Dear Editor

Hailing from a small village in the Sitapur district of UP, my journey till Post-grad has been a financially tough one. Yet, somehow I managed.  I remember coming to Lucknow at the age of 16 and stayed in the city to not only complete my Graduation and Post-graduation but also subsequently began my 39 years’ career in the public sector of the banking industry.   Considering my middle-class rural background, being risk averse was in my nature. I was more comfortable in securely saving my hard earned money for the future in the instruments qualifying for the standard deductions in Section 80C, that is in equity linked saving schemes of the mutual funds, insurance and other tax free bonds of the Government of India.   My first equity investment, though I cannot say in the share market, was in 2002, when the Union Bank of India came with its IPO and the share value was...