t has been like viewing the perfect financial storm. Indian consumers watched with amazement the thunder and the lightning on the horizon, which approximated to the US. Then, very quickly, the storm began to change direction. It started heading towards them. Even if the storm has only brushed by India, it has left the consumers wet and shivering, their ardour to spend cooled.

Not everyone has been affected equally. Evidence suggests that people closest to the stock markets and real estate transactions, that is people in the metros, have been the most shaken. Consumers in smaller towns, perhaps smaller participants in the financial orgy, have been much less burnt. Government employees, whose compensation has been recently revised, may actually be better off than before: pockets full, they are staring at some great offers across categories as marketers try to reach their sales targets. ... more