If investing could be reduced to three words, Graham gave them to us: margin of safety. Buy a business for meaningfully less than your conservative estimate of its worth, so that even if you are wrong, you are not ruined.
Why it matters more here
Indian markets swing between euphoria and fear faster and harder than most. Liquidity is thinner, ownership is more concentrated, and quality businesses can stay expensive for years. A margin of safety is the discipline that lets you sit out the froth and act when others panic.
Three ways we build it
First, we anchor on conservative cash flows, not optimistic ones. Second, we demand a price gap — a number we can point to, not a feeling. Third, we diversify across the four branches so no single mistake defines the portfolio.
Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.
None of this guarantees a profit on any single position. It tilts the odds, repeated over many decisions, in our favour. That is the whole game.