In China this is a commonly used proverb in the outlying provinces which are furthest away from Beijing.
The Bihar election has once again proved as it does time and time again in elections around the world, that what matters most to the local electorate is what affects them on a day to day to basis. They could not be bothered whether President Obama says " India has emerged" or whether the United States will support India's attempt at a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council .
They care about whether they have roads which allow them to take their produce to the market, do they have schools for their children, is the government able to provide them security , are they able to get employment close by home instead having to go to far away places ?
Nitish Kumar in his first term understood and concentrated on this. Among his initiatives was the building of roads, improving the law and order situation, focusing on education- including that of girls. He empowered the economically backward classes and women by reserving 20% and 50 % respectively, of the seats in the village councils and urban local bodies.He overhauled the judiciary to ensure that the law and order cases were fast tracked and culprits brought to court.
This resulted in his party and his alliance partner cornering a historic 206 out of the 243 seats in the state assembly.There is a lesson for the other political parties.If Bihar can do it , surely so can they ?
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
One Person Can Make A Difference !!!!
Until 2005, Bihar was considered the classic example of a failed provincial state. Under its former Chief Minister Bihar stagnated while most of India moved on. Ruled by a combination of divisiveness and gangsterism,it became a difficult place for most people to have a normal life. You were not able to go out at night. Most well off ( and I am not talking about the super rich ) ran the risk of being kidnapped. The talented Bihari's started migrating to other states and other countries.
Then in 2005 Nitish Kumar got elected as Chief Minister. With some social engineering and with a determined focus on improving the law and order situation, with building the infrastructure and empowering women he changed Bihar from a "bimari"state to one of the fastest growing state in the country. While it still has a long way to go, hopefully the very strong results in today's election will not make him complacent. If he does a repeat of the first term , Bihar will emerge to be one of the best managed state.
We hope that this will prove to the politicians that development helps you get elected and others will follow his example.
Then in 2005 Nitish Kumar got elected as Chief Minister. With some social engineering and with a determined focus on improving the law and order situation, with building the infrastructure and empowering women he changed Bihar from a "bimari"state to one of the fastest growing state in the country. While it still has a long way to go, hopefully the very strong results in today's election will not make him complacent. If he does a repeat of the first term , Bihar will emerge to be one of the best managed state.
We hope that this will prove to the politicians that development helps you get elected and others will follow his example.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Do you know who my father is ?
In New York Times dated November 17th, there is an article about the misdeeds of the children of people in power.
In this case the son of a Chinese provincial deputy chief of police in a drunken state mowed down two girls who were roller skating in the college grounds. One of whom eventually died. When arrested he shouted at the security personnel " My Father is ...... " ? This has caused a bit of uproar in China.
We see this so frequently in India, not just in accidents, but in other incidents whether it is land allocation or election tickets being given to the princelings . Some times it goes beyond that to Mothers in Laws or Brothers in Laws or nephews or cousins.
There are hundreds of anecdotal stories. . One I heard recently was about the toll both charges on the NH-8 ( Delhi - Gurgaon ) expressway. A friend of a friend of a friend was behind a car , where the driver of the car was arguing with the toll collector.Since it was peak hours there was a long queue of cars. After a few minutes he got out of his car and went to the counter to see what was the issue.The driver was insisting that he be allowed to pass through without paying the toll because his brother was a minister in the State Government. The friend ( 3 ) offered to pay the toll charges, but the driver refused and insisted that the toll collector call his brother's office. In the meantime the traffic continued piling up. All this for a princely sum of twenty rupees. This has to take the cake !!!!
In this case the son of a Chinese provincial deputy chief of police in a drunken state mowed down two girls who were roller skating in the college grounds. One of whom eventually died. When arrested he shouted at the security personnel " My Father is ...... " ? This has caused a bit of uproar in China.
We see this so frequently in India, not just in accidents, but in other incidents whether it is land allocation or election tickets being given to the princelings . Some times it goes beyond that to Mothers in Laws or Brothers in Laws or nephews or cousins.
There are hundreds of anecdotal stories. . One I heard recently was about the toll both charges on the NH-8 ( Delhi - Gurgaon ) expressway. A friend of a friend of a friend was behind a car , where the driver of the car was arguing with the toll collector.Since it was peak hours there was a long queue of cars. After a few minutes he got out of his car and went to the counter to see what was the issue.The driver was insisting that he be allowed to pass through without paying the toll because his brother was a minister in the State Government. The friend ( 3 ) offered to pay the toll charges, but the driver refused and insisted that the toll collector call his brother's office. In the meantime the traffic continued piling up. All this for a princely sum of twenty rupees. This has to take the cake !!!!
Friday, November 19, 2010
What Did I Say ?
