Divisions of Time in a Day

There are different ways in which a day is reckoned as per the Hindu calendar when compared to the conventional system which is used for all practical purposes. As per normal wisdom it is generally perceived and believed that a day commences at the stroke of midnight right at the dot of 12 AM at any part of the world and runs up till the next day when 24 hours passes paving the way for the next day to begin. This is evident with new year celebrations being held right at the stroke of 12 AM and even while wishing people Birthdays, there is a notion to wish them right on the money when the clock hits 12 AM. Even India is said to have obtained Independence right at the stroke of midnight at the mark of 12 AM when the date moved to 15th August 1947.

Having said all this, the interesting thing to note is that based on Hinduism there is a sea of difference when it comes to how a day is to be reckoned. For a Hindu day, the guiding reference point happens to be the time of Sunrise and a day is said to commence from sunrise until the next day of sunrise when the next day is said to commence. Because the sunrise time holds fort, one would see different places recording different times of start and end when reckoning a day. Even coming to general logic, in many of the calendars one would see a start time of 6 AM igniting the start of the day as it happens to be the closest approximate ball park time when sunrise is said to occur across India and most other countries. However to be exact and when fixing the time for important events, only sunrise time needs to be taken and 6AM should be considered just for ease of use and as an approximate calculation. Thus, there is a clear head and shoulders difference of at least 6 hours when a day is reckoned as per practical norms (12 AM) and when considering the time for fixing and calculating auspicious time intervals (6AM) as per the Hindu system. 

Before delving into the different time divisions as per the Hindu system, let us briefly look into the different time horizons popular in the western world. These are not exactly defined but generally tends to be followed. On a larger framework, a day tends to be divided into 3 parts viz Morning, Afternoon and Evening. Morning is said to run from Midnight (12AM) until Midday (12PM) followed by a 6 hour slot for Afternoon running from 12PM to 6PM and the remaining 6 hours of the day namely from 6PM to 12AM being the time of Evening. This can be extended into 7 zones with the ending period being given separate names with 12AM being classified as Midnight, 12PM called as Midday, 6AM or around sunrise termed as Dawn and around 6PM or sunset being classified as Dusk. This can again be classified into 14 parts with Afternoon comprising of Early Afternoon, Mid Afternoon and Late Afternoon, Evening consisting of Early Evening, Mid Evening, Late evening and entire Morning portion which runs from 12AM to 12PM being classified as Late Night, Early Morning, Mid Morning and Late Morning and on top of that we have the 4 markers of Midday, Midnight, Dawn and Dusk. Sometimes it is also believed that the split of the day which is divided into 3 viz Morning, Afternoon and Evening can actually be split as 4 with equal windows for Morning, Afternoon, Evening and also a Night portion included from 12AM to 6PM. 

Let's now look at the various time divisions in a day which are prevalent in the Indian system

2 part time division: (1 in day and 1 in night)
As mentioned earlier, the constitution of a Hindu or Vedic day runs from the commencement of sunrise until the next sunrise. The entire day from Sunrise to next day Sunrise is divided into 2 portions viz the part from Sunrise to Sunset and from Sunset to next day Sunrise. The former is known as day time and the latter is known as night time. The time duration may not be equal for both but for an equal day and night portion in a day, it can be said to comprise of 12 hours each with sunrise portion running from 6AM to 6PM and Sunset portion from 6PM to 6AM of next day.

4 part time division: (2 in day and 2 in night)
As per Tamil timekeeping, dividing the day into 4 portions is called as 'Naal Naanku Kaalam' translating to four periods of the day. They are classified as under:
1) Kaalaiyil (Morning): 6 AM to 12 PM
2) Mathiyil (Afternoon): 12 PM to 6 AM
3) Maalai (Evening): 6 PM to 12 AM
4) Iravu (Night): 12 PM to 6 AM

6 part time division: (3 in day and 3 in night)
As per Tamil tradition, an entire day happens to be divided into 6 periods ('Pozhudhugal') with 3 of the periods being during day time and 3 of the periods occurring during night time. The classification is as given below:
1) Kaalai (Morning): 6 AM to 10 AM
2) Nanpagazh (Noon): 10 AM to 2 PM
3) Yerpaadu (Afternoon): 2 PM to 6 PM
4) Maalai (Evening): 6 PM to 10 PM
5) Yamam (Night): 10 PM to 2 AM
6) Vaigarai (Dawn): 2 AM to 6 AM

