workers became accustomed to punching the time clock
and crossing days off the calendar in anticipation of the day
they could retire. Financial independence plays a vital role at
this juncture to make our retirement phase purposeful.
What is retirement?
1) For some it is a movement from pressure cooker to easy-
chair.
2) For some it a movement from pressure cooker to pleasure
cooker.
3) For many it is a movement from pressure cooker to frying
pan.
4) For many it is a movement to somewhere unknown.
5) For a few from passion to passion.
6) For a few it is a chair on wings
Many of us are so occupied with getting out of a career trap
that we seem to care little about what happens after we leave our
jobs. Despite the fact we have planned other aspects of our lives, we
seem to feel retirement will take care of itself.
During my seminars on “retirement needs” with different
audiences, I always start by asking the question, “When I say
‘retirement planning’ what is the first thing that comes to mind?”
The answer,across audiences is always “Money.”
Ialwaysbelievethatthequalityofourlivescannotbeguaranteed
in a number. We need to focus on a number of important questions,
viz.
1. How will I spend the (24X7) 168 hours that make up each
week?
2. How will I invest myself, including my knowledge, wisdom
and experience?
3. How will I invest my new found freedom?
It is wrong to think that money is the only investment that
matters in retirement. In order to lead a meaningful retired life, we
should understand that we can invest our:-
{i} Time and freedom to do what makes us happy.
{ii} Talents and insights to serve the society.
{iii} Money and resources to maintain good health and
pursue our plans like travelling.
Therefore, the key to a happy retirement is not just having
money. One needs to plan for retirement right from the first day
of the job. This means fulfilling the financial obligations of the
family so that when we retire, the only big responsibility we have,
is towards ourselves-to live a healthy, respectful life in a dignified
manner and fulfil whatever dreams we might have so that our
mental happiness is ensured.
33.
PROUD TO BE
ASSOCIATED
Mr Hari Kishore N
KCG College of Technology
Selected for the Technical Tour to Atal Tunnel
34. A BRIEF REPORT ON OUR TOUR TO ATAL TUNNEL, ROHTANG
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) had arranged an
educational visit to Atal Tunnel, Rohtang in Himachal Pradesh under the
YUVAK scheme from 1st
November 2021 to 3rd
November 2021. This
Educational Visit to Atal tunnel was informed to us a month prior to our
visit and it was organised with permission and instructions from KCG
College of Technology, Chennai. According to AICTE, 10 students having
a minimum CGPA of 8.5 up until the previous semester and one faculty
member are considered eligible for this educational tour. My CGPA is
now 9.13/10 up until my 4th
Semester. We were accompanied by Mr.
Arul Inigo Raja Assistant Professor, Mech KCG College of
Technology. Our team had a total of 10 students and one instructor. We
started off from Perambur Railway Station, Chennai on October 28th
at
approximately 9:45 AM in the morning via train and reached Chandigarh
Railway Station on October 30th
at 4:00 AM in the morning. We then
boarded a Tempo Traveller and started off to Manali.
On November 1st
2021, we started off at 8:20 AM and
35. reached the BRO office at said time. Then there was a PPT presentation
presented by a BRO official.
After the presentation we headed to the site along with the BRO official
where he explained in depth about the tunnel practically. We reached
the site at 10:50 AM and our visit ended at 12:40 PM. Our trip to the Atal
Tunnel was indeed very informative and mind-blowing. The BRO official
explained us about the difference in the construction of the Atal tunnel
from regular tunnels and about the problems they had to overcome in
order to successfully complete building this Engineering masterpiece.
The transport expenses, boarding and lodging expenses were provided
by AICTE itself under the YUVAK scheme.
OUR TEAM:
Mr. Arul Inigo Raja ( Instructor)
Hari Kishore N
Pradesh VN
Dhanushaa N
Sai Shruthi R
Dhanush Nithil
Ashwin Venugopal
Haobijam Kenedy Singh
Kasu Vamsi Sai Krishna Reddy