In their 15th September issue, The Economic Times quoted Prof. Ganapathy, head – placement and external relations, Institute for Financial and Management Research… “Lehman is visiting our campus for the first time this month for recruitment. What happens at the global level might not be replicated in India.” How naive is this statement!
Somehow, it seems that even some of the so-called ‘wise’ men (and women) of India live in a cocoon, oblivious to the turmoil and reality prevailing around in the world. Particularly in recent years, the stock market bubble seems to have caused air bubbles in their brain/s. Even amongst educated Indians – both, the young and old – the euphoria is largely due to the fame and fortune amassed at an accelerated pace in the past decade. Sad to say and ironically so, this might well be their downfall. I want to yank these people out of their reverie! Wake up, fools, you’re not in paradise, at least not yet! Several Indians say, “We don’t need the US, we don’t need anyone, we’re doing just great out here… guess what, even chauffeurs, barbers and street-vendors are investing in the stock market today and raking it in; we’re all on a roll! Even if the US experiences a downturn in their economy, we’ll do fine.” These were the words one heard not too long ago. But well, no sooner had the Dow Jones Index plummeted, the BSESN started its descent. When the US sneezes, India does indeed catch a cold, so beware. Even if The Economic Times headlines scream, “India confident of weathering US storm”, the fact remains that the Sensex did drop 256 points even as US DJI ended in positive territory (briefly). Also, does the Economic Times have a dearth of proof readers? Hear this, “… the Indian market was unmoved with its barometer index Sensex today ending 256 pts down at 13,296.90, as banking and realty stocks continued to be battered”. (Or then may be, it wasn’t an error after all, if the words referred to the psychology of the market.)
Furthermore, here are some headlines that may have grabbed the attention of recent grads, final-year IIM & IIT students…
“IIT, IIM placements face big hit by Lehman-Lynch turmoil”
“IT cos ask recruitment agencies to stop hiring”
“Future tense for IIM-A grads after Street fall”
“The immediate fallout of the US crisis”
“Thinning capital inflows spark new challenges”
Prof. Ganapathy, are you awake?
India, are you listening, watching?
Words-n-Motion 