India News

“Fears of a global economic slowdown knifed through the world stock markets and crashed on Indian shores on Thursday as the BSE 30-share sensitive index melted below the 10000-mark to close at a two-year low of 9771.70 points…” – so read the article on the front page of TOI, while the headline read “Panic-hit Sensex dives below 10K again”. Stories of a 52-year-old investor who got high on water as a result of the shock of the Sensex nosedive also made recent news.

And then we keep reading about the nosedive that the airlines too are taking with their “parashooting” a number of their employees, and landing them straight on their heads with the shock of unemployment.

And yet, on the 19th – ten days – or two Sundays before Diwali, the whole of Bhadra was so jampacked with people that it was not merely difficult to drive through, but even a pedestrian, like me, had to really try to navigate my way through the “bheed”. The crowd was just like as though there was an exodus, with everyone just pushing the one in front of them in an eternal “move-ahead” ritual.

It really looks like what Hrithik Roshan had prayed for, in the movie ‘Yaadein’, seems to have come true. He had prayed to Goddess Laxmi to help the poor of India, who desperately need her help.

While a number of people keep talking about the crash which has made “investors brace for a black Diwali”; a number of airline employees have really entered into the mood, wondering where is the real triumph of good over evil this year. A number of people would be really saddened since so many of their loved ones will no longer be with them because of those cursed “aatankvadis”, yet thousands and thousands of people have had the time, money, and inclination to be able to make this Diwali too bright and a “crackerful” one.

And surprisingly, even from among the upper middle class there seem to be people who are able to smile as Laxmi Mata must have visited them. I happened to be at one such place where a 10-kg block of silver was brought to the house in preparation for “Dhanteras”!

Is it then that Laxmi Mata is becoming the leveller to reduce the difference between the “haves” and the “have nots”? Or is she unhappy that we Indians are spending most of our time only on “gambling” – whether it be with sports, such as cricket; or with the stock market; or with the election scenario? Even employees in various companies spend most of their working hours keeping track of fluctuations in the stock market or ‘Twenty20′ matches.