Its what they are all talking about - India and China taking over the world. And it isn't China that adds the spice in these heated discussions, its the dark horse Homeland I belong to. Not many saw it coming. The land of spicy chicken tikka and lamb vindaloo, of beggars, of the Taj Mahal, of cheap software engineers (read job robbers) - which is how the average westerner sees India - was never one slated to make the big splashes. I've been seeing this all around me during my stay here in StrangeLand. My high point was actually when the cop that gave me a speeding ticket, not in the kindest words suggested - "So, you are from India, huh? I hear you are taking over the world economy". The unsaid words there of course were - "Getting rich by taking our jobs, huh? You wouldn't mind paying this ticket here, I'd imagine."
Why the hoopla?
The "India Shining" campaign was kicked off toward the end of 2003, when the incumbent political party decided to shine its shoes by showing how the country is shining. They pulled out all kind of statistics to show the progress the country had made during their rule. Sadly for them, the Indian electorate was smart enough to realise that the actual wheels had been put in motion before the government even came to power, by the outgoing party. Guess who won then?
Well, the economy hasn't let up its 8% annual growth, and the media, which plays such a major role in stirring things up, hasn't let up either. Just to give an example, visit the Rediff web portal. You will find a brand new news item or article by an "expert" either highlighting India's growth or comparing it to China. One day "We are 20 years behind China", and the next, "India and China economies will control the world market in 15 years". It just doesn't let up. The media quotes Forex reserves, GDP growth, the rising number of shopping malls and cellphone users, whatever it takes to make a mountain. And the whole world is hooked.
What's the hype and what's the truth?
The truth is, a country of India's size and rich heritage could never have been stopped. It was always an economy waiting to explode. And I believe it still is. We are getting excited at the first openings of a blossom. The question really is whether this bud will blossom or fade out like one of those overnight blooms. And right now either is equally possible.
Ok, so we have 140 billion dollars of forex reserves. But, aren't we forgetting the massive trade deficit we still have? Its definitely eclipsing this forex reserve figure. We are still primarily an importing economy.
IT rocks..We rule the software world. My brother has already written an interesting post on this fad. Yes, we absorb the largest chunk of all out-sourced software work. But, does it map to the revenue we make? Outsourcing as a business concept, in my view, will never cease. But, does it in anyway ensure we build a foundation to keep us going even when people decide to move to other havens of outsourcing? And to all those that think Indians are superior in intelligence, and smarter at work ethics and skills, well I have just one thing to say - God meant for all humans to be equal. Until we breed enterpreneurs out of our young software engineers, we will be slaves to others, and that takes us nowhere.
Shopping malls, multiplexes, branded clothes, faster cars - signs of prosperity, yes. But, by what scale? The Western scale again, isn't it? I wonder when this 'White man is superior' mental-block will be erased from our psyche, when we will stop embracing all things western as good. It is the west that must embrace our ethics. After all we are the ones with thousands of years of well-scuplted culture and heritage, whereas the western ideas are just flashes of brilliance, destined to fade out like our diwali fire-crackers. Instead, we are going out of our way, the other way.
My silver lining
When I see companies like TATA motors sealing bus production deals for South Africa, making their mark in the Eastern Eurpoean market, and looking for newer economies to venture into, I feel proud. When I see ONGC competing for oil fields in Nigeria with the big guns from the west, I feel excited. When I see so many more of our farmers getting access to advanced technologies to improve agricultural output, I feel happy to eat that extra roti! There are such stories all around us. Indian pharma companies using their low manufacturing cost, but equally good research background, to win contracts to make cheaper AIDS medicines, also comes to mind. But, they have all been overshadowed by the media hype surrounding the outsourcing industry.
