Friday, May 22, 2009

What a week this has been...


First the long break or rather an enforced one due to our broadband connection being down for more than two weeks. The link was restored after some persistent follow-up.

The interim has been virtually a roller coaster ride. The election results threw up surprises. The point, however, not to be missed out is - our expectations have sunk so low that we believe 206 seats for Congress and 261 for the UPA as a decisive mandate. The poor performance of and the role that regional parties will play be a point of much discussion in the coming days. I hope my series of posts on regionalism can add a different perspective.

The results seem to be giving way to euphoria and this has built up hopes sky-high and when this happens they are normally dashed (I hope not this time around). The ghosts of the past will come back to haunt Dr. Singh. We have been profligate and very imprudent in our national finance management and course correction will be a difficult and a painful exercise.

The stock market felt that it cannot be left behind and decided to defy laws of gravity and did an upward triple sommersault to register a classic "Black Swan" event. (To know more about Black Swan please read my post Hope Springs Eternal...). A never-before event of an "upward circuit" as traditional marketmen call it had many investors rubbing their hands in glee and many more sad at being left out.

I now look forward to commencing my journey after a longish pit stop.


11 comments:

Krishnan said...

Welcome back Mavin. I totally agree with you on this, " our expectations have sunk so low that we believe 206 seats for Congress and 261 for the UPA as a decisive mandate." But I am sure you will agree that people are slowly getting disenchanted with regional parties. It is up to Congress and BJP to capitalize on this and reinvigorate themselves.

Vinod_Sharma said...

Good to see you back Mavin. I guess the expectations were so low this time and every one was so sure that the mandate would be hopelessly fractured that the result came as a total and pleasant surprise.

Let us see how long it takes for disllusionment to set in!

BK Chowla, said...

Mavin,good to hear from you again.206 for congress is like passing exams with distinction.Our expectations have not sunk low...it is the political character of nation which has sunk so low.With 206..the entire media is singing songs ,the lyrics of which they do not understand.It is a pity..it is a shame.

Mavin said...

Hi Krish,

Maybe not....TN still shows strong preference for DMK / AIADMK. Shiv Sena has a strong presence in Mah and JD-U in Bihar, BJD in Orissa, Akali Dal in Punjab...are ston political parties.

A couple of more routs in future elections will ensure an effective sidelining of regional political parties.

Mavin said...

Vinod,

Thats right. The fights on sharing the spoils have already begun.

Mavin said...

BKC

A funny situation indeed. I hope Dr Singh grasps this opportunity and charts a new path - if he can and is allowed to.

Smitha said...

'The point, however, not to be missed out is - our expectations have sunk so low that we believe 206 seats for Congress and 261 for the UPA as a decisive mandate. ' Absolutely! After seeing the numbers that were predicted - I think the actual ones came as a nice surprise - as decisive as it could be... I do hope that the UPA govt does something substantial, now that there is no Left to hijack everything.. The next five years will tell..

Gopinath Mavinkurve said...

Most experts were expecting a fractured mandate and a hung parliament - probably because they couldnt make up their mind. So people waiting to enter stock markets on the slump, were caught unawares with the zooming indices.
Anyway now expectations from the govt is high- wonder how much they deliver this time around.

manju said...

You're right- our expectations have sunk very low!

But regarding the 'new' government, expectations are high! Time only can tell if they are justified or not.

BTW- good to see you back here!

Unknown said...

welcome back mavin

Mavin said...

Smitha - Gopi - Manju

Everybody expected the worst and the results were viewed with such relief that it is being termed as a decisive mandate.

Let us hope, they catch up with lost time (2004-09) and put India firmly on the path to progress and prosperity.

We have a habit of going two steps ahead and take one step backwards.


Hello Anrosh - Thanks and hope all is well with you.