Skip to content

Among my friends in the business world Henry is one who has done reasonably well in field of freight forwarding, which is really a big business in India. He came as a migrant to Bombay and today has a business, an office, a home, among many other comforts of life.

Henry hails from Kerala as I do. On our walks in the dam near our home (he lives close to my home) we discuss all issues, including those of a political nature. What is happening in Syria is of particular worry for him as some of his shipments to this country are held up in port, and incurring demurrage (a tax for uncollected goods in port). There is nothing he can do except wait. And he is a patient man.

We also discuss the current situation in India which is not too good as our currency is not doing well internationally. This makes imports more costly and therefore most companies aren’t importing as they used to earlier. And, naturally, no importing means no business for Henry, as no clearing activity is required in that case. So these days Henry is a worried man.

However, there is hope as the central bank (Reserve Bank of India) has a new governor and all eyes are on him to see if he waves the magic want to improve the rupee’s standing vis-a-vis foreign currencies. All Henry can do is wait and watch for the clock handles to turn and the days to turn into weeks and months.

 

Leave a Reply