Best of BS Opinion: Bonds, power, and the spirit of the Himalayas

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

It’s strange how confident one can feel while gliding over danger. Like those few seconds on a frozen pond in January when the ice doesn’t crack, and you start to believe you’ve mastered the balance, that is until you hear that hairline snap underneath. That feeling, that delicate mix of poise and peril, seems to be everywhere now. From financial markets to geopolitics to spiritual searches, everyone’s dancing, and few realise how thin the ice is beneath their feet. Let’s dive in. 

Take the US, for instance. After over a century of triple-A glory, its sovereign bonds are slipping. Moody’s has joined Fitch and S&P in docking America’s rating, citing ballooning deficits and unstoppable interest costs. With the 30-year yield peaking above 5 per cent, it's not just a fiscal warning, it's a shift in how global capital flows, notes our first editorial. India, too, could feel the chill as narrowing bond yield spreads may tip investments away from equities, putting pressure on our rupee. As global borrowing costs spike, the dance is turning into a test of stamina.  

Closer home, India’s power utilities are taking tentative steps toward reform—listing on exchanges to enforce transparency. Gujarat’s GETCO leads, but discoms across the country are still slipping on decades of political meddling, highlights our second editorial. Despite multiple bailouts, losses hover at ₹6.8 trillion, with pricing reforms stuck. Listings may force financial discipline, but it’s like expecting figure skaters to perfect a routine on cracked ice. Change is needed, but the surface is fragile.  

Meanwhile, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have just performed a bold ballet in Moscow, affirming their alliance amid US-China trade manoeuvres and India-Pakistan skirmishes, writes Shyam Saran. Their synchronized steps, military parades, diplomatic statements, and joint condemnations of the West, mask a deeper chill: China is edging toward tech parity, and India must rethink its footing in a shifting strategic landscape.  

In corporate India, the tension is more subtle. Promoters still dominate the floor, outvoting institutional dissent with ease, argues Amit Tandon. While regulatory reforms push for inclusivity, dissent often skates by unacknowledged. Amit Tandon proposes a gentle corrective—a “dissent review” to ensure boards engage when more than 10 per cent disagree. Not a rupture, just a ripple, to keep the balance honest. 

And in the Himalayas, Anu Malhotra dances with the unseen. Her book Shamans of the Himalayas captures trance rituals, divine possessions, and the unspoken codes that guide village life in Kullu, writes Neha Kirpal in her review. Here too, the ice is sacred, the ground invisible, the faith absolute. A different kind of balancing act, but no less daring. 

Stay tuned!