In my blog The Melting Pot Through A Cyrstal Ball dated 5th November , I mentioned about the Dalia Lama being a " honorary Indian ".
I quote today from Paul Beckett's column in today's Wall Street Journal
“I am a son of India,” he ( The Dalai Lama) declared during questions after his appearance at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi. Not only has India been his transplanted home since he fled Tibet about 50 years ago, but “this body has survived by Indian daals, Indian rice, so therefore I describe myself as a son of India.”
He also considers himself a “messenger of India” .... because he espouses ancient Indian thought, especially the gospel of “non-violent action related with a compassionate mind.”
He also noted the India was the only country, in his view, where all the major religions “live together with respect.”
Need I say more ?
I quote today from Paul Beckett's column in today's Wall Street Journal
“I am a son of India,” he ( The Dalai Lama) declared during questions after his appearance at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi. Not only has India been his transplanted home since he fled Tibet about 50 years ago, but “this body has survived by Indian daals, Indian rice, so therefore I describe myself as a son of India.”
He also considers himself a “messenger of India” .... because he espouses ancient Indian thought, especially the gospel of “non-violent action related with a compassionate mind.”
He also noted the India was the only country, in his view, where all the major religions “live together with respect.”
Need I say more ?
Monday, November 15, 2010
The Longest Journey Begins With The First Step
In my Blog of September 22nd, I had hoped that the the corruption of the Common Wealth Games highlighted by the media would be the trigger for the start of a movement which demands accountability from public officials . Also investigations are underway to see far the corruption went.
Yesterday the investigative authority announced the arrest of two members of the Organizing Committee of the Commonwealth Games . It remains to be seen whether the " big fish" will also be netted or is it just some small fry getting gutted ?
However a few other events over the last couple of months makes one think that finally steps are being taken - even if they are small steps.
1. A NGO called Janagraha has launched a website called (http://ipaidabribe.com/) where you can go online and report the payment of a bribe to get something done. Your identity is apparently not disclosed.
2. The removal of the Telecoms Minister who while granting spectrum license's has apparently enabled the state to loose thousands of crore's in potential revenues. The exact numbers vary from report to report.
3. Mr.Ratan Tata one of the most respected industrialist after remaining silent for many years has gone public that the reasons why they are not in the airlines business ( despite the fact that Air India was started and run by the Tata group and was reportedly the role model for Singapore Airlines),is because he was unwilling to pay a bribe to a politician as was advised by a fellow industrialist.
4. The Adarsh Housing Society Scam in which Defense Services personnel and state politicians got together to allocate themselves flats in a building in a prime location in Mumbai at a throw away price.
5. A former Army Chief has been accused by the media for having assets beyond his means.
While some of these are still investigated, the very fact that these are being raised in the media and the Government taking steps to investigate them is an encouraging sign. Hopefully the guilty will be punished and not protected for political expediency's sake.
While one can be cynical and say that nothing is going to come off it, I would like to think that we are moving in the right direction. These are small steps individually, but as the Chinese say - " The longest journey begins with the first step". I think we are seeing the first step being taken !!!
Yesterday the investigative authority announced the arrest of two members of the Organizing Committee of the Commonwealth Games . It remains to be seen whether the " big fish" will also be netted or is it just some small fry getting gutted ?
However a few other events over the last couple of months makes one think that finally steps are being taken - even if they are small steps.
1. A NGO called Janagraha has launched a website called (http://ipaidabribe.com/) where you can go online and report the payment of a bribe to get something done. Your identity is apparently not disclosed.
2. The removal of the Telecoms Minister who while granting spectrum license's has apparently enabled the state to loose thousands of crore's in potential revenues. The exact numbers vary from report to report.
3. Mr.Ratan Tata one of the most respected industrialist after remaining silent for many years has gone public that the reasons why they are not in the airlines business ( despite the fact that Air India was started and run by the Tata group and was reportedly the role model for Singapore Airlines),is because he was unwilling to pay a bribe to a politician as was advised by a fellow industrialist.
4. The Adarsh Housing Society Scam in which Defense Services personnel and state politicians got together to allocate themselves flats in a building in a prime location in Mumbai at a throw away price.
5. A former Army Chief has been accused by the media for having assets beyond his means.
While some of these are still investigated, the very fact that these are being raised in the media and the Government taking steps to investigate them is an encouraging sign. Hopefully the guilty will be punished and not protected for political expediency's sake.
While one can be cynical and say that nothing is going to come off it, I would like to think that we are moving in the right direction. These are small steps individually, but as the Chinese say - " The longest journey begins with the first step". I think we are seeing the first step being taken !!!
