Surviving these Hard Times

A few days ago a dear and favorite writer of mine wrote a Sunday editorial. It was about the current recession. The crux of it was ‘no one knows what happened no matter what the self proclaimed analysts say’. I found myself in fair compliance with the moral, like I usually find myself, whenever this gentleman writes. But there are certain extremely basic facts that one ought to know – if for nothing, at least for the need to survive through the time.

The bad times started with the sub prime crisis triggered in US of A. Greedy US people took so much of credit, that they threw the entire global financial system upside down. US got punched; Europe got jabbed – and Jack and Jill came crashing down. The self proclaimed analysts blew hot, crying ‘Crisis!’ They then blew cold saying don’t worry; they will put Humpty-Dumpty together again. We, all the King’s horses and men are watching. There is nothing much to do now.

In India whatever we are witnessing is the tip of the iceberg. The United Alliance of Astrologers and Analysts say that bad times are going to last till Mar 2009. But people across crucial places fear worse. One of my ex-colleague, a Vice President with an international bank says that the crest of the crunch is yet to come. In his opinion, for the whole of the iceberg to show, it is going to take another two years, and for the whole crisis to subside, it can well be three, maybe four years. For the time now, only housing loans are visible. Left are the credit card and the myriad mix of other loans. A stock market don opines that with the current withdrawal of money from our market by FII (an amount that runs into few hundred crores everyday) – it is bad, with a capital B. According to him, for the market to revive it’ll be a minimum of three years. So this whole story of India Shining is gone. Because India was ‘shining’ courtesy foreign investments, and now the investors are all deadwoods.

There is another, perhaps an equally important thing that we need to be aware of – that of our involvement in the crisis. Yes, we just can’t put the entire blame on the economists and business policy makers and get out. Of course there is no ‘getting out’ now, but that’s not the point. The point is, mass involvement. Have you seen a building on fire? Or read about it, or watched it on TV? What happens most of the time is that the stampede that follows kills more than the fire does. You know, people panic – they react. This reaction is crucial and it is based on human emotions. That’s been our contribution to this crisis. We are scared and we are taking our money out. And that has compounded the catastrophe.

The market has crashed and to some extent all of us are responsible. This state is here to stay for sometime, before it revives painfully slowly, reaches a zenith and lunges towards rock-bottom again. It’s a cycle, integral to the economy. Since we can’t control emotions, there is nothing that we can do to change this kind of a cycle. So finally, here are a few survival tips for the Great Indian Middle Class to see them through the hard times – something that we all should be aware of without choice:

Sell (dump, maybe) your car, buy a two wheeler. They come cheap and they run cheap too. Europeans cycle to office wearing formals and all. With the winters setting in, even we can think of the same. Forget going to the bar; call three other friends at home and open that sad looking bottle of Indian liquor. Peanuts are fattening snacks, try salt and onion with your drink – they taste good. Have dal-rice for breakfast and dinner; carry dal-rice to office for lunch – boredom of taste buds are not life threatening. Outings should comprise of assembling all family members and going for a jog in the local park – it’s economical, does a world of good to your health, and cleanses your Bollywood-overdosed mind. Let those stocks lie low – think of the world without stock market – you can watch Ramayana on TV, to help you concentrate along those lines. Don’t read business papers – they can not promise you good times, they can promise you a heart attack instead. This Dhanteras is all about will power; to stay away from jewelry shops – test yourselves. If you have a job, try to work really hard – and leave the rest to your karma. If you are jobless like most of us nowadays are, then keep looking for one; you can even think of starting afresh. And if you feel humiliated, remember that globally there are millions like you who are doing the same.

Hope to see you all at a better place and a better time.