Coming to Astrology treatise, as per the age old classic "Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra", one of the features in ascertaining the six fold strength of planets is through the rule of Tribhagha Bala where day and night is said to be divided into 3 equal parts with specific planets gaining strength accordingly based on the time of birth. The information of the same is shared below:
Day Time First Part: 6 AM to 10 AM - Mercury becomes strong
Day Time Second Part: 10 AM to 2 PM - Sun becomes strong
Day Time Third Part: 2 PM to 6 PM - Saturn becomes strong
Night Time First Part: 6 PM to 10 PM - Moon becomes strong
Night Time Second Part: 10 PM to 2 AM - Venus becomes strong
Night Time Third Part: 2 AM to 6 AM - Mars becomes strong
Jupiter is always said to be strong at any point of the day or night. Also as per one tradition, it is said that Jupiter is the torchbearer of the Panchang element of 'Vara' which makes perfect sense based on its assertion that it's always strong irrespective of whether birth takes place during day time or night time.

8 part time division: (4 in day and 4 in night)
There is another time division which divides an entire day into 8 parts allotting 4 parts to the day and 4 parts to the night. This is called 'Prahara' which is a Sanskrit term for unit of time. The first Prahara is said to begin at Sunrise and the 4th Prahara is said to end when Sunset begins. Likewise the 5th Prahara starts when Sunset begins and the last Prahara ends with the completion of Sunset leading to Sunrise of the next day.  The names of the Praharas and the time slot of approximately 3 hours each is listed below
1) Purvaanha (Day): 6 AM to 9 AM
2) Madhyaanha (Day): 9 AM to 12 PM
3) Aparaanha (Day): 12 PM to 3 PM
4) Saayankaala (Day): 3 PM to 6 PM
5) Pradosha (Night): 6 PM to 9 PM
6) Nishitha (Night): 9 PM to 12 AM
7) Triyaama (Night): 12 AM to 3 AM
8) Usha (Night): 3 AM to 6 AM

10 part time division: (5 in day and 5 in night)
Somewhat similar to Prahara, there is another sub division as per the Hindu calendar which divides both the day time hours and night time hours into 5 equal parts. For an equal day and night, this would equate to 2 hours 24 minutes each. The names of it is given below
1) Prata (Day): 6 AM to 8:24 AM
2) Sangava (Day): 8:24 AM to 10:48 AM
3) Madhyahna (Day): 10:48 AM to 1:12 PM
4) Aparaanha (Day): 1:12 PM to 3:36 PM
5) Sayana (Day): 3:36 PM to 6 PM
6) Pradosha (Night): 6 PM to 8:24 PM
7) Ratri (Night): 8:24 PM to 10:48 PM
8) Madhya Ratri (Night): 10:48 PM to 1:12 AM
9) Apa Ratri (Night): 1:12 AM to 3:36 AM
10) Prata Sandhya (Night): 3:36 AM to 6 AM

Also, as per ancient tamil literature, there is a system called as 'Pancha Pakshi' where Pancha means the number '5' and Pakshi means 'Bird'. It is believed that the 5 elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Ether are represented by these birds and each of these birds Vulture, Owl, Crow, Cock and Peacock performs an activity for the 2 hours and 24 minutes allotted which includes Eating, Walking, Ruling, Sleeping and Dying. The method of splitting the day time and night time into 5 parts is termed as 'Yama'.
For more detailed discourse on Pancha Pakshi Shastra, one can refer to the below link:
https://tuningmymelody.blogspot.com/2019/04/time-technique-of-pancha-pakshi-shastra.html?m=0

16 part time division: (8 in day and 8 in night)
This classification of time is of prime importance as it's actually used for decoding auspicious and inauspicious time slots within a day. There are three different methodologies which is earmarked in the calculation of the definition of time.

Kala Vela: This is used to mark the designated time zones by each of the 7 planets viz Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. There are 8 periods of about 1 hour and 30 minutes each within Sunrise and Sunset but only 7 planets to be assigned. Hence the extra portion is considered to be headless and a blank or Lordless portion is assigned to it. There is however a thought process given to mention it as Rahu but that portion is not necessarily the time period for 'Rahu Kalam' and hence should not be confused. The time period ruled by Jupiter and Saturn are said to be Yama Ghanta Kala and Gulika Kala respectively which is used in ascertaining time slots for activities.

