Whither inflation

Inflation is arguably the most compelling paradigm to describe the origin of  perturbations in the early universe. The remarkable success of the inflationary paradigm can be attributed to its simplicity and efficiency. However, the efficacy of the inflationary scenario also seems to be responsible for an important drawback. Despite the strong constraints from Planck on primordial non-Gaussianities, a rather large set of models seems to remain consistent with the cosmological data, even as new sets of models continue to be proposed. I shall begin the talk with an introduction to inflation and the inflationary observables. Thereafter, I shall discuss the performance of a handful of inflationary models against the cosmological data. I shall also touch upon the status of the possibility of features in the primordial spectrum, an aspect which I have investigated in some detail. I shall conclude with remarks on where I believe the inflationary paradigm stands and comment briefly upon how alternatives to inflation (such as the bouncing models) have performed.