I was very active then. But not as a day trader or even in FnO. I was an investor then. I not only saw the crash in the stock market but also saw a great deal of pain in my job. I saw some of the biggest trading house of this world bite dust. Jobs lost, assets sold, commodity markets crash etc etc. I remember some of the cargoes i had personally sold went down the drain. Trading companies that had bought commodities from us had their LCs revoked by banks. Ships were willing to carry cargoes for free because they wanted to deliver the vessel to the buyer after selling their ship for peanuts. Hundreds of bulk carriers and oil tankers were laid up in singapore for want of cargo. The baltic index crashed from 13000 something to 600.
But in every crisis, there is an opportunity. Stocks were so cheap(only in hindsight) If one invested then in 2008, he/she would have been a millionaire. why anyone? If i had held on to some of the stocks I bought in 2008, I would have been a very wealthy(not rich) man today. Sab kismat ki baat hai par.
PS: I have been active in the market since 1997-98 as an investor. Began trading sometime in 2010(?). Full time trader since 2011.