Mumbai, blasts, and, aftermath

On Wednesday night and in the early hours of Thursday unknown number of terrorists came in a boat and attacked Mumbai. The heart of India. Ironically they entered India through Gateway of India. 125 people lost their lives, 340+ people are injured. Mumbai lost its three toughest cops.

From this situation two groups continuously made the most. The media and the politicians. Media covered the whole thing without any digression. I appreciate them. But, the problem is with their debates. This is not a time for debate Mr. Arnab Goswami of Times Now. It is not the city which is under attack. India is under attack. You bring some analysts and film stars and get their ’sense’. They continue to bash the government without any suggestions. Because they don’t have any. Politicians gained some serious political mileage ahead of the elections.

If it is your house and you don’t like the neighbors you can shift. Unfortunately, the same saying does not hold for a country. India lives in a dangerous neighborhood. It cannot pick or trust its neighbors. It just have to get along.

The terrorists main intention is to do just that. Create terror in the financial capital of India. Target the foreigners so that there will not be any foreign investment’s coming. Hurt India, on what matters the most. The economy.

Were they successful?

• BSE and NSE the two important stock exchanges were closed on Thursday
• India’s sovereign rating by S&P revisited but remains intact.
• England pulls out of the cricket series and re-think the coming test series.
• Champions league is postponed.
• Most countries issued travel advisory.
• Hotels and aviation stocks are losing more than 6% in today’s trading.

Terrorists were successful to some extent. But, Sensex was much more resilient and matured in its behavior. It did not tank 1000 odd points because of panic. Only select stocks like aviation and hotel sectors took a beating, which is expected. Tourism, aviation and hotel sectors will see a downturn from now on, but the other sectors should be able to pick the mood up.

The mood might be down for a few months but India will bounce back. If there is positive which can be taken out of this, it is the resilience of India, its economy and most importantly its people.

PS : GDP is seen at 7.6%. Inflation is down to 8.84%. That is something to cheer about.

*Image credit : mumbai.meblogs.com