India's core competence is at its Bottom of the Pyramid

Lal Bahadur Shastri: Third prime minister of India
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 32nd president of USA

What is common between the two?

I will give you one more name for the answer. It's C.K. Prahalad. If you are still waiting for the answer, my dear reader, read on.

In 1965, then Prime Minister of India, Lal bahadur Shastri coined a slogan, "Jai Jawan, Jai Kishan" (Hail soldier, Hail farmer). He realised the essence of soldiers to protect the huge border of the country; and essence of farmers to abate the degree of food scarcity at that time. Also these were the biggest sectors to give employment of a country of 50 crore (at that time). It is well known that after the green revolution India became a food surplus country and Shastri was very instrumental in that. It was Shastri who understood the key strength of the country.

In 1932, then president of USA, Roosevelt said on radio, “These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power...that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.”

Our freedom fighters dreamt of an India with peace and prosperity. We could achieve neither of them even after 62 years of independence. Reaching that goal is an ongoing process and it is due in time.

It is a good time to retrospect what we did in last 62 years and to analyse whether we are on the correct path. In many sectors, we actually are. In some, we have to change our attitude. Here, it is necessary to talk about the fundamentals of Economics. Those who have read economics in some point of time in their life, they can recall there is a part called "Welfare Economics". The essence of the subject is to realize how wealth can be distributed amongst all the citizens of the country. In our country wealth is generated at the top of the pyramid and there is a constant 'artificial' effort to make it flow downwards. This 'artificial flow' faces a huge amount of resistance and a big percentage of it is lost in the process.

Now it is the time to have a paradigm shift in the thought process itself. We can't rely on some third party to make it moving. The essence has to come from itself. Third parties are there to provide process, tools and mechanisms but it is the beneficiaries who have to drive the movement. Microfinancial instruments will play an important role as outsiders but they can not provide a self sustainable solutions.

When I was a teenager, I dreamt of one-rupee-insurance. Why can't we plan and bring every individual of this country under health insurance. I know that insurance is a luxury to the people who don't have food for twice a day. But, believe me, it can be implemented. Take one rupee per month from the people who are in BPL and who can not afford to have medical insurance. Outsource the process to some organization and give the underprivileged coverage of Rs. 30,000 annually. If there is any expense above Rs. 30,000, government will bear that (it's government's liability). It translates to Rs. 3000 crores of premium which can reduce government's liability of that much and make asset in long run.


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"Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached"-- Vivekananda

In the year 1893, at the World Parliament of Religions Swami Vivekanada had called to the world "Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal"

As if the reverberations of his voice hit the shores of his motherland and the country started coming out of her deep slumber and lethargy. Born were the sons of freedom, the daughters of Shakti. The sons bathed the alter of Mother India with their life blood and the daughters with their silent tears.

In the sky of our national life, we saw the most spectacular aurora-borealis ever witnessesd in the history of civilization. Netaji Subhash Bose, shahid Khudiram, Rash Bihari Bosu, Chandra Sekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh................. the list goes on.

Sixty two years after our independence, we all sigh and ask why not one amongst us is capable of being Netaji or Bhagat Singh? What happened?

Since childhood I too had the same question and after asking it again and again to myself, I think I know the answer.

The aurora boreolis cannot be seen in the morning sky, hidden by the dazzling sun. Even though the phenomena is still taking place at all times, it is not always obvious. So are our nationalistic sentiments. Why do you feel a chill up your spine when you listen to "Khalbali hai Khalbali" in Rang de Basanti? or Why does your heart beat sings "Chak de, Chak de India", when Abhinav Bindra wins the Olympic gold medal? Why does a crowd gather infront of a tea stall to watch India take on Pakistan in a cricket match? Why does every run get cheered so much? What is the underlying sentiment? We all feel it, the nationalistic sentiment runs in the blood of each one of us.

Only they had a clear cut goal, an ideal of freedom which they united to workship. Our tasks ahead are equally gigantic but problems that face us are more diverse. We feel confused as to where we may start.

