A Delicious ₹50 Breakfast Under a Tree – Sector 25, Panchkula

This morning at around 9 AM, I went out in Sector 25, Panchkula, looking for a good restaurant.

To my surprise, there are no fancy restaurant options in Sectors 25, 26, or 27.

• Krishnam Restaurant in Sector 25 serves mainly South Indian cuisine. Last time I went, I didn’t like their basement dining area—windowless, though air-conditioned. It felt claustrophobic.

• Sagar Ratna in Sector 26 was "okayish" during my last visit in 2025.

• If you're a pizza lover, La Pino'z and Domino's are available in the Sector 25 market. There's also a Subway. I often order from La Pino'z via Zomato, especially during evening discounts—50% off on large pizzas is a great deal!

Breakfast at a Roadside Stall

Eventually, I chose a small stall set up under a big leafy tree at the edge of a parking area in Sector 25's market complex.

The breakfast menu:

• Parathas

• Amritsary Chhole Naan (served during lunch and evenings too)

Timings: 8 AM to 5 PM
The team: Two people — an older local and a young man (about 20 years old) who cooked fresh naan in a traditional bhatti (earth oven).

The setup included big pots of chhole placed on a rehri (wheeled cart) with a red hoarding proudly highlighting Amritsary Naan.

Did we like the food?

Yes. It was tasty.

Did we like the surroundings?

Yes. It was a cloudy, fresh Saturday morning after a rainy Friday. The air was crisp under that green tree, and there was no traffic or crowd.

Did we like the price?

Absolutely. Only ₹50 per plate.

What was on the plate?

• Two big naans with a buttery topping

• Matar-paneer sabji

• Chhole sabji

• Fresh-cut onions

• Green chutney

All this for just ₹50!

As I left, I gave a thumbs-up to the vendor.

A Note on the Micro-Entrepreneurs

What I saw in those boys was true entrepreneurial spirit.

Waking up early, preparing everything before 8 AM, transporting it to the spot, and working all day—sun or shade—takes grit, patience, and discipline. To do all that and still wear a smile? That’s the mark of a true entrepreneur.

Top 5 Large Cap Gainers of Indian Stock Market year 2018-19 Diwali to Diwali

Hi,

This year was not good for the NIFTY and Sensex index, but still, these five companies have outperformed every other.

1. Interglobe Ave (IndiGo)

Stock is up by around 95% from the Diwali 2018. This aviation giant has gained a lot by the closing of its competitor Jet Airways. with a market cap of around 67000 crores rupees, the company is a large-cap company and is a number one gainer of this year.

2. HDFC AMC

This asset management company which deals with mutual funds is up by around 94% from the last Diwali. Company has a bright future because only a small fraction of people are invested in the mutual fund sectors. Once people get aware of the sector, it has a big potential, and this is the reason that institutional investors showed trust in this stock. 

3. BPCL (Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.) 

The Indian government is planning of divestment of their share in this company. Currently, govt has around 53% stake in this company, and these divestment talks are the sole big reason behind the large gains. From last year, it is up by 86.59%. 

4. Siemens 

A very well known MNC got its share price booming after the government's decision of cutting the corporate tax rate. The company used to pay 36%  tax on the profits, but this has come down to around 25%, and it has increased the profitability of the company. Its share price has risen by 75.15%. 

5. Berger Paints

Asian Paints is the biggest player in paints, and then comes Berger Paints at the 2nd position. But compared to the former, the company has performed very well. The reason again is the corporate tax cut, after which the share price rose and brought the company from the mid-cap category to the large-cap category. Whenever a company becomes a large-cap it gains the trust of the institutional buyers.

Thanks!

Why Bandhan Bank surged more than 15% in October 2019

In and around 11th October, Bandhan Bank stock price was up by more than 15%, and the main reason was the inclusion of the Bandhan Bank stock in MSCI index. This can attract more than $180 millions of worth of inflows of investment. There are many institutional investors or passive fund managers which follow MSCI.

In rupees terms, it amounts to around 1300 crores of rupees. News has affected Gruh Finance also whose share price also went up by more than 10%. A major stake of Gruh Finance was bought by Bandhan Bank this year from HDFC, and the two got merged together on 17th October, and together it will be known as Bandhan Bank.

Bandhan Bank has a market cap of around 69000 crores, and most of the share of the stock is with the promoters around 82.26%.  Only 2% is available with the general public.

As per the RBI rule, the promoters have to bring their stake down to 20% by selling their stock share within a given time frame. The inclusion of the Bandhan Bank in MSCI index took place on 16th october.

Thanks!

