There’s a beautiful Marathi movie called Taryanche Bet.
It follows a middle-class family from Alibaug. The father, a PWD employee, travels to Mumbai for official approvals. One day he takes his wife and young son along.
Mumbai dazzles the child — the traffic, the buildings, the lights. He expresses a simple wish:
“Baba, I want to stay in a five-star hotel.”
For the father, the dream feels far beyond reach. But the wish touches him deeply. He begins to think:
What if I could earn something extra? What if I could give him that experience someday?
In that emotional moment, he makes a decision many of us make — he tries to “grow money fast.”
He enters the stock market directly, hoping quick gains will bridge the gap between his reality and his dreams.
For a while, luck is with him.
Then the market crashes.
Everything he earned — wiped out.
A familiar story, isn’t it?
Because risk rarely looks like “risk” in the beginning.
It looks like hope.
It looks like ambition.
It looks like “bas thodasa paisa extra ban jaaye toh…”
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Risky Behaviour Is Everywhere Around Us
People buy houses in illegal layouts hoping they’ll be legalised someday.
People put money into chit funds, EMU farms, and “upcoming project area” plots where airports exist only in brochures.
A part of them knows the risk.
But the itch to prove oneself smart, early, or lucky pushes them forward.
And then there are risks that come disguised as “expert advice.”
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A Recent Example: The 546-Crore Penalty
Avadhut Sathe Trading Academy (ASTA) — a well-known stock market training brand — was recently hit with a ₹546 crore penalty for:
misleading ads
offering investment advisory without valid licences
and collecting over ₹600 crore from students seeking shortcuts to wealth
Thousands of people paid lakhs in course fees hoping to “learn fast returns.”
But again — hope is not a strategy.
Skill-building is not the same as guaranteed profits.
And unregulated advice can be more dangerous than no advice.
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The Real Lesson
Whether it’s a father trying to fulfil his son’s wish…
Or a family buying a risky plot…
Or a salaried person signing up for “guaranteed trading success”…
The mistake is the same:
Jumping into risk without understanding our own limits.
Before any investment, ask yourself just one honest question:
“Am I doing this because it truly fits my financial situation — or because I’m hoping it will solve a problem faster?”
If it’s the second one, pause.
Slow down.
Plan.
Shortcuts may give confidence for a moment — but good financial decisions give peace for a lifetime.
Prasad Patwardhan
VittaSiddhi
QPFP®
