This column takes a break from this site along with its author who is moving to another organization. Before Outlook's boisterous critics heave a sigh of relief, she warns that she may return to plague them in a new avatar.

BY Paromita Shastri 29 November 2006

What goes up but doesn't come down? Well, prices of course. But there is no discernible lack of buyers. Because people have money on their hands and demand is insatiable...

BY Paromita Shastri 8 November 2006

Can you believe it? Can you really, really believe it? The Congress has actually dug up and dusted out its old Indira Gandhi slogan of Garibi Hatao and the 20-point poverty eradication programme...

BY Paromita Shastri 5 October 2006

Instead of counting the number of Bills passed and growth records busted in the ten quarters that the UPA has completed, Chidambaram would do well to guard the fisc like Satan's treasure-chest in the remaining ten.

BY Paromita Shastri 19 September 2006

The issue is not the leak of the finance minister's letter to the planning commission deputy chairman. It is about the leak in the delivery system. Do we fix a leaking bucket? Or get a new one?

BY Paromita Shastri 31 August 2006

I doubt, therefore I am an aware customer. I fight with Delhi Jal Board officials on water quality. I also fight with my mind whenever I pass grocery stores stocked with Coke.

BY Paromita Shastri 23 August 2006

Two important reports confirm excellent growth prospects but there are warning signals beeping loud and clear: increased inequality, serious lack of infrastructure, spiralling petro-prices...

BY Paromita Shastri 15 August 2006

That's the mantra the RBI and the Fin Min are chanting as they don't want us to shop till we drop, freaking out with our credit cards. So pause for breath before committing to the next new car or any drool-object on hire-purchase. For now.

BY Paromita Shastri 24 July 2006

Next time you hear a cricketing icon exhort us all to freely talk about Hetch High Wee, perhaps it is time to remember that it has the potential to knock 0.86 percentage points off India's GDP growth, which translates to about Rs 25,000 crores

BY Paromita Shastri 19 July 2006

Why doesn't the PM spend more time in reforming his country-wide bureaucratic setup and the antiquated rules that govern them, instead of announcing fancy packages? Why doesn't he make sure that those who govern learn from previous mistakes?

BY Paromita Shastri 4 July 2006