Gowri Panchanga: This is used especially in Tamil Nadu especially to delineate important activities to be performed based on allotting the time slots into 8 each for sunrise and sunset. Here the 8 parts are assigned to the 7 planets Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn and the 8th portion is given specifically to Rahu and that forms the basis for Rahu Kalam which is used quite extensively as a period to avoid in the South especially while performing auspicious tasks.

Chogadiya: This is again kind of similar to Gowri Panchanga but sticks to only 7 planets excluding Rahu and there is also no blank portion as given by Kala Vela. This is used like a Muhurtha timing in the North of India and the 8th portion within Sunrise again happens to be the planet ruling the first portion and the sequence follows in similar vein across the whole day.

It should be noted that the calculation differs for all of Kala Vela, Gowri Panchanga and Chogadiya depending upon the weekday in operation. A detailed exposition listing out the uses and it's calculation has been laid out below in this link:
https://tuningmymelody.blogspot.com/2019/11/the-8-unit-division-of-time-cycle-kala.html?m=0

24 part time division: (24 in entire day from Sunrise to next day Sunrise)
This concept is called as 'Hora' which divides the entire day from Sunrise to next day Sunrise allotting one hour each for all 7 planets viz Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. The day always starts with the Hora ruling the day viz Sun for Sunday, Moon for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday, Venus for Friday and Saturn for Saturday. There is a debate however whether this needs to be split as 12 each for Sunrise and Sunset respectively but it does not really serve the element of 'Hora' which technically means Hour or 60 minutes. If Sunrise time happens to be let's say 13 hours and Sunset only 11 hours, then almost 65 minutes will be assigned for a planet during day time and only 55 minutes during night time. It defeats the very existence of the name 'Hora' and the time span between one sunrise to next sunrise is always on the ball park of 24 hours with just a minute or two adjusted here or there which makes one hour for a planet being assigned far more weight age. The Hora gets calculated in the order of the most slowest planet to the most fastest planet which goes in the form of Saturn -> Jupiter -> Mars -> Sun -> Venus -> Mercury -> Moon.

A more detailed explanation of the concept of Hora and how it's calculation is obtained is available on the below link:
https://tuningmymelody.blogspot.com/2019/04/timing-events-with-gowri-panchanga-and.html?m=0

30 part time division: (15 in day and 15 in night)
This is termed as 'Muhurta' and is of utmost importance when fixing time for various events. There are 30 Muhurta's in a day with 15 being part of day time and the remaining 15 considered during night time. 'Muhurta' is a Hindu unit of time and denotes a division of a period of 1/30th of a day which is roughly 48 minutes each. Each Muhurta is said to further break into smaller units of time such as 1 Muhurta of 48 minutes can be segregated into 30 Kalas (1 Kala = 1.6 Minutes or 96 seconds) and each Kala can be further bifurcated into 30 Kashtas (1 Kashta = 3.2 seconds). The list of all Muhurta's and their timing of operation for an equal day & night is listed below.
1) Rudra: 6.00 AM to 6:48 AM
2) Ahi: 6:48 AM to 7:36 AM
3) Mitra: 7:36 AM to 8:24 AM
4) Pitr: 8:24 AM to 9:12 AM
5) Vasu: 9:12 AM to 10:00 AM
6) Varaha: 10:00 AM to 10:48 AM
7) Viswadeva: 10:00 AM to 11:36 AM
8) Vidhi: 11:36 AM to 12:24 PM
9) Sutamukhi: 12:24 PM to 1:12 PM
10) Puruhuta: 1:12 PM to 2:00 PM
11) Vahini: 2:00 PM to 2:48 PM
12) Naktanakara: 2:48 PM to 3:36 PM
13) Varuna: 3:36 PM to 4:24 PM
14) Aryaman: 4:24 PM to 5:12 PM
15) Bhaga: 5:12 PM to 6:00 PM
16) Girisa: 6:00 PM to 6:48 PM
17) Ajapada: 6:48 PM to 7:36 PM
18) Ahir Budhanya: 7:36 PM to 8:24 PM
19) Pushya: 8:24 PM to 9:12 PM
20) Ashwini: 9:12 PM to 10:00 PM
21) Yama: 10:00 PM to 10:48 PM
22) Agni: 10:48 PM to 11:36 PM
23) Vidhatr: 11:36 PM to 12:24 AM
24) Kanda: 12:24 AM to 1:12 AM
25) Aditi: 1:12 AM to 2:00 AM
26) Jeeva: 2:00 AM to 2:48 AM
27) Vishnu: 2:48 AM to 3:36 AM
28) Dyumadgadyuti: 3:36 AM to 4:24 AM
29) Brahma: 4:24 AM to 5:12 AM
30) Samudra: 5:12 AM to 6:00 AM