You see the ragpicker picking up the food u had thrown under your seat in the train compartment and you wish you could do something to help him. May be the person sitting beside you also feels the same way. But we are all sitting quitely and watching because we dont know what difference a lone soul can do on earth.

I go grocery shopping in the US and buy vegetables at more than ten times the price in the indian market. I wonder what difference it could make to the life of an indian farmer if we could figure out how to export our stuff to the US market. The US is flooded with chinese items...from pencil, eraser, bedsheets,lamps....and yet I dont find my country anywhere.

I wish youths with the right expertise step in and do to Indian manufacturing and exports what Narayan Murthy did to Indian IT.

May be the challenges that India faces in fulfilling her national aspirations and living upto her capbilities are far more complicated than that faced by any other country. But as President Kalam once put it :"If we aim for the stars, we are all the same."

The "Nano" Revolution

Ever since its conception, the Tata Nano has been the talk in the circles. When it was launched, it created ripples everywhere - starting from the automobile industry, to the 2-wheeler industry, to 2nd and 3rd tier suppliers.

It has piqued the interests of not only its target group - the low-middle to middle class, but also of the rich; the students, the working class as well as the "elites" of the road (The first woman photojournalist, the 96-year-old Homai Vyarawalla, has sold her 55-year-oldFiat 1100 to buy the world's cheapest car, Tata Nano.)

Incidentally, it also brought out a new kind of discrimination in the already discriminative Indian society - discrimination on the basis of ownership of car. Even though the automobile industry has grown manifolds in India, with several foreign firms playing on an equal ground with the domestic Maruti, Tata motors, M&M, which has led to an increase in ownership of cars; we still see them as status symbols deep within. No wonder then that there's a public opposition and baseless criticisms about the car in fourms and network groups, where people have openly criticised availability of cars to the masses.

Is it really a concern for traffic? Or just the fear of the disappearance of the solid line of distinction between the car owners and the "others"? After all drivers of 4-wheelers show the maximum cases of road rage while the poor scooter riders end up as victims in most of the accidents (and let's leave the bus drivers out. They're a whole class apart).

Love it or hate it, but the Nano is here. Ever since it's conception, it has been facing both admiration and criticism in equal amounts. And even when this baby is out in the market after facing many hurdles - the singur plant shutdown, the time crunch to bring it out in the market, and the unconventional production from 2 plants; it still has more challenges to face.

The biggest one being - will it meet customers' expectations? Given the reputation of its predecessors - Indica, Safari and Sumo, either its gonna be a success like the Indica or a failure like the Sumo Grande. But then these products are known to make a comeback. So we can only wait and watch.

Photo: Tata Nano has gained popularity with the masses. This is visible from the fact that a local chips company in Uttarakhand has named its latest offer after the revolutionary car. Incidentally, Uttarakhand became the birthplace of Tata Nano after the Singur pullout.

Free

Be gay. Be happy. The land is now free of the old colonial laws porohibiting homosexual behaviour.

Better late than never!

What really are advertisements? - Part I

A famous British writer, George Orwell once said 'Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket'. Advertising in its most traditional sense is a way of promoting a product, to make it known to people and to persuade them to buy it. It can also be used to promote a company’s image or spread a social message like aids-prevention etc.

The most important motive of an advertisement is to get the consumers' attention to promote the products’ sales. They are meant to inform and influence the consumers into buying the advertised goods or services. While these inform the consumers about the new product launched in the market, these also uphold a company’s ideology.

Some of the good things about advertisements are that these help the companies sell more products thus helping the company to produce better products at lower prices. Consumers are also benefited as they can compare products and prices and pick out the most appropriate one. As the companies spend a lot of money and other resources on advertisements, they often live up to the promises they make

There are also some negative aspects of advertisements. It often lures people to buy those things that he/she cannot afford. The lifestyles promoted by certain ads, like harmful cosmetics, junk food, artificially flavored drinks etc are known to make people specially children unhealthy. Besides these, advertisements make people feel like losers if they do not posses the particular thing. Most of the teenage girls would like to look as beautiful as a model or a film actress by using not so costly cosmetics and a boy if given a chance would not mind riding a bike endorsed by one of the most popular Hollywood actor. Ads can also be said to convey provide information that we do not really need in our daily lives. What these sell are images and symbols.

