Ray of Hope

Despite the multitude of maladies that are deep-rooted in the subcontinent of India there are a lot of things that Indians have reasons to cheer about. May it be simple, small efforts put in by individual families to provide help to their maid’s children or the collective effort of the neighborhood to keep the surrounding areas clean, healthy and hygienic; or the silent campaign run by the urban middle class in support of justice for Jessica Lall, Priyadarshini Matttoo and Nitish Katara; or the Supreme Court taking a tough stand on the illegal premises of businessmen occupying opposite ends of the economic spectrum. These are very small steps which have been taken over a period of time. Steps which have a long term impact on things that are important for India to fulfill the dream of becoming a super-power. These small steps convey the importance of perseverance, discipline and belief and trust in their dreams and silently say ….. ‘Hum Hongey Kaamyaab’ (‘we will succeed’).

And ‘kaamyaab’ (successful) we are in some areas. In recent years two institutes have become the case study for the IIMs and IITs in India and many non-indian universities as well. One is a small city level business powered by thousands of un-skilled labor. Its ingenuity lies in the complete lack of technology for delivering lunch boxes to lakhs of hungry office-goers by using simple color coding schemes to achieve the desired results. And the two things that they emphasize on are the value of time and the value of customers. They have become famous as the Dabbawallas of Mumbai. A lot has been written about them and they have been studied by the some of the bright brains in the Indian subcontinent and abroad to learn a few lessons in management… the Dabbawallas put into practice what is taught in the management training classrooms. And the startling fact that stands out is that most of the workforce of this institute is un-educated. They just have a high literacy rate about their own trade….. and that is to collect the lunch boxes from the residence of lakhs of office goers all over the city and deliver them to respective offices before lunchtime and without making a mistake. They ensure that their company has an annual turnover of Rs. 10 million. To read a study on them click here.

The other is an organization of a National level – Indian Railways. One of the oldest organizations run at the national level it gives employment to the highest number of people (1.5 million)… both skilled and un-skilled. It had been run as a social institute for a long time and was always in the red financially despite the annual fare hikes that the railway minister introduced in each railway budget. Indian Railways saw a complete turn-around in its fortunes when the highly tainted Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav took over its reigns. Under his leadership the Indian Railways has grown beyond everyone’s expectations and financially the Indian Railways is now firmly in the green. All Indians and the rest of the world has taken nptice of this fact. Washington Times found it worth mentioning it. Lalu’s ingenious methods on achieving the impossible have been included as a case study in IIM and have been studied by many abroad. The first one to highlight the fact was IIM, Ahmedabad. It had grabbed media attention. This year in his opening speech about the railway budget Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav said:

“Presenting my fourth consecutive Railway Budget, I have a tremendous sense of pride and gratitude. Pride in the fact that without imposing undue burden on the common man, the Railways are poised to create history by generating a cash surplus before Dividend of Rs 20,000 cr as against Rs 14,700 cr in the previous year. This is the same Railway that defaulted on payment of Dividend and whose fund balances dipped to Rs 359 cr in 2001. I express heartfelt gratitude towards 14 lakh railway employees who in the face of stiff competition have conquered all odds with an indomitable spirit displaying matchless zeal, vigour and teamwork.”

Mr. Yadav has declared this year as the ‘Year of Cleanliness’.

For all those who are interested click here for the highlights of the Railway Budget (2007-2008).

As Indians we feel like standing up and giving Lalu Prasad Yadav a standing ovation and be proud that a minister who had been labeled as corrupt and im-moral has been the reason for so much of pride. He has given us the reason to say ‘Mera Bharat Mahaan’ a little loudly… definitely higher than a whisper. Hard work, perseverance and discipline certainly pays and how…
And after a long hard days work, this group of Gujratis show how to de-stress and retain the motivation to give one’s best to their jobs and life as a whole. Nicknamed the “8:52 Group” they show the importance of little things in life go a long way in leading a better life. The group also contributes towards national causes like they donated Rs 11000/- for the victims of the earthquake that had rocked Bhuj. To read more about this super-cool group click here.

I will finish this blog with a lot of sense of euphoria and feel-good. They come from the fact that we are teaching the values that made an organization successful so that the future bright minds of India can build a successful nation. Though the claims that we are making about being a super-power are still very tall, we are taking important and significant steps in the right direction to make that tall claim a true one.

Author I Admire - I - Shobha De

I have been expressing my views on various social concerns over a period of so many months. There was so much happening in and around me that it was more than tempting to write about them. It sidelined the other thing that I am passionate about… books. I love to read a wide variety of books and like to try out books written by various authors. So I thought that I will start off today by discussing about books and authors and hope to follow up with more of the same.