60 part time division: (60 in entire day from Sunrise to next day Sunrise)
Like how 24 hours constitutes a day, as per Hindu division each of 24 minutes are termed as 'Ghati' running from Sunrise till the next day Sunrise. There is no separate name available for every Ghati or and it's usually a unit of time. If a day from sunrise to next day sunrise exceeds or falls mildly short of 24 hours, then the Ghati is adjusted accordingly but in general a Ghati is said to constitute 24 minutes. In the olden days, horoscopes were written to decode the time based on Ghati's and Vighati's (60 Vighati's is 1 Ghati) elapsed as compared to the procedure today when the exact time is mentioned. Like Hora which is said to be an hour of time running across Sunrise to next day Sunrise, similarly Ghati comprises of 60 components with a running time of 24 minutes each. However it should be noted that for the calculation of Mandi alone, Ghati needs to be divided as 30 each in the period of Sunrise and Sunset as the formula for computation is clearly elucidated in the astrological work 'Uttara Kalamrita' written by Sage Kalidas which mentions that Mandi is said to rise accordingly in a day based on the Ghati's elapsed during day time and night time. It is also to be noted that this will always fall somewhere in the middle of the portion assigned to Saturn in the Kala Vela calculation viz Gulika Kala.
Sunday - 26 Ghatikas after sun rise, 10 Ghatikas after sun set
Monday - 22 Ghatikas after sun rise, 6 Ghatikas after sun set
Tuesday - 18 Ghatikas after sun rise, 2 Ghatikas after sun set
Wednesday - 14 Ghatikas after sun rise, 26 Ghatikas after sun set
Thursday - 10 Ghatikas after sun rise, 22 Ghatikas after sun set
Friday - 6 Ghatikas after sun rise, 18 Ghatikas after sun set
Saturday - 2 Ghatikas after sun rise, 14 Ghatikas after sun set

There is even a consideration to divide a day into 32 parts each for day and night so as to blend well with it being a multiple of 8 as a 'Yamardha' is technically said to be an eighth part of a day. This would equate well with the division of Kala Vela which divides the day and night into 8 equal parts and the Mandi will fall exactly in the middle of the Saturn's portion assigned as Gulika Kala. However it doesn't make complete sense as a day is said to be comprising of 60 Ghatika's only and 64 (32 each for day and night) is used just for ease of use and get the exact middle point. Irrespective Mandi will always fall only in the period of Gulika in and around the middle portion. For more information regarding the calculation of Gulika and Mandi, the below link can be referred.
https://tuningmymelody.blogspot.com/2018/09/ascertaining-gulika-and-mandi-in.html

Note: It should be noted that 'Ghati' is also known alternatively as Ghatika, Nazhika, Pala etc and is known as a unit of time equal to one sixtieth of a day. Also all the times mentioned above is based on the fact that Sunrise begins at 6:00 AM and Sunset at 6:00 PM. The computation of different facets of time should be factored based upon the actual sunrise time and not standard 6:00 AM. It is not expected to remember all the different units of time however remembering some of the important time dimensions can be helpful such as decoding Yama Ghanta Kala and Gulika Kala which occurs based on 'Kala Vela' computation, Rahu Kalam which arises based upon 'Gowri Panchanga', knowing time of Hora and Muhurta in operation can also be helpful but however can always be checked from an Almanac. It would however be good to know the Sunrise and Sunset timings each day of the particular place one is residing as that forms the crux for majority of the time divisions.

Apt the showstopper!

The one song which has perhaps taken the entire world by storm is the insanely catchy foottapping dance number by the duo of Rose and Bruno Mars titled 'Apt'. It's become such a rage that virtually every other Insta Reel that pops out plays this tune and it's simply impossible to miss this with one invariably tending to shake the leg to it's booming beats and upbeat sounds.

It's garnered such a spectacular response in such a short span of time that it's been nothing short of a showstopper. The song as such is not a technical masterpiece by any counts but it's been instantly lapped up largely due to the fun and playful elements interspersed in the lyrics along with a sparkling vibe that has made it quite infectious.

