The Indian Budget is that annual national festival which arrives with great fanfare, deep mystery, and absolutely no guarantee of happiness. For one week before Budget Day, every Indian suddenly becomes an economist. Your vegetable vendor discusses fiscal deficit. Your neighbour explains capital expenditure. Your uncle forwards WhatsApp messages predicting…


Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.