50 Billionaires and their top 10 Favorite Books

Hi,
This post gives the list of the top billionaires and their most favourite books which you might be interested in buying and reading. The list has come out after a good amount of internet research, so have to just click the links given and order them if you haven't bought them yet. I hope it is helpful for you.

1. Jeff Bezos.

i) 'The Remains of the Day'  by Kazuo Ishiguro

ii)  'Sam Walton: Made in America'  by Sam Walton

iii) 'Memos from the Chairman' by Alan Greenberg

iv) The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.

v) 'Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies' by Jim Collins and  Jerry I. Porras

vi) 'Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap'  by Jim Collins

 


vii) 'Creation: Life and How to Make it' by Steve Grand

viii) 'The Innovator's Dilemma'  by Clayton M. Christensen

ix) 'The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement'  by Eliyahu Goldratt

x) 'Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation' by James Wolmach and Daniel Jones

References: https://www.theceolibrary.com/people/jeff-bezos

2. Bill Gates.

Bill keeps updating his favourite books each year on his blog. The list presented here is as per his latest favourites as on 18th July 2019. 

i) 'Capitalism Without Capital - the Rise of Intangible Economy' by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake

ii) 'The Headspace Guide to Mindfulness and Meditation' by Andy Puddicombe

iii) 'Educated - the International Bestselling memoir' by Tara Westover

iv) 'Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine and Mysteries of Blood' by Rose George

v) 'The Moment of Lift - How Empowering Women Changes the World' by Melinda Gates

vi) 'Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist' by Roger Lowenstein

vii) 'Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis' by Jared Diamond



viii)  'Presidents of War: Epic Story from 1807 to Modern Times' by Michael Beschloss

ix) 'The Future of Capitalism: Facing the New Anxieties'  by Paul collier

x) 'A Gentleman in Moscow' by Amor Towles

 


3. Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are close friends, but they have totally different businesses. Warren Buffett has created his wealth mainly by Investing in Stocks, and he gives big credit of it to Benjamin Graham and highly recommended this book which is at number one spot in the following list. 


i) 'The Intelligent Investor'  by Benjamin Graham

 


ii) 'Security Analysis'  by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd

iii) 'Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits'  by Philip A. Fisher

 iv) 'Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises' by Timothy Geithner

v) 'Jack: Straight from the Gut' by Jack Welch

vi) 'The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success'  by William Thorndike

vii) 'The Clash of the Cultures: Investment vs Speculation' by John C. Bogle

viii) 'Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street' by John Brooks

ix) 'Where are the Customers' Yachts?' by Fred Schwed Jr.

x) 'Essays in Persuasion' by John Maynard Keynes

4. Bernard Arnault

Currently (July 2019) he is the 2nd richest person in the world, but I put him at the 4th spot here, because Bill and Warren deserve the top spots because they have been constantly at top spots for decades now. Arnault has risen to the spot this year only.

4. Larry Ellison

i) 'Napoleon' by Vincent Cronin

5. Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg has his favourite books mentioned in his Facebook Page. He has mentioned about 20 to 25 books in there, but only 10 of them which has got most likes on the respective post is mentioned in here. 

i) 'Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty' by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson

ii) 'The Player of Games: The Culture: Book 2' by Iain M. Banks

iii) 'Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day' by Daryl Collins

iv) 'The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History' by Ibn Khaldun

 
v) 'Creativity Inc.' by Ed Catmull

vi) 'Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters' by Matt Ridley

vii) 'Dealing with China' by Hank Paulson


viii) 'Open: An Autobiography' by Andre Agassi

ix) 'World Order' by Henry Kissinger

x) 'The Better Angeles of Our Nature' by Steven Pinker

6. Michael Bloomberg

i) 'Thirst: A Story of Redemption, Compassion, and a Mission to Bring Clean Water to the World' by Scott Harrison

ii) 'How Will You Measure Your Life' by Clayton M. Christensen

iii) 'The Honourable Schoolboy' by John Le Carre

iv) 'The Start-up of You: Adapt to The Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career' by Ben Casnocha & Reid Hoffman

v) 'Principles: Life and Work' by Ray Dalio

7. Larry Page

Lawrence "Larry Page" is the American businessman and a computer scientist who is the co-founder of Google, alongside Sergey Brin. It seems as if Richard P. Feynman was his favourite author, but if Nikola had written more books then it could have been latter. 

i) 'My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla' by Nikola Tesla

There are free versions available on the internet, and they are without any editorial comments. It is very short, and I liked it that way. But if you need comments commentary on the book, please read the other available on the market. 

