Scripting our own story

BY DHAWAL SHAH | The events of the last couple of weeks remind me of a scene from the famous movie ‘Rocky Balboa’ where a father, who is a professional boxer, shares some words of wisdom with his young son. ‘The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows,’ he says. ‘It’s a very mean and nasty place. And it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and still keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take. That’s how winning is done.’

Cut and paste to India. The 50% trade tariffs levied by President Donald Trump hit like a torpedo, not just jeopardising routine trade but also causing loss of trust in a well-nurtured relationship between India and the United States.

The penal tariffs lacked substance, rationality and logic, singling out India for buying Russian oil but turning a blind eye on others. It means India will suffer economically for not toeing the line required by President Trump.

BALANCE AND FOCUS

But as it goes in boxing – the match ain’t over when you take a blow and fall down. It’s over when you can’t get up. And I think India did very well by quickly getting back on its feet and finding its balance and focus. From the cacophony of doubters sitting across the Atlantic, declaring India a ‘dead economy’, there quickly emerged a story of resilience.

Second quarter GDP data was rolled out recently and it showed a healthy growth of 7.8% – perhaps the strongest number amongst all large economies. The government is undertaking major reforms in tax rates for goods and services – simplifying them to a lower, two-rate structure. This could provide further impetus to the Indian industry – which could improve its competitiveness.

FRESH HIRING

Further India has opened up trade settlements in rupees, which would allow its foreign trading partners to directly transact through vostro accounts [accounts held by a foreign bank in local currency], without using US dollars. Over the last 12 months, more than 30 000 people in India have been hired by American giants like Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon and Netflix – vesting faith in India’s strong IT infrastructure. So, despite all the rants, rhetorics and reprimands, India knows to script its own story and live it. 

The elephant may be slow, stiff and steady but it can break into a dance with the dragon whilst listening to the Russian Kalinka folk song when needed.

Dhawal Shah, Metco Ventures India

This column is also published in the September/October 2025 Issue of Recycling International