TO BE OR NOT TO BE …

To be or not to be one of them is one question which can keep haunting you before, during and at the threshold of the finishing line of the sprint.
India is recognized today as one of the most powerful emerging economies in the world. The cheap yet so skilled labour is one of the many reasons for this. The various high profile and prestigious institutes of education is responsible for the production of this skilled labour. The most coveted and sought after degree is none other than the M.B.A. degree. Every Tom, Dick and Harry wants to have an M.B.A. degree in his armoury for the obvious reasons. Fat pay-packets and a ticket to 'green pastures' are the primary causes for opting for this degree. The purchasing power has grown by leaps and bounds and a thing which was an item of luxury ten to five years ago has more or less turned into an item of necessity. The living standards have improved and this has tremendously contributed to the G.D.P. of the country. However, the recent economic crisis is bound to have a negative impact on this trend as is evident from the latest placement records. The primary reason for this slump is the failure of some big financial institutions which were the biggest recruiters. People who dreamt of greener pastures have to be content with grey pastures and for this too there is a rat race. Moreover, those who invested a lot in this degree are now in doldrums and prior to income there is insecurity with debt. So, fortunately or unfortunately, the herd which followed each other for a degree will need to introspect and possibly look to alter the direction a bit and for this too, the herd members can only wait for another degree to evolve which can be followed. This is so because these people (members of the herd) have always been followers and when a situation like the present economic crisis comes into being, they have no option but to wait for someone to lead them in a lucrative direction.
So it is a tough call to be or not to be a part of this herd and this decision or for that matter indecision will keep on haunting us.
All was well if not great till December of 2007 for the Indian stock markets which was described by the Prime Minister of India as the symbol of shining India. Little did the small investors, primarily Indians, know the cause behind the booming of the Sensex. The option of earning extra bucks turned into greed and then into a blind obsession which led people to invest their lifelong savings, borrow debts and loans from financial institutions and invest in the stocks. Many were led by the false impression that the Indian economy is insulated from any global turmoil and the stock markets will continue to boom. Stocks of companies like RIL (Reliance Industries Limited) which traded at around Rs. 500 during June 2004 pumped up to around Rs. 3200 in October 2007. But the unavoidable happened and when crisis hit foreign lands, particularly Uncle Sam, the prime investors in the stock markets, the FIIs (Foreign Institutional Investors) began pulling out money in huge amounts and stock markets nosedived taking along with it the small investors. A few suffered from mental sickness, a good number of them had cardiovascular problems and many committed suicide. Here too, the herd was formed and people followed each other to book short term gains and when this stopped happening, people had no one but themselves to curse. So the stock markets which were considered as chicken which laid golden eggs not only stopped laying eggs but even disappeared.
Hence, again it is tough to decide whether to be or not to be one of them and it is one question which can keep haunting you before, during and at the threshold of the finishing line of the sprint.