ii) 'Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman!' by Richard P. Feynman

iii) 'What Do You Care What Other People Think?' by Richard P. Feynman

iv) 'QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter'  by Richard P. Feynman

v) 'Pleasure of Finding Things Out' by Richard P. Feynman

vi) 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson

References:

https://bookauthority.org/profile/larry-page

https://www.booklists.co/larry-page.html

8. Charles Koch

Apart from being the billionaire CEO of the second-largest privately held company in USA(Koch Industries), he is 83 years old(as on 2019) and has written few books as well. The latest one 'Good Profit' he wrote in 2015 at the age of 80. Another one is 'The Science of Success' written in 2007. Here is a list of his favourite books. 

i) 'The Bonfire of the Vanities' by Tom Wolfe

ii) 'Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy' by Michael Polanyi

iii) 'Human Action: A Treatise on Economics' by Ludwig Von Mises


iv) 'In Pursuit of Happiness and Good Government' by Charles Murray


v) 'How The West Grew Rich' by Nathan Rosenberg

vi) 'The Law' by Frederic Bastiat


vii) 'The Godfather' by Mario Puzo

viii) 'The Hunt For Red October' by Tom Clancy

 


ix) 'As I Lay Dying' by William Faulkner

x) 'The Science of Liberty: Democracy, Reason, and the Laws of Nature' by Timothy Ferries

References: https://charleskoch.com/articles/books#books

8. Ray Dalio

i) 'Mastering the Market Cycle' by Howard Marks

ii) 'Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life Through Transcendental Meditation' by Norman E Rosenthal

iii) 'Einstein's Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius' by Hans C. Ohanian

iv) 'Principles: Life and Work' by Ray Dalio

v) 'River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life' by Richard Dawkins

vi) 'The Lessons of History' by Will Durant

vii) 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' by Joseph Campbell

viii) 'Strength in Stillness: The Power of Transcendental Meditation' by Bob Roth

ix) 'Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises' by Ray Dalio

9. Mukesh Ambani

The Richest in Asia and very famous in India, this man is quite a reader. In his recent interviews, he mentioned two books that he had been reading at the time. He named Dan Brown and Walter Isaacson as his favourite authors, and he named two books by the same. 

i) 'Origin: (Robert Langdon Book 5)' by Dan Brown


ii) 'Leonardo Da Vinci' by Walter Isaacson

As he has named both of these authors his favourites, so definitely, the other books by these authors are also recommended to be read. Check out 'the Da Vinci Code', and others in the series by Dan Brown. And check the Biographies of Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin by Water Isaacson. 

10. Sergey Brin

The two Google cofounders - Larry Page and Sergey Brin have more common than just the company that they founded together.

i) 'How To Read a Book' by Mortimer J. Adler

ii) 'Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman!' by Richard P. Feynman

iii) 'Snow Crash' by Neal Stephenson

References: 

https://www.businessinsider.in/Google-cofounder-Sergey-Brin-says-these-2-books-changed-his-life/articleshow/48165542.cms

https://www.theceolibrary.com/people/sergey-brin

11. Jack Ma

i) 'Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies' by Jim Collins and  Jerry I. Porras

ii) 'Makers: The New Industrial Revolution' by Chris Anderson

iii) 'Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organising Without Organisations' by Clay Shirky

iv) 'The Long Tail: How Endless Choice is Creating Unlimited Demands' by Chris Anderson

v) 'Business Cycles: A Theoretical, Historical, and Statistical Analysis of the Capitalist Process' by Joseph A. Schumpeter

vi) 'Laozi Daodejing' by Laozi, Edmund Ryden & Benjamin Penny

References:

https://bookauthority.org/profile/jack-ma

https://www.wisebooks.io/Jack-Ma/#books

12. Michael Dell

i) 'Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World' by Peter H. Diamandis

ii) 'Big Bang Disruption: Business Survival in the Age of Constant Innovation' by Larry Downes

iii) 'Physics of the Future: The Inventions that will Transform Our Lives' by Michio Kaku

iv) 'Breakpoint' by Jeff Stibel

v)  'The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, The Collaborative Commons, and The Eclipse of Capitalism' by Jeremy Rifkin

vi) 'The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies' by Eric Brynjolfsson

vii) 'Abundance: The Future is Better than you Think' by Peter H. Diamandis

viii) 'The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint For Success' by Thorndike

ix) 'Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street' by John Brooks

x) 'The Hard Thing About Hard Thing: Building a Business When there are No Easy Answers' by Ben Horowitz

13. Phil Knight

He is as famous as his company Nike, and in order to know more about him, one must read his memoir 'Shoe Dog' which he got published in 2016. 'Shoe Dog' was in the reading list of 2016, of Bill Gates. Apart from recommending his own book, he recommends a book titles 'Imagine It Forward.'

i) 'Shoe Dog' by Phil Knight

ii) 'Imagine it Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change' by Beth Comstock and Tahl Raz

Reference:  https://www.theceolibrary.com/people/phil-knight

14. Jorge Paulo Lemann

He is currently the second wealthiest Brazilian after Joseph Safra and quite an interesting person to know about. He is a Harvard graduate, a very good Tennis player who has also played in Wimbledon. 

