“We cannot swing up on a rope that is attached only to our own belt”
- William Ernest Hocking, 1873-1966, an American idealist philosopher

The speed with which the Muscat stockmarket bounced back almost makes one ask the question whether anything untoward happened here early last month. Without trivialising any aspect of the events of June 6, the hard fact is that business is carrying on. The whole fuss about oil prices being affected was more about the international media getting keyed-up than reality. There are sectors of industry that are busier than ever before. The economy, we are assured by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will suffer no ill effects in the long run (see page 28). And while the government has responded magnificently to the challenges they faced, so has the private sector. Corporates across the country have risen admirably to the occasion with one motivation: to help.

There is nothing like tragedy or bad luck to find out more about a person or a company. Unfortunate, but it seems moral fibre or the lack of it only shows itself clearly at such times. After the cyclone, there have been instances of small retailers making money on basic necessities, exhorbitant amounts being demanded for water – but the authorities cracked down hard and quick and left no doubts that such acts would not be left unpunished. At some level, like the looting that went on, this is understandable because however wrong, it is human to look for opportunities and to some, this was a golden chance to make a quick buck. What is incomprehensible is one insurance company laughing at another because the latter had insisted that almost all of its clients go in for a car insurance policy that covered STF (storms, tempests and floods). But who do you think will have the last laugh?

You keep a fire extinguisher in your car though you may never have occasion to use it. But the reason why it is mandatory is that if you were in a fire, this could save your life. Similarly with any form of insurance: that in this day and age there are businessmen who do not have insurance coverage is unpardonable. Business contingency planning may sound like a waste of time, energy and money to many in a growing economy where the concept is still new, but that’s where it is needed the most. The ability to bounce back comes from these basic blocks that need to be in place. And Gonu has been, in a variety of ways, a wake-up call to bring home the truth that there are no short-cuts to a sustainable, successful future.


Mohana Prabhakar
Managing editor