Did you know that investors from the west shy away from venturing into Indian IT start-ups cos they require such a low investment, which in turn means lower returns? Where is the Indian investor in such times? Out of 10 enterpreneurs we conjure up, 1 ever manages to get funding, and mostly not to the extent she would want. 5 will lose hope immediately at the lack of excitement from investors. The remaining 4 will fight a losing battle and try putting in their savings and hope for the best. It's a sad story, where the typical Indian mentality of not taking risks, also shields them from all the good projects some enterpreneurs come up with. Any wonder then that all our best enterprenuers are in the Silicon Valley? And most of those here are into slave-work, the stable business - no matter how demeaning it is. Before you accuse me, you should know that I am in the same industry too.
Wrap up now, please!
India is a work of art in progress, poetry in the making, but we aren't firmly established to make it. To truly rule the world, we ought to ensure we can sell to the world first. We just keep buying. We ought to advance our technological base and our intellectual property a lot further to ensure we don't feed off foreign technology, and for this to happen, jobs like those of ISRO and BARC have to be atleast more appealing than the jobs at Infosys and Wipro. I could list a lot more, but these are good places to start. Everything else frankly seems to be pretty much in shape.
Yeah, and ensure we don't run outta gas, literally, in our push for industrial superiority. I cannot stress enough that India will have to take the lead in moving toward alternate energy resources, and not wait for the rest to take the first step. And stop bragging! To the west, we are coming dudes, just wait. And to all of us Indians, it's gonna be a heck of a ride, so hang on!
7 comments:
I was going to write a post on the same topic...
Everyday you read in newspapers about Indian firms, taking over big industries around the world, and doing mega-mergers and stuff. It makes a "wow" expression on the face. The ride has begun.
Though our economy is progressing, care must be taken that even the last man should get some benefit from it. Otherwise, rich will become richer and poor will become poorer. We still have children dying due to malnutrition hardly 200 kms away from our economic capital.
Other thing is we still lack in education sector. I read somewhere, that out of 100 first standard students in S. Korea, 77 will continue till graduation. For India, that number was in single digit.
Parag : Software geek! You are supposed to comment on the IT industry too..You have softened up too much.
Nandan : I totally agree that we mustn't let the gap between rich and poor expand. But, frankly, the government always tries to implement policies for poor, as it drives their politics and earns them votes - all they lack is adequate resources, and this boom should definitely ensure that. As for comparing with tiny countries like Korea, I would rather refrain. India's success will stem not from percentages, but from sheer numbers, which begins right at the top with the massive population. In the long run, the percentages will have to grow to keep things moving ahead, but right now, its simply the numbers - no. of engineers, no. of scientists, no. of new jobs...
Excellent post!! Interesting points on IT sector. I remember getting a mail from you which talked about a quote from Infosys mentor Narayan Murthy "To make a software product, with first conceptualising an idea, then gathering funds for it and then marketing it is just not possible in India". That comes from a company which earns Billions of Dollars and has a staff strength of more than 50,000.
It took about 400 years for India to break away from slavery when the English were ruling us. If we can learn things from History, then this time I hope it doesnt last more than 40 years.
But that doesn't change the fact on why you were stopped :). Read - Cruising at 80.
Whatever the cop said was after you were stopped. I don't agree with what the cop said, but that is part racism that even exists today.
Sudhu : 50,000? Its not that big please! Companies like Intel have that many employees. But, the point's taken. If you ask Infosys though, they'd say they have an R&D division which seeks to develop products. But, Im circumspect.
AA : I'm sure he didn't pull me up cos Im Indian. But, he kinda made full use of his position and made remarks he's not supposed to. Anyway, my point was about the impact this kinda media hype has had even in the US. And to reaffirm, I WAS NOT DRIVING THAT FAST. Atleast not when he pulled me over :-).
India is shining! Thats true and most of the limelight is hogged by IT industry.. True, the growth of this industry is remarkable.. But there are lot of other success stories like pharama, automobiles and other manufacturing companies like moser baer ... which are doing very good!!
The sensex toped 10000 yesterday! It would be interesting to get the industry breakup of this.
Internet seems to be paratial to IT industry due to the very nature of industry. Software Engineers are the biggest chunk of people who publish stuff in internet, or so i guess!
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