RESOURCE NATIONALISM DEBATE PITS TALENT VERSUS MINERALS

he last quarter of the year is the season of the returning Indian diaspora; the weather starts getting better on the subcontinent just as it starts to get colder elsewhere.

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Weddings abound, reunions are planned, and the social calendar is brimming with festivities. Many of the said wayfarers transit through Mumbai, and if one is an equity analyst and enterprising enough, the local sales team can organize a roadshow for these global researchers with domestic clients. A company-paid business-class ticket is quite the bargain for spending a day shooting the breeze in Lower Parel and BKC.

Under the aforesaid scheme, Bertie was offered a joint meeting with a global commodity and a global hardware analyst—let’s call them Mr Copper and Mr Chips. Having to contend with two accents, two alphabet soups, and bipolar valuations, Bertie’s mental processing unit began to sputter. He said as much to the chaperoning salesperson who, unlike Bertie, seemed to be conserving his processing energy by watching Orry reels. Irritated, he looked up and, in a rasping school principal's voice, asked Copper and Chips to speak only one at a time. In order to drive home the point, he looked at his expensive watch and allocated 20 minutes to each before declaring that they had a hard stop—probably to ensure they did not miss happy hour at the pub.