I tried taking a stab at this on the veena and it turned out to be a quite a joyous experience. The repetitive lyrics and flow of the song which goes all topsy turvy made it pretty enjoyable to try out. It is based predominantly on the ever popular raga of Natabhairavi which corresponds to the natural minor scale. Simply just tried to capture a wee bit of the essence of this snappy sizzling number which has captivated the global audience at large.

Nifty 50's 5 year journey from 2020-2024

In the last 5 years, India's benchmark market index the Nifty 50 has had quite a rollercoaster 🎢 ride swinging in all sorts of directions by sky rocketing at times and also nose diving at other times leading to plenty of twists and turns. The volatility especially over the last couple of years has been immense and it's really taken both traders and investors for a ride. From the outset, it would look like the returns have been favourable at large but there have also been moments where it's been tepid and at times almost on a comatose mode.

Let's take a look at some of the numbers in actuality to see how the Nifty has actually performed. On 31st Dec 2019 Nifty closed at 12,168.45 with opening price witnessed on 1st Jan being just on the ball park of 12,200 with 12,202.15 being the exact number. From a starting base of 12,168.45, Nifty reached an all time high of 26,277.35 on 27th Sep 2024 and hit a lowest point of 7,511.10 on 24th Mar 2020 on the back of the news over the Corona Virus outbreak.

There are a number of parameters affecting market performance. Uncertainty is probably the single biggest factor leading to market declines. One pattern which can be observed is that whenever markets have rescinded badly, they have bounced back equally well like a springboard with full force. This is not just over the last 5 years but generally across eternity. The falls have almost universally been really swift but the rises have been relatively slower leading to the popular coinage of the phrase 'Markets go down in elevator but rises through staircase'. But the underlying factor and undermining characteristic take away is that Markets always come back and eventually leap higher.

The last 5 years is a good indicator to understand the phenomenon of markets. There were number of worldwide events which crippled the index for a wee bit of time but it always found a way to get out of the crisis eventually moving higher and bolstering to new all time highs along the way. Let's look at some of the historic events that sabotaged the Nifty pulling it down from it's tracks and how it rebounded time and again.

As per stock market parlance, a fall from recent highs in points is usually associated with the following names

5% Fall - Pullback
10% Fall - Correction
20% Fall - Bear Market
30% Fall - Market Crash
50% Fall - Recession

2020:
The Nifty 50 index had reached a new all time high of 12,430.50 on the 20th Jan 2020 after which the pandemic in the form of Corona Virus took place hammering and tonking the markets almost beyond repair. In a small span of 2 months, the Nifty carted and caved in to fall towards a significant low point of 7511.10 leading to a brutal fall of almost 40% (39.58%). The markets however recovered sharply almost going up 100% first reclaiming the earlier all time high on 9th Nov 2020, then capturing the milestone mark of 13000 on 24th Nov 2020 and then hitting another significant landmark of 14000 on the last day of the year viz 31st Dec 2020.

2021:
Compared to the 'V' shaped recovery witnessed in 2020, the year 2021 was relatively less chaotic. The magical milestone mark of 15,000 was reached for the first time on 5th Feb 2021 catapulting to an unassailable 100% rise from the lows witnessed just 10-11 months back in March 2020. The Nifty hit a new high of 15,431.75 on 16th Feb 2021 after which it saw a consolidation for about 3 months before again regaining a new high on 28th May 2021. The Nifty was teetering along these levels for a while before getting to the landmark of 16,000 for the first time on 3rd Aug 2021 and in the very same month usurped itself to another historic high of 17,000 on 31st Aug 2021. 18,000 also was reached very fast on 11th Oct 2021 and it went on to hit a high of 18,604.45 on 19th Oct before retracing and entering into correction territory on 20th Dec reaching a low of 16,410.20 on the back of re-occurrence of new covid variant in the name of Omicron.

2022:
2022 could be summarised as a pretty weak year for Nifty with no new 1000 mark milestones reached all through the year. In fact it was a year which saw 2 major corrections of over 10% in a pretty short span of time. After the low hit in Dec 2022, markets rallied a bit upto levels of 18,350.95 seen on 18th Jan but couldn't go past it's earlier high of 18,604.45 on 19th Oct 2021. The markets in fact started grinding down breaking the Dec low and touching a new low point of 15,671.45 on 8th Mar during the wake of the Russia - Ukraine war. Just when markets were looking like arresting this horror run claiming back the mark of 18,000 in early April came another rude shock in the form of US Fed Rate hike making the markets tank towards levels of 15,183.40 seen on 17th June 2022. This was the second biggest fall for the Markets by over 18% after the Covid crash in Mar 2020. The Markets however found the resurgence to bounce back like it always does to generate a new life time high of 18,887.6 on 1st Dec. It took Nifty over a year to reclaim it's previous all time high made on 19th Oct 2021 to get it back on 28th Nov 2022. It was a turbulent year but the ending was a saving grace helping Nifty to close in the green for another year running.

