Vijay Salgaonkar and Warren Buffett: their stories and their suffering.

10^th October 2026

 

Vijay Salgaonkar and Warren Buffett: their stories and their suffering. 

 

Dear All,

Jai Hind! All successful leaders, businessmen, politicians, and fund managers have one thing in common. Their mastery in storytelling. As kids, we grew up with stories from the Panchatantra, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and many folk tales. Stories are also the best way to pass on knowledge, wisdom and information to kids and adults. Anthropologists say stories have existed in all cultures across all time periods, regardless of their level of sophistication. In a very real sense, stories are what make us human.

Today I will talk about stories and their effect on investors. Let me share two examples.

 

Vijay Salgaonkar:- Dhrishyam – the Conclusion (part 3) is going on, and the movie has grossed more than Rs.300 Crores in the first week itself. 

 

There is no doubt that all three parts have made tons of money for their makers and actors. What’s more, moviegoers enjoyed the storytelling and suspense they showed. 

 

The way Vijay has SAVED ( if at all you call this a saving) from the legal authorities with his SMARTNESS – the question comes: as the murder was not at all intentional in the first part, with his smartness, couldn’t he SAVE his daughter and wife in the legal ways? I am sure he could have.

 

But the story glorifies the WRONG DOING of the 4th standard pass person by watching the movies. Our newspapers and TV are full of stories of MURDER resulting from watching CRIME SERIES. 

 

In using all the wrong ways to SAVE his family, he ended up becoming a hard-core criminal.  What’s more, the family will never have redemption from the memory of what they did to navigate the cases and murder. 

 

Let me share another story about Buffett. 

For a long time, Warren Buffett was selling—in a sense—the Coca-Cola story. That it was a great brand (it was the world’s top brand for decades), had predictable cash flows, a moat around its business, etc.

Like all great stories, none of these factors was incorrect or untrue, but they still did not capture all the changes taking place in the company and the industry, including how the consumer was evolving away from sugary sodas and how its rival Pepsi was moving faster on various fronts, including by reducing its dependence on sodas.

Buffett’s Coke position did very well for several years after he bought it, but then things changed. However, by then he was arguably so invested in his story that he could not change his mind. He held on to it for far too long.

Coca-Cola’s share price has increased fourfold, including dividends, from its 1998 high. The corresponding numbers are six times for Pepsi and 11 times for the S&P 500 itself. Ultimately, storytellers also get convinced by their own stories and get derailed.

Indian Market Non-performance for 2 years and Storytelling: - 

 

Typically, 4 factors are often repeated by experts / Fund managers for the non-performance of NIFTY / SENSEX and overall MARKET in India from October 2024 to October 2026

 

1.  FII selling as they are getting good opportunities outside India – particularly in the USA. 

2.  Interest rates are moving up in the USA, and that gives good options to investors in fixed income rather than the uncertain returns in the Indian Market.

3.  War and Crude prices are moving up. 

4.  Corporate sales and profits are not moving as per the valuations. 

5.  Other reasons are Capital Gains tax and the lack of AI companies in India.

 

Like Buffett's Coca-Cola stories, all these factors are correct to varying degrees, and people have believed them. Those who accept the above stories will not think differently. They will get disheartened and may blame the LUCK / FUND MANAGER or just leave the market with losses.

Stories have to be deterministic and simple, but life and the market are complex and probabilistic. A company has hundreds of financial parameters, and there are many decisions that can change its business outcome. Also, it is impacted by the economy, its competitors, consumer behaviour, government policy, etc.

In the interest of a good story, one needs to discard all this complexity and uncertainty and turn it into a very simplified, and therefore inaccurate and under-analysed, narration.

What are the FACTS nobody is talking about? 

The way MODI-SHAH has navigated India from 2014 till now – many old and well-established parties are uprooted, and many vested interest parties in foreign land have also suffered a huge blow to their financial and other interests. Deep State is all the more HURT because India is not budging on their demand to introduce DAIRY-related products in India / STARLINK and other FARMERS-related issues. The reality became all the BAD for them as India came with 7.8% GDP growth in the WAR TIME and the USA is bleeding. 

If you go back to early 2025 - when TRUMP became the PRESIDENT – he started the TRADE WAR. When MODI – SHAH didn’t budge – they started using VOTE CHORI / CJP / FARMER protest / GEN-Z protest and many other stories. 

Very few viewers would have questions about the right or wrong way of VIJAY in the movie, while the most would have enjoyed the movie, telling themselves that it’s entertainment and not reality. Now, they are refusing to see the REALITY of DEEP STATE-sponsored nonsense in our country, and they are believing in the above STORIES of DEEP STATE. 

The REALITY of SELLING by FIIs in INDIA is only one thing – they want India to open up the market for their products and kill the local farmers. They want to introduce AI and kill the poor people.

Since they can’t do this straight away, they are using valuation and other reasons. I am surprised by the educated investors who are not asking the basic questions – how come the VALUATIONS in USA companies are so high when the USA is in WAR and suffering heavily? Its economy is bleeding. People are suffering from inflation they have never seen in their lives. 

Just because Vijay saved the family doesn’t mean he was right; similarly, the rally in USA stocks when every other parameter is not supporting it does not mean the USA market is good.

How things may change suddenly in India? 

STARLINK and Other internet players have a FULL BAN in CHINA – a more advanced market than India. He never gives a statement against CHINA. PAKISTAN has also not approved STARLINK!! But they want India access. 

He could give an OLIGARCH remark because we are 100% dependent on the FOREIGN social media platforms. They know how to change the mood of the masses with manipulative messages. The masses mostly gain their knowledge from WhatsApp forwards, Facebook posts, and Instagram. 

Whether you are an investor or not, I urge you to find the facts before you react in the future. 

What NEXT?

Stories always keep a long-lasting impression in our minds. Ultimately, it affects our behaviour as we believe in the same.

The simple way to overcome the effect of a story is to listen to it very patiently without reacting. If you do just this much – your common sense will become active, and you will start asking some basic questions to the storyteller. When you ask basic questions, you will break free from the story's impact.

When people are more interested in forwarding the message they receive, very few will read it patiently and apply common sense to it. 

Remember – Napoleon Hill has written a book – THINK and GROW RICH and not FORWARD and GROW RICH. 

Take your call. 

Follow me on Twitter @hiteshmparikh / WhatsApp: +91-9869425399.

 

Learn a Lesson. Live with Passion & Invest with Reason.

 

Hitesh Parikh.