New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- It's been raining red in the stock market of late. Geopolitical uncertainties, Trump's tariffs, foreign investors selling, DeepSeek... the list of culprits is long.

But this correction was a long time coming. The valuations of most small caps and mid caps made little sense, and were high enough to make a true-blue value investor consider retirement.

So here we are.

The Sensex is down 12% from its 52-week high.

The small cap indices are officially in a bear market, having dropped 20% or more. The BSE Smallcap Index, for instance,is down 22% from its peak in December.

A celebrated fund manager recently advised caution even for SIPs in small caps and mid caps, unless you keep at it for two decades. He reportedly sa...