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Melting Pot Through A Crystal Ball
A couple of weeks ago , I was having dinner with some colleagues from the United States and were chatting about how America was changing. One of the things which was mentioned was how the immigrants were no longer buying into the melting pot concept . His view was that in the past all immigrants , if not in the first generation , but certainly by the second generation had become Americanized. He felt that was no longer the case.He sounded a bit concerned.
I thought about it and feel that until the fifties the majority of the immigrants were white and predominantly Christian ( apart from the African Americans who were brought in as slaves). Yes there were exceptions. You had Chinese who came to build the rail roads but who did not have equal rights. Then you had the Jews who were initially discriminated against but gradually became part of the mainstream. The Hispanics predated the Americans, but the numbers have jumped up radically. From the seventies you saw more of a influx of immigrants who were Muslims, Hindu's and Sikh's.
The concern now is that the recent wave of immigrants now while living and working in America still want to retain their ethnic and religious identity. They want to build their own places of worship, eat their own food and speak their own language while at home. I do not feel that this is a cause of concern. Once you have the third and fourth generation they too will become Americanized, but that does not necessarily mean that they will give up their religion. After all the first American immigrants came to avoid religious persecution. So why should the new generations of Americans be expected to give up theirs ? There will be some who will , but there will be others who will retain theirs.Religion however will increasingly become of less importance as is the case now for the many Americans, English and even for Indians.
If you want an example of what the American Melting Pot will look like in fifty to hundred years from now, look at India from a socio-cultural point of view. Starting from Alexander's time, followed by the Mongols, the Turks, the Persians and others , we have had invaders who have come and in most cases settled down and assimilated while retaining their own religion. Apart from the majority population of Hindu's, we have large communities of Muslim ( the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia) , Buddhist, Sikhs, Christians,Parsi's, and Jews ( most of them have now migrated to Israel).What makes India unique is the the Indian identity - you have fair, blue or green eyed Indians, you have brown Indians,you have Indians who are blacks,Indians who have Oriental features - but who are all Indians. There are twenty official languages recognized by the Indian Constitution.Although Hindi is the official language in most schools, students also study another regional or state language and or English apart from Hindi.
During his visit this week President Obama in his many speeches talked about the diversity of India. At various times and during his address to the Parliament, he interacted with the Hindu President, the Sikh Prime Minister, the Muslim Vice President and the Christian power behind the throne. Perhaps a meeting with the Dalai Lama ( who after fifty years here could be classified as a honorary Indian) would have rounded off the major religions of the world.
Yes, occasionally we have incidents against certain minorities - Muslims, Christians and even Sikhs, but in the overall scheme of things these numbers are relatively small. For the most part, they live in harmony, and increasingly speak in a common language. They enjoy Bollywood ( and Hollywood) movies and shows. They root for the Indian cricket team and so on.
So the message to my American colleague is to look at India's social cultural mix. This is where America is going to be a hundred years from now or even earlier. Relax its not so bad.
I thought about it and feel that until the fifties the majority of the immigrants were white and predominantly Christian ( apart from the African Americans who were brought in as slaves). Yes there were exceptions. You had Chinese who came to build the rail roads but who did not have equal rights. Then you had the Jews who were initially discriminated against but gradually became part of the mainstream. The Hispanics predated the Americans, but the numbers have jumped up radically. From the seventies you saw more of a influx of immigrants who were Muslims, Hindu's and Sikh's.
The concern now is that the recent wave of immigrants now while living and working in America still want to retain their ethnic and religious identity. They want to build their own places of worship, eat their own food and speak their own language while at home. I do not feel that this is a cause of concern. Once you have the third and fourth generation they too will become Americanized, but that does not necessarily mean that they will give up their religion. After all the first American immigrants came to avoid religious persecution. So why should the new generations of Americans be expected to give up theirs ? There will be some who will , but there will be others who will retain theirs.Religion however will increasingly become of less importance as is the case now for the many Americans, English and even for Indians.
If you want an example of what the American Melting Pot will look like in fifty to hundred years from now, look at India from a socio-cultural point of view. Starting from Alexander's time, followed by the Mongols, the Turks, the Persians and others , we have had invaders who have come and in most cases settled down and assimilated while retaining their own religion. Apart from the majority population of Hindu's, we have large communities of Muslim ( the second largest Muslim population after Indonesia) , Buddhist, Sikhs, Christians,Parsi's, and Jews ( most of them have now migrated to Israel).What makes India unique is the the Indian identity - you have fair, blue or green eyed Indians, you have brown Indians,you have Indians who are blacks,Indians who have Oriental features - but who are all Indians. There are twenty official languages recognized by the Indian Constitution.Although Hindi is the official language in most schools, students also study another regional or state language and or English apart from Hindi.
