Narrator:

Welcome to Bombay, a trading post for centuries, gateway to India and one of the jewels of the British Raj. No stranger to commerce and trade, it's a city that whole-heartedly embraces the new capitalism. A city where even the billboards urge punters to invest. Nowhere is the frenzied energy of Bombay business shown more than here at the stock exchange. Brokers pray for luck just to survive as the enter the human maelstrom of the trading floor, now the busiest in the world.

This is sheer trading as it used to be where brokers are elevated to the status of cult heroes and regulations spurned. For two hours every day, broker [inaudible 00:01:38] is crammed onto the trading floor.

Tell us what are all the hand signals? What are they for?

Broker #1:

That means we are buying at 85 and we are selling at 87 1/2. Two way code.

Narrator:

What's it like at the moment out there on the floor? It must be tough. You're getting pushed and shoved. Does it get violent at times?

Broker #1:

Yes, many times when there are very volatile strips, it does go beyond just pushing and prodding. It goes to deep shouting and even fights, hand fights sometimes takes place, but that's all part of the game. It's all part of the game and people do enjoy it at the end of the day.

Narrator:

Is it fun?

Broker #1:

It's very much fun, I must tell you.

Narrator:

Believe it to not, today's a quiet day on the exchange. Bombay only trades for two hours every day. That's all the traders can take at this frenzy, and it's not unusual for the brokers to emerge from the floor with ripped shirts or even bleeding from wounds sustained in the milieu. It's as if every new share issued is an incitement to violence.

But with all those shares, the highest number of transactions in the world per day, this sort of enthusiasm, this pushing and shoving, do you think it ever gets out of control here?

Broker #2:

At times, maybe. At times, because you know when everybody is a buyer, right? Everybody likes to grab hold of a [inaudible 00:03:10] or a market maker and say, give me your shares. Right? When the jobber wants to run away, catch all of them and say , take some.

Narrator:

The brokers still occasionally take time out. The stock exchange broker can just about take anything. A year ago, eight bombs exploded in Bombay killing 350 and injuring 1,000 more, the result of religious violence. One of the bombs exploded at the exchange, but even that could not stop the brokers. The very next working day, the exchange was open for trading as normal.

It's not just the brokers and high flying financiers though who make this place tick.

Pedestrian:

Market is always going. It's going way up. Very high.

Narrator:

Indians rich and poor are mad about the share market.

Do you think you'll make a lot of money?

Man in market:

Ah, yes. I think they'll double whatever they will list. They will at least double their ordinary issue prices.

Speaker 6:

They're earning. That's why you can see there's a big rush. Heavy rush. They are standing in the sunshine because they're earning. That's why they are standing.

Narrator:

It's actually a miracle that anyone gets anywhere near the exchange on Dalal Street, India's equivalent of Wall Street. The blocks around every available space is taken over by scriptwalkers. Walkers giving out application forms for new share issues.

It's a sort of pavement capitalism as Indians do their darndest to cash in on the action. At a a stall like this there are over 50 share issues on offer bearing names like Vesuvius Investments, Okay Play India and Phone X. But the market is so active that most share issues are oversubscribed. In the end, only a few punters actually get their hands on the shares.

Which are the hottest shares do you think at the moment?

Speaker 7:

Toady's [inaudible 00:05:12].

Narrator:

This is a hot tip.

Speaker 7:

This is a hot tip. [inaudible 00:05:15]. He's the owner of the Hidalgo. He is the blue chip of the stock exchange.

Narrator:

So this is a blue chip shares, so how quickly could I get my money back if I invested in this?

Speaker 7:

You will get double money in three months.

Narrator:

Double the money within three months?

Speaker 7:

If you are awarded the sale.

Narrator:

Even when you've got a prospectus, your battle to get in on the action is not over. The queue at the bank to register your share application snakes around the block several times. Back at the stock exchange, there's a half hour wait just to get into the lifts.

It's not capitalism out of control?

Broker #2:

No, not yet. Not yet. It is a true capitalism I would say rather.

Narrator:

Why that? Why do you say that?

Broker #2:

Because you can imagine per month we are getting about 70 additional listings. That means about a little over three companies per day. And that's the growth. So there is a true capitalism, isn't it?

Narrator:

But by 2:00 it's all over. The brokers retreat to their offices to process the paperwork that their frenzied activity has just produced and the ring is prepared for yet another day's trading on the world's busiest and maddest stock exchange.