He is very well known for 3G Capital. You must read the story of how he found this investment firm by reading this book, which is also recommended by Warren Buffet who call Jorge a very good friend of his since the time they were together on the Gillette Board. 

'Dream Big - How the Brazilian Trio behind 3G Capital- Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles, and Beto Secupira - Acquired Anheuser-Busch, Burger King and Heinz' by Cristiane Correa

Jorge rarely gives interviews, still, there are a few on YouTube. You should check the one he has given to famous author Jim Collins. Search this on YouTube: 'Jim Collins Interviews Jorge Paulo Lemann,' and watch it. There are not many details about his reading habits. 

In this Interview, Jorge tells Jim that his mother was the best mentor to him. He lost his father at 14, and definitely, it was his mother whom he looked up to. He remembered Walmart founder Sam Walton as a friendly guy and admires his qualities, so I guess you got the hint what you should read.  

15. Wang Jianlin

He is the founder of China's largest real estate private company 'Wanda Group.' 
Despite being at the age of 64 he looks like in his late 30s. He is known for strict discipline in his company and penalises the employees for violating the dress code. It may be due to his military background. 
He has authored a book, that will give you a clue about his business and his personality. 

'The Wanda Way: The Managerial Philosophy and Values of One of China's Largest Companies' by Jianlin Wang

This book was published in 2016 and includes his renowned 2013 ChinaCentral Television Voice Interview, his speech and question-and-answer session to the Harvard Business School, and Wang Jianlin's Business Philosophy on Wanda's real estate, resort, and movie units. 
However in this book, which is a compilation of his interviews, he explains his strategy of success, and he advised not to read books on Corporate Philosophy included his own. 
Reference: https://money.cnn.com/2016/02/22/news/wang-jianlin-book-advice/?iid=EL

16. Elon Musk

He is not just a Billionaire, but the new age inventor. He deserves a great amount of respect for his perseverance. 

i) 'The Lord of The Rings' by J. R. R. Tolkien 

ii) 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy' by Douglas Adams

iii) 'Benjamin Franklin: An American Life' by Walter Isaacson

iv) 'Structure: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down' by J. E. Gordon

v) 'Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants' by John D. Clark

vi) 'Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies' by Nick Bostrom

vii) 'Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era' by James Barrat

viii)  'Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming' by Naomi Oreskes & Erik M. Conway

ix) 'The 'Foundation' Trilogy' by Isaac Asimov

x) 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress' by Robert A. Heinlein

xi) 'Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence' by Max Tegmark

17. Tadashi Yanai

He is currently the richest Japanese. The company Fast Retailing that he manages is currently the third-largest clothing retailer in the world. H&M and Inditex are at the top spots. 

He recommends reading the books from your own field of expertise. At the age of 41, he wrote his autobiography 'One Win Nine Losses' in which he stresses to learn from the failures. Unfortunately, the book is written in Japanese and I didn't find any English version. 

18. Jim Simons

James Harris Simons is an American Mathematician and a billionaire hedge fund manager. He has had a wonderful teaching career at MIT and Harvard and is known as the best living pioneers of theoretical physics. 

Apart from all this, he has done something very unique with his Renaissance Technologies. He hired mathematicians, physicists and computer experts to predict the market. 

There is not much known about the books that he reads, still, I can guess that he reads a lot about mathematics and physics, so much so that he applied it to the money game and became one of the top billionaires of the world. There is this one book about him I found on Amazon Kindle and it looks promising from its introduction. 

The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution by Gregory Zuckerman

19. Vagit Alekperov

He is currently the third richest Russian after Leonid Mikheson and Vladimir Lisin. The first two do not have a single page on the internet dedicated to their favourite books. It can be due to a different language they speak or maybe they are secretive. 

I have seen not many details getting out about the Chinese and Russian Billionaires. I saw a book on Amazon claiming to be written by Alekperov, but the reviews say that is not his work, but a simple compilation of the earlier published articles. 

These articles are available for free online at the website with the same title as that of the book. It is a magazine run by the company Lukoil itself. Here is the link:

Oil of Russia by  Lukoil

For a complete list of '50 Billionaires and their Favorite Books,' please buy this upcoming ebook from Amazon Kindle. 

Thanks!

20. Alexey Mordashov

He is the man who bought the shares of the Severstal from its workers and became the Billionaire. As per an article by Telegraph 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins is his favourite book.

'Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap'  by Jim Collins