India’s Strength; India’s Weakness
Posted : September 26, 2005 at 6:11 am [IST]
The two excerpts from two persons of repute picturizes what India’s strength is and where are we weak.
SUDHEENDRA KULKARNI wrote in ‘India Express’ on Sunday, September 25, 2005
” One of the greatest changes I saw during my six years in government was the rising level of ambition in a section of our businessmen. Benchmarking with the global best is no longer a mere aspiration for them, but an accomplishment. Here are a few startling facts that a friend of mine who works for a global consultancy firm in Mumbai told me recently. Today there are at least 35-40 Indian companies absolutely world-class, acquiring firms abroad with an air of self-assurance unthinkable a decade ago. When an Indian auto components company wanted to acquire an American firm and went there to carry out due diligence, it was pleasantly shocked to see that the Americans were years behind in design and manufacturing capabilities. In some areas of hi-tech manufacturing, India is today ahead of every country in the world except Japan, which is still a few notches higher.
A lot of Indians, especially well-educated young Indians who are empowered by economic reforms, are now dreaming even higher and raring to achieve even bigger successes. Many of them are first-generation entrepreneurs.”
And Subroto Bagchi (by subscription) gives what India lacks in ‘Business World’ What’s stopping India from being on top of the world? Health, infrastructure, politics, and terrorism, says Thomas Friedman. He agrees with what Friedman contend, but then he adds this note:
“This week, I met a young, Harvard-educated woman of Indian origin. She spends a lot of time travelling in China. She was in Bangalore, ruing that the Chinese are streets ahead of us in building infrastructure. Lately, I haven’t been flogging that dead horse anymore. But she also said something else that struck me: when she meets the average Chinese, she is amazed at the sense of pride in him. The average Chinese, she says, feels very proud and powerful. It is an unmistakable wave that is sweeping the nation. The Chinese are consumed with a sense of history like never before. If we were to be seized by something similar, we will first have to stop trivialising everything.”
How can Indians in the first category multiply in number, and how can the Indians of the second category are transformed into a positive force?
- Indra
Category: Religious/Social issues |
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