New Delhi, June 18 -- India has democratized access to markets faster than almost any country in history. What it has not done yet is teach people what to do once they are inside. The result is a generation that has learned to trade with remarkable ease and to invest with surprising difficulty.

The scale of change is hard to overstate. India now has more than 210 million demat accounts, up from 40 million at the start of 2020. SIP contributions have crossed Rs.30,000 crore a month across nearly 100 million accounts.

This is no longer a metro phenomenon. Most new investors are coming from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, with a significant share under the age of 30.

A decade ago, opening an account meant paperwork, brokers and days of waiting....