2023:
Nifty had starting trouble in 2023 meandering it's way in the early part and then starting to go down with 17,000 being broken resulting in another correction of over 10% on 14th Mar largely due to domestic retail inflation remaining above tolerance level in addendum to the Adani saga pertaining to accusations made by the American firm Hindenburg. The fall however stopped at 16,828.35 at close to 11% from recent highs leading Nifty to stage a recovery once again. 17,000 was captured immediately and then 18,000 also was obtained again within less than a month and half finally paving the way to fresh highs registered on 29th May 2023 with the previous high of 1st Dec 2022 being taken out. Within a month on 28th June came the coveted figure of 19,000 for the first time and very soon on 11th Sep came the monumental mount everest milestone of 20,000. Just shy of 3 months occurred the new landmark of 21,000 on 8th Dec. Nifty marched along to reach a fresh new high of 21,801.45 towards the end of the year. Thus it could be said that 2023 was a year in which the start floundered but the end resulted in a flourish.

2024:
The Nifty began 2024 on a high note reaching the rippling summit of 22,000 on 15th Jan. This was followed by another cherished record of 23,000 hit on 24th May. 3rd Jun saw Nifty reach a peak of 23,338.70 on the back of exit polls giving a unanimous verdict towards BJP winning the Lok Sabha elections with overwhelming majority. The next day 4th Jun witnessed a rout of epic proportions as the actual results didn't meet the pollsters expectation with the Nifty tonking towards a low of 21,281.45 resulting in a cut of 2057.25 points from earlier day high leading to a cut of 9% on a single session which was the biggest ever since the Corona fiasco in March 2020. The Nifty recovered quite a few points on the same day and did a torpedo run regaining all it's lost points and surpassing itself to a new high in less than a week on 10th Jun. The fall and rise which happened so spectacularly swiftly was truly unprecedented. Very soon in the same month came the new landmark of 24,000 on 27th Jun. This did not stop as Nifty had more legs to run with 25,000 being scaled on 1st Aug. There was a small top out here with Nifty falling over 1000 points breaking even 24,000 due to news of unwinding of Yen carry trade in Japan along with recently announced weak US jobs and inflation data. This was however really shortlived as Nifty again continued on it's upsurge after the low of 23,893.70 on 5th Aug. The momentum didn't seem to suppress as another breakthrough of 26,000 was conquered on 24th Sep. Nifty ended up with a personal new best of 26,277.35 on the 27th of Sep. Nifty bottomed out after this with the last quarter being very weak starting with a heavy fall in Oct largely on the back of not up to the mark earnings by major corporates coupled with a huge spree of selling by Financial Institutional Investors (FIIs). There was a fall of almost 2000 points in Oct alone and Nifty eventually hit a low of 23,263.15 on 21st Nov cutting back over 3000 points from it's most recent high of 26,277.35 in Sep. Some recovery was seen in Dec with Nifty getting to 50% retracement levels from the lows but it was eventually sold into with Nifty not even able to reach back the mark of 25,000 let alone 26,000. Nifty finally ended the year well shy below the mark of 24,000 at 23,658.15 to be precise leading to close in the green on a year on year basis for the 9th straight year in a row since 2016.

Summarising briefly on all the 10% plus corrections in Nifty over last 5 years

March 2020 - Nifty hit a life time high of 12,430.50 on 20th Jan 2020 and then fell to a low of 7511.10 on 24th Mar leading to a cut of 4919.40 points taking into Bear Market territory by falling 39.58%. This was mainly due to the Covid pandemic spreading far and wide globally 

December 2021 - Nifty hit a life time high of 18,604.45 on 19th Oct 2021 and then fell to a low of 16,410.20 on 20th Dec leading to a cut of 2194.25 points putting it into correction territory by falling 11.79%. This was largely due to the double risk of re-occurrence of new Covid variant spread along with a spike in global inflation threatening economic recovery

March 2022 - After hitting a lifetime high of 18,604.45 on 19th Oct 2021, Nifty fell below 10% and recovered again beyond 18,000 reaching a recent near time high of 18,350.95 on 18th Jan but it couldn't sustain resulting in a pendulum like fall touching a low point of 15,671.45 on 8th Mar leading to a cut of 2933.00 points putting it back into correction territory by falling 15.77%. This was largely due to the escalation of the Russia Ukraine war.

