New Delhi, March 18 -- In the Hindi cinema of yore, villains were a very important part of the story. But they never had a backstory. No explanation was offered on why they became villains in the first place. If such an explanation had been offered, the movies of that era would have felt far more coherent and complete. While Hindi cinema got away with this lack of coherence, the stock market can't.

Villainy in today's stock market story has been ascribed to foreign institutional investors (FIIs) who have been selling Indian stocks lock, stock and barrel, having net sold shares worth Rs.2.4 trillion from October to 13 March.

In fact, we are now being told by those in the business of managing other people's money (OPM)-individuals who thr...