Y DO WE UNDER-RATE OURSELVES ??

Recently, CEO of Tejas Networks (by now, quite a successful Indian startup in the field of optical networking), Mr Sanjay Nayak was in ST to give a keynote address on entrepreneurship during ST's recently concluded Techweek-2011. Apart from the speech of a typical entrepreneur (that talks abt self-motivation, risk taking capability, passion etc), he spoke abt the changing status of Indian Centers of MNCs i.e Indian Development Centers are no longer just "low cost centers" (as we hv been made to believe till now), but now, they are second to none when it comes to doing "quality R&D work". Essentially, it is not only dollar based R&D but also value based R&D that Indian centers are turning into.

Surely, this post has got nothing to do with whether or not Corporate or Shining India represents an inclusive growth for the entire country, the topic is beyond even my wildest imaginations while writing this article, however, this article is more abt us having a very low opinion of ourselves and a sense of pessimism when it comes to our abilities, and this is especially true of Indian centers of MNCs. This was also reflected in one of the questions that was asked of Mr Nayak after his inspiring talk: "Indians hv a mentality to compromise on something or the other and thus not deliver a perfect solution (even when they can), how did Tejas overcome that?" I believe that perhaps the best (a bit harsh though, i agree but nevertheless THE BEST) answer to that would be: People seem not to realize that their opinion of their surroundings is also a confession of their character. Also, one of the statements I heard from HR of the current company is: "Indian engineers have a big attitude problem. A 50 yr engg abroad wouldnt mind trying his hand at coding, but not so in India."

Surely, I hv no intent of comparing engineering talents of India and abroad; I would personally avoid ne comparsions b/w 2 individuals (as a recent gtalk status of one of my friends very aptly suggests: Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid). Also, I believe that perfection can only be achieved when one moves beyond all comparisons. However, all I feel is this: its high time we shun away such negative thoughts and pessimistic ideas, remembering the famous quote of Swami Vivekananda: "Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject as poison; there is no life in it; it cannot be true".

SOFT POWER OF INDIA

I recently saw one video of Shashi Tharror on ted.com where he talks abt the need of having soft power by nations. And this certainly is one of the best presentations i hv seen in recent times (apart from may be, the power of sixth sense, also available on ted.com). Basically, he refers to "soft power" as the capability to influence other nations independent of the "hard power" i.e. military strength, population or the economic growth or other such parameters. Certainly, hard power is not a field that India lacks (we hv 4th largest army in the world and r still growing @ a decent (if not gr8) pace, when the world has just witnessed one of the worst financial crisis since Great Depression), but soft power is something that India has championed over the last thousands of years. Thats y, the famous comment by Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USA: "India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border." Thats the extent of our soft power!! The hard power can certainly be attributed to the Govt and its initiatives; however soft power is something that can only be attributed to people.
The past several decades hv seen a tremendous change in the attitude of the World towards India. The drastic change in impression from a land of snake charmers and fakirs sleeping on nails to a land of computer gurus, business tycoons, and IT giants is certainly not possible with just hard power. Its not easy for the technical and higher educational institutes of a country, that was once thought to be a land of superstitions, to be rated equally to the topmost scientific universities of the world, all within a matter of a few decades, if not years. The last general elections in India was a very unique illustration in itself: a woman of Italian origin giving way to a Sikh PM, who was sworn in by a Muslim President (Dr APJ Abdul Kalam) in a country that's almost 80% Hindu; and this was not a demonstration to the world, it was just India being itself (Mr Tharoor rightly points it out in his talk).
Though some might feel that it's more of a glorified version of an "India Shining" initiative by the Govt of India, (as is obvious from the comments to that presentation); however I don't think this can be totally subscribed to. The problems being faced by the country are immense and gigantic, (and no one can deny that...there are many 'isms' to deal with), but amidst all that, does lie some "power" (call it soft or nething), due to which India is still moving ahead. We might talk of innumerable (and almost never-ceasing) differences in India; but one thing that India has proven is the fact that for a truly diverse society to not disintegrate (unity etc comes only later; and there were "learned scholars" who predicted that India would disintegrate in 1950s or 60s owing to such differences), it (i.e. the society) need not agree on all points; all that is needed is that we agree on the most fundamental principle i.e. how to disagree; how to survive without consensus .. we still hv to overcome many obstacles (a country can't be both a superpower and a superpoor simultaneously !!), however, the fact that as diverse a country as India, and with a multi party democratic set up, is still existing and developing is no less a miracle !! ..

P.S. I personally dont think this post is a contradiction to any of my previous posts especially this one ...

SHAME ON INDIAN MEDIA OR SHAME ON THEIR AUDIENCES ???