During his visit this week President Obama in his many speeches talked about the diversity of India. At various times and during his address to the Parliament, he interacted with the Hindu President, the Sikh Prime Minister, the Muslim Vice President and the Christian power behind the throne. Perhaps a meeting with the Dalai Lama ( who after fifty years here could be classified as a honorary Indian) would have rounded off the major religions of the world.
Yes, occasionally we have incidents against certain minorities - Muslims, Christians and even Sikhs, but in the overall scheme of things these numbers are relatively small. For the most part, they live in harmony, and increasingly speak in a common language. They enjoy Bollywood ( and Hollywood) movies and shows. They root for the Indian cricket team and so on.
So the message to my American colleague is to look at India's social cultural mix. This is where America is going to be a hundred years from now or even earlier. Relax its not so bad.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Creating Wealth Has Never Been This Easy !!
If you are young and have dreams of becoming a billionaire, you are born at the right time.
For centuries if you wanted wealth and power you had to go out and grab it. You got together a band of soldiers which gradually became an army and you ventured out and conquered everything on the way. Some like Alexander and Genghis Khan or his descendants Babur and Kublai Khan went on to create huge empires and entered the pages of history. Thousands of others died anonymously in in forests, deserts or drowned in rivers far away from where they were born.
It began to change with the onslaught of industrialization.If you had the entrepreneurial skills,you started a new industry and set up a factory and sold on a global basis. You built up a fortune over a life time, and towards the end you had had a estate of hundreds of acres and built yourself a family mansion manned by hundreds of servants. This happened in England, Europe, the United States and other parts of the world.
Soon after that you had the development of the service industries, hotels, entertainment, advertisements and the like . With the exception of the bankers, of the ilk of JP Morgan, and the real estate developers who built cities to cater to the rapid urbanization of the cities, the wealth might not be of the same magnitude of the industrialists.
Starting the 1980's when information technology came to the forefront, it opened up the window of opportunity for people who used their brains to create the software which ran machines , provided entertainment and now help people communicate and stay in touch with each other. Providing the turbo jets for this effort were the venture capitalists who helped the scale up the efforts within a short period of time. Unlike the past when you relied on capital and bank borrowings, the venture capitalists injected large doses of capital to expand.
At the same time you saw the emergence of the high powered , well paid investment bankers and traders , who while still employed and playing with other people's money excelled in the game of heads I win , tails you loose. Similarly the hedge funds and private equity fund managers played with the decks loaded in their favor made and continue to make large fortunes within a relatively short period.
Which brings me to the conclusion of giving advice to the younger generation - if you are interested in making money quickly, develop the ability to sell your self. Once you are able to do that, it is easy to make money.Fortunately there are many among the younger generation who will not follow this advice and who have ambitions, to make the world a better place or pursue other careers which are less rewarding . We need them to have a well rounded civilization. Can you imagine a world full of just investment bankers and computer nerds ?
For centuries if you wanted wealth and power you had to go out and grab it. You got together a band of soldiers which gradually became an army and you ventured out and conquered everything on the way. Some like Alexander and Genghis Khan or his descendants Babur and Kublai Khan went on to create huge empires and entered the pages of history. Thousands of others died anonymously in in forests, deserts or drowned in rivers far away from where they were born.
It began to change with the onslaught of industrialization.If you had the entrepreneurial skills,you started a new industry and set up a factory and sold on a global basis. You built up a fortune over a life time, and towards the end you had had a estate of hundreds of acres and built yourself a family mansion manned by hundreds of servants. This happened in England, Europe, the United States and other parts of the world.
Soon after that you had the development of the service industries, hotels, entertainment, advertisements and the like . With the exception of the bankers, of the ilk of JP Morgan, and the real estate developers who built cities to cater to the rapid urbanization of the cities, the wealth might not be of the same magnitude of the industrialists.
Starting the 1980's when information technology came to the forefront, it opened up the window of opportunity for people who used their brains to create the software which ran machines , provided entertainment and now help people communicate and stay in touch with each other. Providing the turbo jets for this effort were the venture capitalists who helped the scale up the efforts within a short period of time. Unlike the past when you relied on capital and bank borrowings, the venture capitalists injected large doses of capital to expand.
At the same time you saw the emergence of the high powered , well paid investment bankers and traders , who while still employed and playing with other people's money excelled in the game of heads I win , tails you loose. Similarly the hedge funds and private equity fund managers played with the decks loaded in their favor made and continue to make large fortunes within a relatively short period.
Which brings me to the conclusion of giving advice to the younger generation - if you are interested in making money quickly, develop the ability to sell your self. Once you are able to do that, it is easy to make money.Fortunately there are many among the younger generation who will not follow this advice and who have ambitions, to make the world a better place or pursue other careers which are less rewarding . We need them to have a well rounded civilization. Can you imagine a world full of just investment bankers and computer nerds ?
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