June 2022 - Nifty again recovered sharply after the deep fall in March reclaiming the 18,000 mark once again hitting a near term top of 18,114.65 on 4th April on the day when the news of the merger between HDFC & HDFC Bank broke out. However it again failed to take back it's previous high and this time fell even more severely to levels of 15,183.40 witnessed on 17th June from the last all time high of 18,604.45 on 19th Oct 2021 leading to a cut from recent highs of 3421.05 putting it almost close to Bear market territory by falling 18.39% from last all time high. This was due to US Fed hiking rates.

March 2023 - After ending 2022 on a high with a new lifetime high touched on 1st Dec 2022 of 18,887.60, the markets again started going downhill in 2023 with a low reached of 16,828.35 on 20th Mar 2023 leading to a cut of 2059.25 points putting it back into correction zone by falling 10.90%. This was largely due to domestic retail inflation going beyond the threshold levels.

November 2024 - After the very recent high of 26,277.35 made on 27th Sep 2024, Nifty started colliding downwards with an extremely weak October month which continued onto November leading to a plummet towards levels of 23,263.15 thus falling by over 3000 points with 3014.20 points being exact making it go back to correction territory in a small time frame of less than 2 months by falling 11.47%. This was largely due to sluggish corporate earnings in addition to record selling by FIIs.

Thus, if one looks at it from a panoramic view, markets undergoes shifts resulting in turbulence of all kinds. Markets can move due to multiple reasons such as Health (Covid 19 pandemic, Second Wave etc), War (Russia vs Ukraine, Iraq war etc), Economy (Interest rate, Inflation, Currency Exchange, Dollar Index etc), Politics (Election results, Policy changes etc), Finance (Corporate Earnings, Company Performance etc), Data (Jobs, Taxes, Unemployment etc), News (Breaking news of Deals/Merger, Scandals & Fraud accusations such as Hindenburg on Adani etc), Competition (Other Avenues like Bitcoin/Commodities, New player in the market making inroads etc), Technology (Newer innovations like Artificial Intelligence, Measures to increase scale/production etc), International (Global Headwinds, Other Markets Cascading effect etc).

Looking at the outlook ahead for Nifty, viewing past data is a reasonable indicator. Many of the events which occurred in the last 5 years were unexpected and uncertain but still Nifty was able to hold it's head high and wade through troubled waters. The upcoming years also may spring plenty of negative surprises for which one has to factor in and be prepared for. One thing for certain is that as long as the world continues to be unpredictable, the markets will replicate the same and lead to corrections time and again in the years to come as well. But, having said that if the economy is able to sustain and grow despite whatever comes it's way and if that's also resonated with robust company earnings and clocking of good performances, one can be rest assured that markets will continue to soar and reach new heights in the years to come. Having seen a swing of close to 20,000 points from the low and high points across the period of 5 years from 2020-2024, anything is possible but on a reasonable estimate, one can expect Nifty to cross the milestone of 30,000 and the Grand Old Index Sensex to touch the 6 figure mark of 100,000 in the next 2-3 years. Without further ado, the golden rule and motto of staying invested holds good with patience eventually bearing fruit and reaping reward in the long run.

Sharing a small synopsis of year on year Nifty trend in addition to overall performance across 5 years.

Thus, if one looks at it, the year on year return for 2021 has been the most productive and the High to Low swing has been most predominant in the year 2020 when Nifty closed to doubled itself after the Covid crisis. From the beginning of 2020 to end of 2024, the Nifty has delivered a whopping return of almost 95% and from the stark lows to the euphoric highs, the returns have been approx 2.5x. Thus, if one probably invested during the Covid lows of Mar'20 and exited in Sep'24 which is a period of 4 and half years, the results suggest a staggering 250%. This table also illustrates that 'Time' is key when entering markets. It's never easy to time the market but if one had the belief to enter and stay invested, the returns that could have been made would be nothing short of astronomical even at an Index level.