For those who had not seen the match but devoured all the media reports, the impression in their minds would have undoubtedly been conflicting. And this is exactly what investors feel when they read the mixed signals of the India growth story. On the one hand, we are fed the notion that the Indian economy has been struck with a bad case of whiplash and the future looks grim, at best. The opposing view doled out is that the country will once again take the growth path and reclaim its status as a vibrant economy.

Such uncertainty would naturally make investors squeamish, if not paranoid, about where to tuck their wealth. Which, in turn, forces a perverse reaction onto the market as investors take refuge in fixed return instruments, the most popular being term deposits.

In such ambiguity, ignore the noise for the moment and tackle plain numbers.

Let us assume that you invested in a term deposit five years ago. At the same time you started a started a systematic investment plan (SIP) in a mutual fund. What would have been the outcome today?