The year was 2010 when I landed in Singapore to take on my new job assignment at Citibank. On the way from Changi airport to my hotel, the taxi driver got curious and asked where I was from. When I told him that I am an Indian, his instant question was – “Do you work in the Information technology sector?”. That question solidified my conception that since the last around two decades, India has become synonymous with I.T and software sector. Today, India produces and exports more software engineers in the world than any other country in the world. As a matter of fact, the south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana constitute one-third of all the Indian students pursuing studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) domain. This, without any iota of doubt, is a massive leap forward. This leap reflects how our country with numerous shades has come out of its cocoon of being called as a country of “snake charmers” back in 1970’s.
Whether it is the advancement in space programs spearheaded by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), or leading the Asian countries in pioneering programs like “Vaccine Maitri Initiative” during the difficult times of Covid, India has started to play a vital role at a global level. Today, some of the largest and the most impactful companies and organizations like Microsoft, Google and World Bank are headed by Indians. This, without any scope of argument, has boosted the image of the country at an international arena.
Despite all these feathers in the cap, we, as a nation, face insurmountable problems which hinder our success and restricts us in becoming a truly developed country. Until we solve these insuperable issues staring at us, we cannot compete effectively with giants like U.S.A and China. In my view, here are three challenges that open door for introspection and if addressed, can resolve many other underlying and fundamental problems that our nation faces:
A paradigm shift from service oriented mindset to Product development mindset : 1991 was a crucial year for the Indian economy. The then prime minister P.V Narsimha Rao and the finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh opened the gates of the Indian market to the western world, especially to the United states. That caused a boom in the call centers which eventually led to the spawning of the software outsourcing industry. Since then, the Indian I.T service sector has dominated the world. However, unfortunately, we have not been able to translate this leadership in the service sector to the product development sector. Countries like the U.SA , China, Japan, and Germany led the world and stayed on the top because they embedded innovation in product design and development into their economical structural. These countries became and are still the “brains” that create knowledge instead of just providing service delivery. Countries much smaller than India have been far more successful than us in research and development (R & D) and in the new product development. As an example, Denmark, a country with just around six million people, is called as the “programming languages capital” of the world. Many of the software programming languages like C++, C#, PHP along with the software systems like the V8 JavaScript engine were built in this small Nordic country. Even Canada, with a population almost equal to the Indian state of Punjab, developed the Java programming language. Much of the product creation and development has happened and continue to happen in the western world and China. It is the right time that through a collaborative approach, the private and the public sectors in India takes a plunge in this direction.
A unified Indian voice : I have long believed that for India to progress and become an advanced country in true sense, all its citizens from all walks to life and irrespective of their religious beliefs should contribute in a unified manner. Our diversity is our spinal cord and strength without which we cannot achieve our ambitious goals. No community should feel alienated and there should be a strong sense of belongingness towards India. Both the government and the people should believe that we all our beneficiaries of this society and therefore, we must collectively contribute to its enrichment and growth. A lot of it lies with the initiatives that the Indian government can take to build an “inclusive ecosystem” where every single Indian counts. We must also rise above the religious bigotry and cultivate faith and confidence in people who , even though different than us in their belief system, are sons and daughters of the same country. In my opinion, nationalism and patriotism should always be above religion. As Khushwant Singh, in his book, Gods and Godmen of India, argues that a true religion is the one that propagates national issues like environmental protection, population control and work ethic. It is paramount that we realize that despite of our differences, we are tied by the same national thread.
A firm belief in the Story of India: It is as important to believe in the history of breakthroughs that emerged from our great country as it is to build an inventive society. One of the aspects that enabled and catapulted United States Of America as a world power was that , in addition to creating world changing institutions like NASA and hotbeds of inventions like Silicon valley, it mastered the art of disseminating the “Idea of America” across the world. It was able to build an image of America as a “world savior” and an “epitome of liberty”. In my opinion, India needs to do the same. We have a proud history and the names of many intellectual giants like Panini, Aryabhata, Brahmagupta, and Sushruta should make us trust our national ability to lead the world. Young Indians should take pride in our historical empires like the Gupta Empire, which is called as the “Golden age” of India and during which many accomplishments were made in perfection of the Sanskrit language, Architecture, and Mathematics (Indians were the first to come up with “gelosia multiplication”). We must build faith that the same “Golden age” can be replicated in the future too.
Ours is a country of tremendous potential. A strong India will be the one which will be innovative, united and driven. While we embark and continue on our journey to become a developed nation, we must also acknowledge the challenges that we face in realizing our true potential.
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