So, the news had hit,It had to eventually. I was not expecting it though, but it was a more practical & sensible decision by the man himself The tall, dark, handsome, sexy & swaglacious RBI Governor Sri Raghuram Rajan will no further be available to render his services from Septemebr 4th 2016, 3 years after he was appointed as RBI Governor by the then UPA govt on 5th Sep 2013. On 13th Sep 2013 Shobhaa De had published an Article Titled “ Economy with Raghuram Rajan will be sizzling hot”. The link is given for those who still would like to catch up ( though live action is always more lively than the repeat telecast & thts why its called live). The 1st line had read The guy’s put sex back into the limping Sensex, hot enough to raise one’s testosterone levels. This if the level of adulation which he received.http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-13/news/42041678_1_raghuram-rajan-rbi-guv-duvvuri-subbarao
The
credit for bringing him to steer the Indian economy through rough waters has to
go to Dr Manmohan Singh & our ex honorary Finance Minister Mr P Chidambram.
Looking back from now I doubt if any body on this planet earth is having second
thoughts on their decision. ( except of own Mr Swamy of the ruling Party). A
lot of literature is available on Mr
Manmohan Singh’s credentials as a Finance Minister & the man himself had
seen it through while bringing Rajan on a special Duty ( Chief Economic Advisor
) while Dr Subarrao was serving his last days as RBI Governor. Not many Indian
People would have known him /heard about him while he resumed office. Neither
did I honestly.
He
has called it quits citing the reasons as returning to the academia after
giving shuttle hints suggesting otherwise. Such is Politics. In a statement to
his fellow members at RBI he hinted that he was open to see the uncompleted
tasks through.
Though
I believe that after sprinkling venom on him Mr Swamy escaped unscatched.
Neither did the PM nor the Finance Minister took the bulls by its horns after
Swamy’s repeated attacks on one of the most credible Central Bankers of the
World. He maintained dignified silence on the issue. Even in a recent interview with
Barkha Dutt he refused to comment on Mr Swamy saying that talking about him
will be fuelling those baseless allegations. His credentials of being an Indian
were questioned. He wore Patriotism up his sleeve & that’s why he came to
serve India after taking a leave from his teaching assignment Leaving a cosy
job of teaching having already established himself in his field by winning many
laurels and taking up the job of a RBI governor among the Indian Politicians
was not a easy task at all. He joined in India after taking leave from University of Chicago Booth School of
Business and
in his address to his fellow members at RBI has showed his willingness to serve
his country again if the need arises. And the so called Swamy’s of the World question
his nationality. Actually in the habit of taking regular digs at M/s Sonia
Gandhi Swamy copied the same template to Mr Rajan as we Chartered Accountants
are notoriously famous for. ( Pun Intented) But we would be fooling ourselves if
we don’t want to believe that he was planted by Mr Modi & Jaitey to take on
Mr Rajan.
How
many people in the world will risk their reputations going up for a toss
knowing fully well that the job of a RBi Governor is not fully autonomous. That
is the reason why the till date the Babus of Indian politics have adorned the
chair of RBI governor till date. Our country never had a professional occupying
the RBI’s Chair & the politicians would never want that also. We are all
seekers of short term pleasures ( each one of us interested in bidding their
own time ) without looking over the longer horizon.
He
took to the job as a Swan takes it to the water. Making an official speech
after his appointment to
the press citing his main tasks as Inflation Control, Banking Reforms,
providing stability to the rupee
among host of other measures & then issuing the statement again on his
decision to wrap it up. Many few RBI Governors, in fact none of them would have
come and gone in the style which has been USP of our own Raghu. Her came at a
time when the economy was in very bad shape. Rupee was depreciating every day,
We were on the cusp of being downgraded to a junk status, our CAD was at an all
time high. He is going at a time when we have forex reserves at an all time
high, CAD is under control, India is in a bright spot & one of the fastest
growing economies in the world. But the cup is still half full. More needs to
be done.
He
came from nowhere & he is again going into oblivion. He bought the glamour
to the job though he never intended it. The panache with which he used the one
liners mesmerized us all. Never
ever we had a governor who would run a full 42km marathon & would play
squash in the morning every day. Because never ever the qualifications &
the skill had been the reasons for being the pineapple of the eyes of the babus ocuupying the North Block. Is
this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end? I am of the view
that it is the end of the beginning.
The
famous being “My name is Rajan & I do what I do”. "I am not a superman
& the expectations are
high."
I
am a big admirer of this Govt especially Mr Modi himself, and India needs Modi
for another term but somehow my heart starts pounding on the mere thinking of
the fact that has this govt dropped the Govt itself by not playing a ball with
Mr Rajan.( Like Hersheele Gibbs dropped the Cup by droping Steve Waugh at mid
Wicket in 1999 Cricket World Cup, its itched in my memory as if it was
yesterday). Though I don’t want to be so because we all want India & the
economy to do well. The BJP can also draw comfort from the fact that their
opposition has a leader in
the form of Mr Rahul Gandhi about whose abilities only the West needs to know & India is one of the sweet
spots in the entire world where investors are flocking. I will not describe
about the economy & Mr Rajan’ s achievements as this blog has already
become too long to read despite my sincere efforts to keep it short. But still
I suppose this govt & the new RBI Gov will have time of around say 1-1.5
years minimum before the world economy in general starts improving after which
the benign commodity prices should reverse oil in particular and so will be the
start of our mathematics of CAD, Fiscal Defecit, Inflation etc going awry
unless something concrete is being done to have a sustainable growth. I Hope
the government will.
But
the onus now has shifted on
the govt by appointing another credible name for the chair of RBI. My Vote goes
for Mr Kaushik Basu IMF chief can’t
write on length about him as this blog is for Rajan, Mr Raghuram Rajan. If they need a puppy with a wagging
tail, then sorry we are again taking a step backward & all the good work
done by Mr Rajan will go into the dustbin.
But
Mr Rajan you don’t know how
many men have fallen in love with you ( forget the women, you will loose the
count of them) me included though there are the
Warne’s , The Dravid’s the
ABD, & Federers in the list too.( no question on my
sexual orientation please). India is losing its finest economist but the show
has to go on and so it will but the showman will not be the same. He has paid
the price of speaking his mind, calling spade a spade, & taking on crony
capitalism.
Well done Raghu Sir. We all are fortunate to have seen you. We
all Bow to you. I would
just love to have another column form M/s Shobhaa De about the lack of sex in
the Sensex post his departure. Mam are you listening?
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