Best of BS Opinion: Glittery surfaces may often hide slippery floors

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

Have you observed that tension when you walk after a janitor’s mop has just passed through the long hallway in the building. It leaves behind a sheen that looks like polish but is, in truth, a warning. A person hurrying through with his leather soles clicking against the floor, almost loses balance before steadying himself on the wall. For a moment the grandeur of the marble and the fragility of human footing coexist, a reminder that sometimes what looks smoothest is what most betrays us. That same unease runs through today’ writeups. The floor is wet and the chances of slipping, very high. Let’s dive in. 

That very same risk defines Michael R Strain’s reading of the US Federal Reserve’s latest move. By cutting its policy rate to 4-4.25 per cent, the Fed hopes to ease gently into growth. Yet wages remain steady, inflation stubborn, and consumer demand robust. To walk confidently on such a slick surface may mean tumbling back into the very inflation trap policymakers believe they’ve escaped. 

Meanwhile, R Gopalakrishnan observes an artificial gloss in corporate philosophy. Hindustan Unilever’s motto, “Doing Well by Doing Good”, captures a growing Asian attempt to merge profit with purpose. Yet in India, where CSR is rule-bound and policy prefers slogans, the shine risks hiding the pale floor marble. Without a deeper ethic of compassion and longevity, the noble surface may only lure companies into false balance. 

For Devangshu Datta, India’s defence exports, Rs 23,622 crore in FY25, a 12 per cent rise, are another polish on the floor. Missiles and radars win global attention, with targets of $6 billion by FY29. But beneath the sheen, dependence on imports persists. Unless the industrial base deepens, one slip could undo the promise of strategic independence. 

And Shekhar Gupta describes cricket with Pakistan as yet another treacherous patch. Emotions demand boycotts while logic stands firm as India already plays its neighbour in other sports. To refuse cricket is to hand Pakistan victories for free. Real strength lies in strategy and military clarity, not in the theatre of self-sabotage. 

Finally, as Ranjita Ganesan shows through Aranya Sahay’s film Humans in the Loop, the fragility extends to technology. Women, invisible to the systems they support, steady the scaffolding of AI while excluded from its rewards. Like those who clean the corridor only to be warned not to walk on it, they embody the paradox of unseen labour pushing ahead a world that denies them footing. 

Stay tuned!