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

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 = Is it going to be 1997 or 2000?

Happy Holidays... After 5 months of hibernation with no real reason than writing block, I decided to use quiet morning of Christmas day to start writing again. Lot has happened in last 5 months - in particular release of Animal Spirits with Fed starting interest rate reduction cycle and historic victory of President Trump for 2nd term. As the year turns into 2025 and stock markets at all time high, one would wonder, what's next?  To answer this, one needs to look back at 1920s and 1990s to give us some context on where markets may be headed. 1920s saw invention of televisions, radio, wider adoption of cars, vacuums, penicillin and many other which we consider household items now. These inventions created roaring 20s with markets going up by 500% eventually leading to crash of 1929. However during mid-20s, markets keep going up due to excitement of these inventions and end of World War-1 and Spanish Flu Pandemic. 1990s also saw many inventions - the key being launch of Netscape in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Clicks to Tokens: Will 2026 Echo 1998's Boom or 2000's Bust?

My "blogging" was in hibernation last 8 months due to my self-imposed restraint given the environment as well as built-in inertia to get started despite so many interesting events and markets reaching all time highs after taking a big dump around "Liberation Day" in Apr...Around that time I had the blog ready that it would be repeat of Mar/Apr 2020 panic and recovery during onset of Covid Pandemic. The hunch happened to be correct and I was glad that I could keep and take some positions which I am still holding especially around AI theme. But that was then...as 2025 is about to wrap up in 10+ weeks, let's look at what's in store for rest of 2025 and 2026. And what's better time than to start writing again just before one of the most important week on the calendar with multiple key events coming up next week... Fed meeting to decide the course of interest rates - it's almost guaranteed that Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points (2nd time in 2025) and...
Post a Comment
Read more

And the Oscar goes to...

It's Oscar Sunday and time for predictions for few categories - before I digress into talking about drama in DC or markets.  First of all, I want to recognize the damage LA fires have done to the beloved areas of Los Angeles and impacted families across all spectrums. My heart goes out to them and wish them recovery and rebuilding of their lives... This year's Oscar nominees and post nomination period had been interesting to say the least. Due to this, the field is wide open in almost all categories and that's what makes prediction game so interesting. Just to set expectations, I would consider a win if I get even 50% predictions correct given the dynamics of nominees this year. So here are my predictions - "And the Oscar goes to..." Best Picture - Anora (surprise could be "The Brutalist") Best Director - Sean Baker for "Anora" (Surprise could be Brady Corbet for "The Brutalist") Best Actor - Adrien Brody for "The Brutalist"...
Post a Comment
Read more