One of the hazards of my job is that everyday I need to speak to scores of people I have never met. These are guys who are out their in the middle of things, effectively regulating whatever is going on in the stock market. (For the uninitiated, my job is to cover the Indian stock market, essentially the prestigious Bombay Stock Exchange. Yes, thrilling.) I have to talk to people ranging from traders, dealers, research analysts, technical analysts and so on and so forth.

But the only guys worth mentioning are the dealers, really. They are the most charged and colourful people one can come across in an otherwise boring set up. Someone once asked me, "People buy and sell because that's what you do in a market. What the hell is there to write about that?" Of course, I had no answer to give, not one that was convincing anyway. And yet we write and sell the news successfully.

So when the essence is so bleak, one tries to make the best of it. I'm going to digress a little more before getting to the point. Stock markets, as a rule, follow no rules. There's no way in hell that anyone can say confidently what really is going on. But the Indian stock market is in a league of its own. Dig deep and you will find people who can put Bernie Madoff and Rajaratnam to shame. After all, these guys got caught. Indian market is one big orgy of synchronized buying and selling. It's fascinating to see real-time trading in some stocks, especially those of tiny companies. They rise 10%, turn flat and fall 20% all in a matter of five minutes. So, naturally there are days when the Sensex (which is what I mostly look at) is behaving like it's suffering from bipolar disorder. These days are the best to talk to people on the "floor." Half of them will say, "Humein sach mein nahi pata, aapne kuch suna kya?" And the rest say whatever comes to mind.

On one such erratic day, I called a dealer. I was really flustered because I had asked a zillion people and they were all stumped. And I have a deadline of 3.55 in the afternoon for filing my market report. Markets close at 3.30; it was already 3.20 and I still did not have my precious quote.

The conversation went something like this:

"So, what's happening in the market? Kya lagta hai aapko?"

"Indian market hai, madam. lt's like this only."

"Magar aaj toh kuch zyada hi upar neeche ho raha hai. There's no logic."

"Indian market hai, madam. Here no logic, onnnnnly magic."

I had my Eureka moment, right there. I drifted away and imagined how this quote would look in my market report on the Wall Street Journal. It's a pity we are not allowed to quote dealers. But his wisdom was amazing, he had totally nailed it. Because the word 'magic' sums up all the rigging that goes on in various stocks. Why the Sensex falls 2.5% in a day and still manages to close 1.5% higher is anybody's guess. Unfortunate as it is, everyday I need at least two names against the "guess."

After all, journalism is all about the eyeballs. The best quote, the best picture, the best footage, getting the quotes of the most popular guy, capturing his image....

Ironically, the only guys worth quoting never get quoted. And that's the magic of neo journalism.