New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS): As per IANS-CVoter Issues That Dominated India 2021, the BSE Sensex breached the 61,000-mark for the first time.

It made Mukesh Ambani the 10th richest person in the world. More importantly, it showed that investors were optimistic about the future of the Indian economy. In sharp contrast, Two Third Indian households are reporting that current expenses have become difficult to manage. There is no doubt that the stock markets and ordinary Indians were seeming to be living on different planets altogether during the pandemic.

Experts point out that the current values of equity shares actually reflect the projected future earnings of a company. No doubt, the future of a lot of these blue chip companies looks great. But not so for the future of ordinary Indians.

An IANS-CVoter tracker survey spoke to "ordinary" Indians in November 2021 just before the second quarter GDP growth rates were announced. At 8.4 per cent, they were better than expected and the markets once again danced in joy. But what about the ordinary Indians? Amongst those with a salary, 20 per cent were confident of a hike while a full 41.3 per cent were sure there was no question of expecting a hike.

Amongst business people, 19.5 per cent were confident of an increase in business and income while 38.4 per cent expected a decline in business and income. Then again, as mentioned in one of the earlier dispatches, 800 million Indians are still surviving only because the government is giving free food grains under a welfare scheme to helm. To talk to them about the irrational exuberance of the Sensex breaching the 61,000-mark might sound callous; but two different India's have always existed, even when India was once upon a time an avowed socialist economy.

Perhaps the only thing old hands are worried about is the possibility of a "scam" In the past, the Sensex reaching record levels has almost always resulted eventually in a scam!