more than their investments the maheshwaris are known for their proximity to the managements of the companies they have invested in almost 25 of my investments are in unlisted companies but i was careful with my money he reminisces we sing shaayaris to appease them theres no real recourse for small investorsget mehta in a way lives the life of a lawyer he always wanted to be when he was a strapping south mumbai teenager he saved from his pocket money to buy shares presented in odd lots stocks are usually traded in lots of 100 500 etc but i did make some money says bhesania a qualified chartered accountant cost accountant and company secretary retail or small investors typically buy equity shares for shortterm capital gains promoters dread their unwavering gaze prabhudas wanted his son to be an engineer but the latter had set his sights on becoming a lawyer they invest for the classic 20 upside in stock prices companies are not really concerned about small shareholders when the stock touched rs 60 i sold off the entire lot several years ago he bought 100 shares of mrf at rs 35 dadlani 62 a retired chartered accountant and investor in more than 500 listed companies prefers to make ethical investments goenka 58 still has several old share certificates that bear his old name mehta is the scion of an old business family of mumbai dadlani patiently accumulates shares in small lots not one company is transparent or fair to minority shareholders he says i inherited a good portion of my holdings but ive a made a lot of positive calls as well the craze for stocks followed him all the way to botswana where he had gone for a job in the mid80s muralidhar was visiting raibahadur kishorchand a prosperous steel trader seeking a matrimonial alliance for his son jitendra prakash high liquidity stocks such as hdfc bank lt and axis bank are bought at lower prices and sold at small gains weve benefitted being nice to firms ashalata jitendra prakash maheshwariportfolio blood money he says with a shudder he also raised a ruckus when staterun refiner hpcl revealed it was supplying aviation fuel to the then troubled kingfisher airlines which eventually collapsed on long credit second she has to answer the door over 20 times a day for mail by the time i returned i had made good gains in my holdings he says some of these like indian aluminium gillanders arbuthnot and ashok leyland were bought by his father a successful trader at neamatpur west bengal despite the prudence goenka suffered huge losses doing badla traditional futures market in india trades in 1988 when his financier failed to honour payment commitments it helps pay bills says jitendra prakash maheshwari 82 who began his career as a criminal lawyer but moved to manage his familys textile business and personal investments early in life i inherited shares but unlike other clean stock investors market lingo