Nonstop Nonsense

“Charlie Chaplin once said ‘I remain just one thing, and one thing only — and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician'” said Jigneshbhai, my broker friend as we met for our weekend coffee. He was musing over the happenings of the past few days apparently.

“But it’s getting increasingly difficult to differentiate between a clown and a politician nowadays” he smiled, looking at Swami and me. For a change this week, he had started talking and we were the ones silently sipping our coffee.

But Swami was least interested in the political circus and was waiting with his questions.

“I love Charlie Chaplin. But honestly, there’s been so much happening over the past few months, that there’s been more to worry than talking about comedy” he said, quite satirically unlike his regular style.

“Oil prices have been fluctuating, the populist budget is done, the RBI has reduced interest rates a bit as inflation is down but then maybe so is growth. And now we have the worst terror attack on our paramilitary and talks of war. Plus there is a US-China trade war. And there are elections coming up in a few weeks, and we aren’t even sure if the current government will be back!!” Swami was clearly exasperated by the set of events over the last few months and understandably, perturbed about what seemed like a fairly uncertain time for an investor.

He paused for some breath, and I looked towards our broker friend to say something.

“After Charlie Chaplin, there was another clown who made me laugh. Do you remember that slapstick guy in Didi’s comedy show?” Jigneshbhai asked, still stuck in his comic musings. Almost on second thought, he added, “But our new age clowns and Didi’s can’t be matched” he continued, looking at us with a wink in his eye and a wide smile.

But his smile quickly went away when he saw Swami stare at him, clearly not amused.

Here he was talking about all the important happenings impacting his investments, and Jigneshbhai was smiling thinking about his comic stars, old and new.

Realizing the mood difference, our broker friend acknowledged Swami’s concern, but didn’t take it seriously. There was a slight longish silence as usual, while we waited.

“Of course, there’s been a lot happening. But eventually all of this won’t matter – for your investments. You will hardly remember this after a decade or two,” Jigneshbhai assured us, always talking in time frames which put Swami off.

“Who knows who will be alive at that time? I want to know what I should do now, or the next few months at best?” Swami revolted, despite our broker friend’s long-term assurance.

“Well – that’s true, but then on that, I don’t have any answers for you” said Jigneshbhai, his mood turning from a cheerful one to slightly pensive. Thinking about Chaplin and Didi surely got him more laughter than this talk of recent happenings for sure.

While Swami, I and our broker friend were sitting silently sipping our coffee, the wealthy man in the sprawling bungalow came across to our table. Apparently, he had been listening to our conversation.

Though admittedly, our conversation today was more like Jigneshbhai’s monologue on his comic heroes and Swami’s rambling on unsettling happenings of recent times.

So the wealthy man quietly sat with us for a few seconds, and just as we were getting ready to leave, he left us thinking with what he said. “Charlie Chaplin said that life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot. For your investments, all of this, after a few years, will seem like Nonstop Nonsense!”