Tamashaa-e-Hind

[This is an old post, pre 2009 election that is. But still holds true.  Previously posted on this blog, it matches with the views held by the individuals who started this one, so it is being re-posted. 

Curious individuals can give it a read.]

Yes! The time has come. Again. Like clockwork, the great Indian plebiscite has come again to our doorsteps . And it’s time we, as responsible citizens who can vote, start finding out who to vote for. For if it was the other way round, i.e. who not to vote for, the list would be too long to write about. 


Let us start our list of choices from the very top. With the people who have ruled this country for much of the time since the Brits left us to ourselves. If we look at their case history till now, we can clearly see they have an uncanny affinity towards the bloodline of the first Prime Minister of independent India. Well, this sort of affinity was perhaps appreciable during ancient and medieval times, but in the 21st century this looks odd. Even smells fishy.  

Well, whatever be the looks or smells of the members of the bloodline, they sure rule! Of the 61 years that have passed since the Transfer of Power, the country has been ruled by the chosen BloodLine for 37 years. And to think about it, when one realizes that the party they belong to has actually been in power for 45 years, i.e. only 8 years have been ruled by others from the party, the facts sure look pretty absurd. But facts are facts and no one can deny them. And the fact remains that even today; the strings are allegedly being pulled by the widow of the last successful heir from the chosen BloodLine. 

Whatever; bloodline or no bloodline, the party did rule the majority of the time and sure they have done things. Things which do not work. The Freight Equalization Policy, non-implementation of the land reform system, over-dependence on foreign imports, to name a few. 



Next comes the ones who have been in power, but not with as much success as the former one. In their current avatar, they look saffron. Sure the colour means renunciation, but since 6th Dec, 1992 the colour has changed its meaning in the Indian political scenario. And more so after the killings in Gujarat, Orissa, and rest of India where nuns have been raped by hooligans, lovers have been beaten up and pubs ravaged by the cadres of the party. Well, barbarism should not be tolerated in a modern civil society, and when it comes under the banner of a religion, it is not just which should not be tolerated, but more of a crime which should be punished exemplarily so that people think a million times before committing them. 

Saffron now drips of blood.  




Now comes the turn of those, who have never been in direct control of the power, but they have given their support to the ones who formed the government more than once, the Reds. Well, statistically speaking, they have only three states to speak of. But looking at the broader scheme of things they sure have their say and sometimes do make their voices heard. But these voices sometimes really do not reach the ones they are delivered to. Reasons are many, but the Left have a rough history in this country and have not performed, well, up to the mark. But then, who has?  

Sure they have been successful in conducting numerous rallies and strikes, but at the end of the day, they’re not a power to form a government of their own, and from the current state of affairs they don’t look like achieving that in a short period of time. 




After the Reds come the Blues. The self-proclaimed voice of the historically underprivileged, the Blues have come a long way since ’47. They’re ruling the single most important state in the union single-handedly. And that is a feat on its own. Three cheers for the Blues! But the blues have a big roadblock which is unlikely to be cleared anytime soon- the leadership problem. They do not have a single leader to speak of in front of an educated crowd. The lady at the helm for the Blues does not qualify as a highly acceptable leader of sorts. Whatever, they sure win votes and votes are what get counted. So with or without their limited abilities of leadership, they continue, and will continue in future their bull run and win more votes than ever it seems. And that do sound bad. For without strong leadership things tend to go wayward and politics require some degree of foresight. An imprudent leader may win votes, but in the long run may harm the future generations through the stupidity of her decisions. 


When the Blues go marching out, in come the other regional parties of very less importance. And they are the ones from every corner of the country. Vying for importance, they are the real spice of the elections. All the mirch and masala that are required to make the election-soup mouth-watering are provided by these small-time groups. Even they themselves are not sure which side they are on. That is decided only after the election results are out. And they get their best price.  


Well, that’s about it folks! We’re on the verge of another installment of the great pentennial farce that amazes the whole world with its necessary dose of all the ingredients of a potboiler. So sit tight, enjoy the ride, and don't change the channel!

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