The Sensex: A Living Chronicle of India’s Economic Soul
The Sensex is often reduced to a number flashing on screens—green on good days, red on bad ones. But beneath those digits lies a far deeper story. The Sensex is not just a stock market index; it is a mirror of India’s aspirations, anxieties, reforms, crises, and resilience . This is the story of how India grew up—told through the rise, fall, and rebirth of the Sensex. 1979–1989: A Quiet Beginning in a Closed Economy In 1979, the Sensex was born with a base value of 100 , anchored to the financial year 1978–79. India at the time was inward-looking, heavily regulated, and cautious. Markets existed, but optimism was restrained. Investing was not a mass idea; it was a niche activity. By the mid-1980s, the Sensex hovered around 250–400 . The Rajiv Gandhi era brought early whispers of reform—technology imports, PSU listings, and a gentle broadening of the market. These were not dramatic years, but they planted seeds. The economy was warming up, even if it didn’t yet know how ...