...the tough get going

Markets go up and down and then up again; that is their nature. Investors get euphoric, and then they get panicky. That is in their nature. After decades of observing the Indian markets, I have noticed that this cycle has played out regularly, though the timing is never predictable. Just look at the recent pattern - after climbing relentlessly for a long time, the Sensex has shed nearly 7.5 per cent in barely five weeks, triggering the usual chorus of doom-laden predictions. Is this the beginning of a prolonged bear market that the pessimists have warned about, or just another brief correction in a long-term upward journey? The truth is, nobody knows - and that uncertainty itself is part of what makes markets work. Suggested read: The cycle inside your head Yet, the story reads very differently for the patient investor who can look beyond these short-term gyrations. The same Sensex that seems so worrying today has nearly doubled over the past five years, delivering a 98 per ce