For some reason I am compelled to write my first thoughts on this subject not about a book but about a lekhika ….. a writer …. whose books and articles I read with avid interest. She started her career in the field of film journalism and till date has authored many books and articles. Her views on varied subjects and her candid way of putting things across has made her one of my favorite authors. And she is …… Shobha De.

To be very honest I did not think much about what she wrote and how she wrote it. For a very long time I had the perception that all her writings would have the color of films since she came from that background. But one day I read an article penned by her in the Times of India. The content of that article stayed with me for sometime and that was the beginning of my change in perception about her writings and I read other articles written by her too. And the journey continued…….

I find her to be a very lucid writer … and a writer with a bite… and whenever possible likes to call a spade a spade. She puts forward her views and thoughts on a subject very emphatically, honestly and boldly. The two facts which I find very endearing are her boldness and honesty….. a deadly combination I must say…. but then as a writer I think she does practice the art of diplomacy where-ever required. Her style of writing and putting things across has grown on me gradually and I am a very appreciative reader of her books and articles….. which may be on anything….. like the biting article she wrote about the fact that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie wanted to adopt an Indian child and name him/her India … or her book titled Spouse where she takes a very practical, honest though softer look at a husband-wife relationship. She was bold enough not to hide her experiences in her relationship…. and although she restricted her pointers to the marital relationship only, I find most of her pointers to hold good for any relationship.

Honest, bold and a beautiful woman with a bite… that is Shobha De for you. And in me she has a staunch fan.

Reality Bites Hard - I - When will we acknowledge the reality?

Every one loves to dream... dream to acheive big things in life and make a considerable impact on things that matter to them most. And we hope to acheive the dream. But is it not necessary that for the dream to be acheivable one needs to be aware of certain hard facts and also be willing to deal with them? In other words, don't you think that dreams which have their feet planted on firmly on the ground are more acheivable?

Indians have also dreamt a dream. A dream to be one of the super-powers of the world. We claim to have nearly acheived the dream. We have witnessed that India is claiming to have arrived on the global scene with a huge bang. But have we really? Most of the articles published on this blog previously has pointed out this very fact.

Recently, I had a chance to read an article by Pankaj Mishra. He writes literary and political essays for the New York Times, the New Statesman etc etc. Although the article penned by him - The Myth of New India - is dated July 6, 2006, I feel that it still holds good. Here are some excerpts from this article that I think hold significantly true even today:

"Since the early 1990's, when the Indian economy was liberalized, India has emerged as the world leader in information technology and business outsourcing, with an average growth of about 6 percent a year. Growing foreign investment and easy credit have fueled a consumer revolution in urban areas ................. "

"................. the alleged rise of India barely mention the fact that the country's $728 per capita gross domestic product is just slightly higher than that of sub-Saharan Africa ..... even if it sustains its current high growth rates, India will not catch up with high-income countries until 2106."

"Nor is India rising very fast on the report's Human Development index, where it ranks 127, just two rungs above Myanmar and more than 70 below Cuba and Mexico. Despite a recent reduction in poverty levels, nearly 380 million Indians still live on less than a dollar a day. "

"Malnutrition affects half of all children in India, and there is little sign that they are being helped by the country's market reforms, which have focused on creating private wealth rather than expanding access to health care and education. ..... and facilities for primary education have collapsed in large parts of the country ........."

"The potential for conflict — among castes as well as classes — also grows in urban areas, where India's cruel social and economic disparities are as evident as its new prosperity. The main reason for this is that India's economic growth has been largely jobless. Only 1.3 million out of a working population of 400 million are employed in the information technology and business processing industries that make up the so-called new economy. "

"No labor-intensive manufacturing boom of the kind that powered the economic growth of almost every developed and developing country in the world has yet occurred in India. Unlike China, India still imports more than it exports. ........"

Some very hard hitting facts... but can anyone of us refute them???? I agree that there have been some amount of progress that has been enforced by the urban middle class these days but is it enough? Is'nt this progress restricted to only a select few?

Is'nt it time to review our dreams and our claims to have acheived our dream???

Indian Antiques... Is it a shame?

While randomly going through my daily dose of news, views and analysis at various sites I stumbled upon the fact that there is an exhibition of Indian antiques in progress in a museum in China for the last two months. My immediate reaction to the news was that of pride. Efforts were being made on a serious note to promote Indian culture to be more than that of naked sadhus, snake charmers and black magic. The entire exhibition is very well done with touch screen technology used to display information about the antiques.

But the sense of pride was mixed with a sense of shame as well. As the writer of the article at ndtv.com has aptly pointed out that Indians sadly lack the knowledge of their own heritage and have no value for these artifacts. The number of people who have the knowledge of the same are few and rare. They might as well be termed as 'endangered species'.... ;-P. In a few years non-Indians will know more about our heritage and culture than we ourselves. On a serious note though I too support the view that it is now mandatory to begin a self education drive and become more proud of the country that we belong to.