I got a mail a few days back abt how, in Nov 2006, media completely neglected the ultimate sacrifice of Major Manish Pitambre - who became a martyr in an Anantnag (Kashmir) encounter with Suhail Afzal, divisional commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, who topped the list of most wanted terrorists at that time - while highlighting (or rather celebrating) the release of Sanjay Dutt in the TADA case where he was found guilty of possession of armoury. (The entire mail could be found on the following blog: http://satyameva-jayate.org/2006/12/09/munnabhai-vs-manish-pitambare/; plz go thru it atleast once if u hvn't already read it). The incident mail referred to was long back (it occured in Nov 2006) but i forwarded it to many in my contact list and even had some kind of discussion on it ... The subject of the mail was "SHAME ON INDIAN MEDIA"; however after having the discussion, I m not sure is it the fault of Indian media or is it WE, the people, who shud be blamed ...
i mean, lets accept the fact that media has become a business today and it shows what it's able to sell...what else can u expect when we hv so many 24X7 News Channels running, all claiming to be "India's No 1" or "Sabse Tez" etc ... there is indeed a lot of fight amongst them for the so called "loyal" audience ... and in such a scenario, they just can't show news which doesn't sell ...
and isn't it true that the "loyal' audiences of media would rather listen to some news on Indian cricket eg, who hit how many sixes in a match b/w India and XYZ or some b'wood gossip rather than read abt the hardships which our army officers and jawans face almost daily ? after all, what effect does it hv on us if chinese armies incur into our territories and loot the bordering villages, or an Indian technology is being patented by some foreigner, and other such issues ?? these are meant only for some half-an-hour discussion on some national news channel, isn't it ?? and how many of us would prefer a magazine that mentions the gallantry award recipients of the country, and the heroic deeds for which they got it, to some bollywood masala magazine which details out when and where a 'couple' were last seen together ??

Time for SACH KA SAAMNA (with yourself, ofcourse) , r v ready ???

INDIA'S BIGGEST EVER SEARCH ??

Billed as "India's Biggest ever search" with 5000 jawans, an ISRO remote sensing aircraft, a Sukhoi, 14 search & rescue choppers, the forest department police, paramilitary forces & Chenchu tribal guides mobilized within 3 hours of late Mr. YSR, the ex CM of AP, going missing...being the CM of a state, he prob deserved all that (and i m not being sarcastic here) ... but then, did Mumbai not deserve a better response during those dreaded 60 hrs @ the time of 26/11 attack ?? y is it that we have to follow so many protocols even in situations of national crisis like Mumbai attack and not when something happens to a VVIP ?? couldn't NSG have got the clearance it needed faster and thus reached mumbai b4 those crucial 19 hrs when everything in case of Mr YSR was done within 3 hrs of him gng missing?? i m not against him given such a treatment; but yes, if the govt could do this much for a missing CM, surely it could have done much more for the worst terror attack on the financial capital of the country...

HINDI CHINI BYE BYE

i m writing this post after listening to a debate abt "Chinese incursions in India" on CNN-IBN where diplomat Mr. G Parthasarthi, CPI(M) leader Nilotpal Basu and Defence Analyst and Rear Admiral (retd) Raja Menon, were invited....well, its really sad to hear the views of CPI(M) member abt this latest buzz...just like Mr. Tony Blair was referred to as American Foreign Minister during Iraq war, similarly these communists are proving themselves to be nothing but sycophants of Communist China...on the issue of the article, published on the website of China International Institute for Strategic Studies (CIISS) (it's an influential think tank that advices Beijing on global and strategic issues), wherein a chinese strategist Zhan Lue urges Beijing to take some action to "break down India into 20-30 independent states with the help of friendly countries like Pakistan, Bhutan, etc and to support military outfits like ULFA etc", CPI(M) member suggested it to be the work of some maniac and completely rules out any threat to Indian security and integrity @ chinese hands (i dont know how cn a maniac publish an article on the site of CIISS; when even a comment that u post on some news article in TOI website is reviewed by the editor b4 it is published)....
on the contrary, according to Mr Parthasarthi, China is a country that would respect us only when we show it our hard power i.e. not just militarily but economically ("show them growth rate of 10% for next 10 consecutive years" is what he said) as well...chinese know abt our soft power (i.e. our educational institutes, English speaking population, and a democratic setup) and they acknowledge it as well.. but that is not enough as without our hard military power, we just dont matter to them... we prob believe that force and such extreme measures shud be used only when all diplomatic measures and negotiations have failed; however chinese hv time and again proven that using force is a part of their negotiation efforts...

i agree that China is our neighbour and there are issues where India and China can (and should) co-opearte for the betterment of both and also the region; but gone are the days when "HINDI CHINI BHAI BHAI" was the slogan ... we have already experienced the bitter truth in 1962 war when China occupied Indian terrirtory; and as if that were not enough, we have had China opposing a ban on LeT in UN (God knows y ?), making life difficult for India during Nuclear Deal with US; and laying claims to Arunachal Pradesh....besides, its support to Pakistan, both politically and militarily, is well known....now, the time has come to realize that India-China hv to move forward, but not with one (read China) dictating its terms and conditions to other...so, lets not repeat the mistake that our first PM Mr. Nehru did: pretending a problem does not exist when actually, it does...

the entire discussion, and especially the views of Shri Parthsarthi and Mr Menon, reminded me of a Hindi poem, शक्ति और क्षमा, that i read some time back...following is an excerpt from it:


क्षमा शोभती उस भुजंग को
जिसके पास गरल हो
उसको क्या जो दंतहीन
विषरहित, विनीत, सरल हो ।
.
.

सच पूछो , तो शर में ही
बसती है दीप्ति विनय की
सन्धि-वचन संपूज्य उसी का
जिसमें शक्ति विजय की ।

सहनशीलता, क्षमा, दया को
तभी पूजता जग है
बल का दर्प चमकता उसके
पीछे जब जगमग है।



P.S. The entire debate can be found at:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ftn-china-a-bigger-threat-than-pakistan-for-india/100882-3-p0.html