Friday, August 14, 2009

Reflections on "A Better India,a Better World" - I

I have been reading this fabulous book by Narayana Murthy for the last few days and it's caught enough of my fancy to get me to park my butt on a chair and dissect and analyse it.The book has been divided into ten sections,each dealing with different though frequently overlapping themes.Each section contains a number of lectures broadly pertaining to the sectional theme.I intend to write a multi-part series on the book and this post shall deal with the issues and ideas espoused in the first two sections.

In this book,Murthy deals with the different aspects that one needs to focus on to ensure a better life for each and every Indian citizen and by extension any global citizen.According to Murthy,the key to eradication of poverty lies in the use of entrepreneurship to create jobs on a large scale.Once a believer in communist and socialist ideas,he describes the one incident of his life in 1974 that convinced him of the philosophy he holds dear to his heart.The horrendous treatment meted out to him by guards in the red bastion of Bulgaria(which incidentally,is the only remaining Communist European country even today) merely on suspicion of his critical attitude towards the government purged all affinities for the Left from his mind and made him a proponent of compassionate capitalism.The only thing ironically,that saved him from being thrown into prison for life was the fact that he "belonged to a friendly country called India"(in the 1970s India was still largely socialist).

Murthy emphasizes the need for constant introspection and learning from experience in order to be able to realize one's full potential.The perception that ability is inherent and not developed "leads people to plateau early in life" and become complacent.While he concedes that chance events play a critical role in shaping an individual's career and life,it's only when people know how to seize an opportunity with both hands that they can get best out of fortuitous events.What helps in making this judgement is ultimately experience gained from toiling hard.

While Murthy feels pride in the accomplishments of Indians in various fields,he cautions against arrogance.He asks the reader to dwell upon why India still lags far behind despite having at its disposal all the necessary ingredients for breakneck economic progress-natural and human resources,technology and talent.According to him these factors rank below the spirit of hardwork and honesty,a strong,able and dependable leadership and the elimination of an elitist mindset amongst the powers that-be.To prove his point he gives the excellent examples of Japan and Switzerland which are deprived of ample natural resources.Also the fact that Japan and Germany bounced back from ruin after the second world war in such a short span of time only seeks to reinforce this convicton.

Murthy sharply criticizes the self-righteous attitude of Indians who refuse to learn and adopt the good aspects of other cultures and countries and are a society of people contemptuous of better societies even with our own meagre progress.We continue to dwell in the glory of the past,endlessly boasting about what we gave the world,without feeling the need to continue doing so in the present.Without the humility of showing the willingless to learn from people more advanced than ourselves,we put ourselves in danger of fading into oblivion.We continue to try rationalizing our failures and shirking responsibility.Accountability is as anathema to us as criticism is to China.The more you rise in the hierarchy the less accountable you become.No project gets completed on time,costs keep spiralling multi-fold and the final product is almost always sub-standard or outdated by the time it's ready.To give a fresh and glowing example,the ATV(nuclear submarine)Project that was envisioned and commissioned in the 70's finally delivered its first baby after decades of labor just the last month.And to add insult to injury,it wasn't even Indian technology that achieved it-as tom-tommed by the Prime Minister on the day of launch.The central problem had always been that of miniaturising the nuclear reactor to make it work for a submarine and after two and a half decades of futile efforts,we took help of Russian designs and engineers to achieve it.That the Prime Minister had the arrogance to make such a statement in presence of 130 Russian engineers present at the launch speaks volumes of our incompetence and the proclivity to hide it.Also,the less said about the development of the indigenous figher aircraft Tejas,the better.Defence bungles merit a separate post in themselves(this one I sincerely intend to write very soon!)

Public sector institutions and jobs of those working in them in India are held more sacrosanct than the millions of consumers they are expected to serve.Unreasonable pampering to the extent of eliminating competition from the private sector through direct or indirect means kills entrepreneurial spirit and breeds complacency in these institutions.As it is,India is one of the lowest ranked countries in the ease of doing business where it takes 3 months to get all the necessary clearances to start a business even after you grease the palms of babus at every level.And if you would like to shut down a business,god help you!It takes an average of 10 years to do so,thanks to our archaic bankruptcy and labour laws.Any hint of a labour sector reforms brings together unions cutting across party lines to protest vehemently in one voice,as was recently seen after the presentation of the Union Budget.

The Indians hardly ever give back to society.Individual interests always dominate community interests and result in creation of abysmal public amenities and community spaces.Scant respect and apathy for what doesn't belong to self results in dirty roads,parks and public toilets,piles of garbage and distasteful graffiti on walls of monuments and public facilities.The responsibility for creation and maintenance of public spaces is deemed solely to be that of the government's.Everybody in India wants to be a thinker and not a doer,(that's hypocrisy for me,for even I belong to the same breed I guess :P)preferring to articulate than implement.We conduct innumerable studies,create a plethora of committees and write endless reports-all resulting in zilch at the ground level.

The only way out of our self-inflicted misery,according to Murthy,is discipline-both in thought and action.Discipline in thought pertains to taking decisions in a strictly objective manner,keeping focus on growth and collective good rather than sycophany.The nature of politics in India is such that it is in the interest of the politicians of all hues to keep their vote-banks happy than focus on growth.A society divided on caste,ethnic and religious lines dampens the spirit of even an honest politician or bureaucrat thereby perpetuating misery and backwardness. Discipline in action pertains to commitment towards meeting deadlines and not indulging in corrupt practices.Corruption results in inflated costs,selection of incompetant contractors and below par final products.We get sub-standard roads,ill-built schools,absent and unqualified teachers and low-quality food stuff.These in turn worsen inequality in an already unequal society,result in dissatisied individuals and social unrest in the long run.The Bandra-Worli Sea Link took years to complete whereas in China six such bridges were commissioned at the same time and were up and functioning before this one saw the light of day.Now we discover that it's of limited use to citizens for various practical reasons thanks to short-sightedness of our esteemed policy makers.Nevertheless,all that political parties can think of fighting about at the moment is the name of the bridge.

What makes a great nation is not the availability of resources but the way it chooses to utilize them.Clarity of purpose and razor sharp focus on implementation are the two indispensable elements if we are to realize our destiny and earn respect.These come only from a disciplined and honest approach towards the task.We may either take the nation to dazzling heights of glory by making sacrifices for the greater good or let it sink into abyss for small,selfish interests borne out of narcissistic mindsets.The choice is ours.