Skip to main content

The Greatest Show on The Planet!

You must be wondering what would be "The Greatest Show" on the planet we call The Earth! Many events would qualify for this honor. For college basketball fans, it would be March Madness which wrapped up last week (Virginia won). Then there was the biggest comeback in any sports with Tiger Woods winning Masters at Augusta. This would be his first major win since Jun 2008 - even before longest running bull market started. At age 43 and after a gap of 11 years, this can definitely be "biggest comeback" but does not qualify as greatest show. Last time he won any major was when Game of Thrones was only books! Now for "Game of Thrones" fans, first episode of final season which aired on Sunday Apr 14 could be called big show with highest TV ratings. But hey, those many people watch an average Indian soap-opera or an IPL match. Now 2019 IPL (Wildly popular 20 over cricket tournament between 8 teams in India) comes close to "Greatest Show" which happens every year during Indian summer. Cumulatively 100-200 Million people must be watching IPL matches.
But to top it all, Indian Parliament Elections is truly the " The Greatest Show" on earth. It happens every 5 years (most of the times due to stable governments - in 90's record was few months). This year it started on Apr 11 and would finish on May 23 when counting will start. The elections will happen over 7 phases and nearly 900 million would be eligible to vote, And Indians do vote with average participation of over 60-65%. That means 550-650 Million people will cast their vote (twice the population of US). So it's not only watching any TV show or sports match but actively participating in electing the Government which would decide the fate of 1/6th of world population and run 5th largest economy. Now if that's not The Greatest Show, tell me what would be?
2019 elections are going to be key to how India would realize her full potential. PM Modi had shown the path with bold and decisive policies what can be done with strong and corrupt free government. But 5 years is a short time to make significant change. China took 30 years to become 2nd biggest economy because its leaders do not need to get elected every 5 years. Despite almost continuing elections (local, state, federal), India had done an amazing job in growing economy at 6-8% in last few years. India needs another strong government led by PM Modi to take her to next level ands realize her full potential. That's why these elections are so crucial for India and for world!
The Greatest Show on The Planet is On! Stay tuned for May 23 for the Finale!
/Shyam

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2024: The year of.....

Wishing you a joyful New Year filled with laughter, love, and unforgettable moments, surrounded by cherished family and friends. May the 2024 bring similar gains as in 2023! I had great 2 weeks break with travels to Turkey with family and then solo trip to Palm Springs. Both places are amazing and definitely worth a visit if you get chance. Talking about gains in 2023 - Here is recap of 2023.. Inflation fallen below 4% and heading towards 3% Unemployment firmly below 4% Real wages growing above 4% GDP growth around 3% Markets: S&P notching one of the best year with 24% gains while Nasdaq doing even better with 40% gains thanks to Magnificent-7 (or TAMMANNA) many of which had triple digit gains My personal recommendations did exceptionally well - many of which were up by high double digits (e.g. INTC) and some of them had triple digit gains (e.g. META) All in all - 2023 was great year.  As calendar changed to 2024, what's in store for new year? This is election year in many coun

Roaring 20s....Again!

About 2 years back coming out of COVID pandemic, I wrote blog titled " New Roarin' 20s.."  It covered what happened in 1920s and what are the factors now which would trigger new roaring 20s. Do check out the blog...almost all factors are valid even now. 2022 went sideways due to inflation pressures which triggered historical steep rate hikes by central banks which led to tech companies taking more measured approach and laying off 200,000 employees....all of that changed in Nov'22 when ChatGPT was launched...even though I had mentioned AI/ML as one of the factor in my previous blog, ChatGPT really captured the imagination of the world and changed the outlook of AI instantly similar to what Netscape did with the Internet and iPhone did with the mobile. The singular concept of "Language is the Interface" made AI accessible instantly to billions of normal people....And now without mentioning AI, no talk starts or ends in tech world..and despite onsite of most-aw

It was not meant to be...

I imagined today' day (Nov 19, 2023) little differently than what it turned out to be..had a watch gathering at my place with few friends for India vs Aus ICC Cricket World Cup Final. Both teams deserved to be in the final - India winning all games in this tournament and Aus winning last 8 games after initially losing 2 games at start of tournament. The match was being played at the biggest stadium in the world (over 132,000 capacity) and over billion people tuning in...maybe most watched single sports event ever. After Australia won the toss, they choose to field (that's what most likely India wanted). India started well but then wickets kept dropping and India ended with total of 240 all out. That's when all of us knew that the dream of winning third world cup is over...despite one of the best bowling squad India ever had....The score was just not enough even for the best bowling to defend against one of the most professional and mentally strong team....No wonder Australi