Sometimes... Sometimes ignorance is bliss

I am writing a blog after a very long time. I do have some blogs in my "draft" folder, but I am not willing to publish them at this moment. Perhaps because I am not so sure about the sanctity of those blogs. I never really thought of myself as a "good" writer. Therefore, the frequency of posting a blog is very irregular. 

Over the past few days, though, I have started truly understanding a saying in Marathi which roughly translates to "Ignorance is Bliss". I don't fully subscribe to this idea, but recently, as I sat on my chair with my eyes closed, doing absolutely nothing, I realised that in some ways, it does hold true. Of course, someday your ignorance will surely catch up with you, but until then, you live in quite a peace, with your heart and your mind. 

Think of the animals, the birds, the tribes that live deep within nature. They have no clue how unstable and unpredictable the world has become. We actually don't have to venture that far. Before the internet "democratised" the information, the "common man", I believe, was a bit happier. Of course, there was information asymmetry, but as long as one's basic needs were addressed, there was contentment. There was no social media to compare "status" with others. Fashion trends lasted for years because there were no influencers pushing something new every other week. Obviously, there were positives and negatives of this asymmetry; the lack of fact-checking meant rumours spread easily. But that happens even today. 

Until about 7-8 years ago, I was completely unaware of what was happening in the world of technology, space, finance, and politics. I only knew that Maa Bharati reached Mars in her first attempt, something no other country could do. The only political parties I knew were the BJP, INC, SS, REP and DEM. I didn't know back then what caused the 2008 crisis. I didn't know that Uncle Sam was spending trillions in West Asia to bring "Democracy". 

When I was 16 years old and had acquired some knowledge about space science from Sahil, I wanted to pursue a career in physics/aerospace/engineering. I was a firm believer that an Engineer must be a person who designs products. Yet this urge to learn something which had absolutely nothing to do with the prescribed curriculum and perhaps was outside of my circle of competence, made me ask basic questions to my dad about banks and finance (actually, my mom also deserves some credit here. Since childhood, she has always made me study a bit extra). I was very curious to understand what he meant when he said "risk". Back then, he was studying for some certificates related to risk and fraud in the world of finance. His books, although I never bothered to open them, attracted me. Unknowingly, for the next 6 years, through the democratised source of information, the internet, I kept learning about finance, and here I am, doing my Master's in Finance. 

Yes, you are right, what a hypocrite I am. This is not the first time; there have been many instances where I have done things (happily) that I once disliked. Yup! Poetry, I frankly hated it in my school days. My interest in finance is very organic; nobody asked me to study finance. It's just like a Bollywood story, where something entirely unexpected happens, sort of "kahani mein twist". On a lighter note, looking at the number of times I have been a hypocrite, almost everything is Bollywood. To be very clear, I am grateful that I am studying finance at a good university and under the guidance of great professors. No complaints at all. But sometimes, I feel I was better off when I had literally no idea of the financial world. I didn't know how the money worked. This feeling comes from the current volatility in the global economy. A couple of years ago, I learned that the debt-based system would eventually come to a standstill. A "crisis" will occur. Although, as I write this blog, there is no crisis.

A few days ago, looking at the global central banks' demand for precious metals, and after reading/listening to some good commentaries, I said to my parents, "There might come a time when the jewellers will run out of gold and silver".  And last week, we all saw what happened in the Silver market; many mints in the Western world had to shut down simply because they couldn't grasp the volatility. Even in India, headlines like "there is no sliver of silver" were popular. The market has definitely settled down a bit in the last 2-3 days, but this run on the metal exchanges, not for trading but for physical deliveries, is hinting at a distrust in the existing financial system. 

Lately, I have been continuously reading materials and listening to podcasts, trying to make sense of what is happening in the world. Perhaps my curiosity stems from a conviction that we are living through a period that will define the new global order. When the dust eventually settles, I am certain that countless papers/books/articles will emerge to analyse this volatile era, and yes, the starting point will not be April 2, 2025 (the liberation day), but the Ukraine conflict, specifically the moment when Russian foreign exchange assets were seized by the Western world. 

People who know me very closely know that I am more of an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of person. But this curiosity often takes over my mind so much that sometimes, even as I lie in bed, an entire night slips away, and I barely get any sleep. It takes every corner of my heart, my brain and my soul. For many, sleepless nights might be a very usual thing, but believe me, for any true "Thite", sleep is sacred. 

I am looking for something, but I don't know what or where it is. But I can feel its presence. 

I am not worried about my future or anyone else's, for that matter; I can say this with utmost humility that Mahadev has been extremely kind to me, and I have full faith in him. But this quest of quenching the thirst to know, observe something new and learn from that at times is overwhelming. Had I focused just on engineering, I probably would have got a job as a trainee or a junior engineer with a decent salary, and some part of that would have gone to a mutual fund manager. It would have become the manager's responsibility to study, and maybe worry. Of course, nobody is immune to shocks. Neither the fund manager nor an engineer, but unless an ignorant person feels the heat, he/she is fine.

I don't hate what I do; in fact, I like it. I like to talk to my professors about the latest news I read, the podcast I watched or a chart I saw, but the sheer curiosity, maybe the excess of it, makes me feel sometimes... sometimes ignorance is bliss.

What do you think, is ignorance bliss?