I was fascinated. Here were women juggling jobs, families, and countless responsibilities, yet finding the time and enthusiasm to dress up and celebrate. What amazed me was that this enthusiasm continued despite their exhausting daily routines.

This is how it develops. One day, you discover a stock. You read about it. The story looks fascinating. You study it. Dive deeper. Analyse the numbers. The narrative and the numbers match. All the dots connect. Everything falls into place. Your gut tells you: This is a lifetime opportunity. This is the one. But… somehow, you don’t pull the trigger. You sit. You watch. You wait.

A great company. Strong profit growth. And yet, poor stock returns. This is not unusual. Many companies go through such cycles. A good company does not necessarily make a good stock at every point in time. A good company can remain a frustrating stock for one year, three years, five years, or even longer.

“An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.”

One risk disappears. Another takes its place. That is how markets work. The objective, therefore, is not to build a portfolio for a world without risks. That world does not exist. The objective is to build a portfolio that can survive a world where the risks keep changing. Because the next risk is always around the corner. We don't know its name yet. The risk may change. The risk may move. The risk may take a different form.

One of my clients achieved a milestone she once thought was impossible. Her mutual fund portfolio crossed ₹1 Crore. That’s a major achievement. Not just financially, but psychologically and socially. For a woman, Rs. 1 Cr meant more than money. Confidence. Freedom. Security. And most importantly, the belief that she would never have to depend on anyone for her financial future.

So the real question isn't whether this fund has underperformed. It clearly has. The real question is: How should an investor think and act when a fund that once delivered exceptional returns stops delivering? Let's find out.

Social media, YouTube, and AI have made investing look deceptively simple. You can Google almost anything today: the best mutual fund, the right SIP, even the perfect portfolio, and get an answer in seconds. So many investors begin to think: “Why should I pay an adviser 1% when I can do all this myself?” At first glance, it sounds perfectly logical. But imagine a scenario.

One of the biggest surprises in my profession is this. Recently, a friend called me in a state of panic. He had received an additional income tax demand. It wasn't a huge amount, just about ₹1 lakh. A relatively small sum considering his income. Yet he was genuinely stressed because he didn't know where the money would come from.

That's why investing is so deceptive. A good decision can produce poor returns. A poor decision can produce extraordinary returns.

Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slams and a record 8 Wimbledon titles. But here's the statistic. Throughout his entire career, Federer won only about 54% of the points he played. That's it. Which means he lost nearly one out of every two points. Yet he finished as one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen. Why?

The new tax regime has changed the rules of investing. The question is no longer "Which investment saves the most tax?" The question is "Which investment helps me create the most wealth after tax?" That's the difference between tax-saving and tax-efficient investing. Because the wealth you build is not determined by what you earn. It is determined by what you keep after tax.

In military strategy, there is a well-known phrase: The Fog of War. It describes a battlefield where decisions must be made without complete information. No commander knows exactly how the battle will unfold. Yet the decision cannot wait. The parallels between warfare and investing have always fascinated me. I explored this idea in much greater detail in my book, The Art of War for Stock Market Investors. The Persistent-Nagarro acquisition illustrates that idea perfectly.

For a long time, I thought some of my natural tendencies needed fixing. I thought I needed to become more outgoing. I thought I needed to network more. Talk more. Be an extrovert. Show up more. Stand out more. In short, I thought I needed to become someone I wasn't.

Most investors think risk means volatility. It doesn't. The greatest risk in investing is not a 20% correction. It is owning a business that eventually becomes worthless.

When wars begin, attention is focused on missiles, military strategy, territorial gains, and displays of strength. As wars drag on, the focus changes. The battlefield remains active, but the consequences begin spreading far beyond it. The common man pays. The economy weakens. Years of progress are reversed. And peace becomes increasingly expensive.

While regulators, courts, and the company will eventually determine the facts, the episode raises an important question for investors: How can a company that appeared successful, established and widely followed suddenly become the subject of such serious concerns? More importantly, what can investors learn from it?

After seeing impressive past returns, investors pour money into the top-performing funds. Expectations rise. Confidence grows. Unfortunately, this often occurs after much of the outperformance has already happened. Then the market cycle changes. The former leader slows down, while funds that were previously ignored begin performing better. Investors become disappointed. They switch to the new top performer. The cycle repeats.

Life is, in many ways, a series of choices. Some are small and forgettable. Others quietly shape the course of an entire life. We choose whom to marry. We choose a career. We choose where to live. And, perhaps more importantly, what to let go. Every choice opens one door and closes several others.

This is where stillness becomes an edge. Stillness is not about doing nothing. It is in refusing to react when reaction is not required. It is the ability to pause when everything around us is telling us to act. To sit with uncertainty without rushing to resolve it. To allow decisions to play out instead of constantly interfering with them.