Is India High on Potential, Low on Application?

Dear Friends,

The thought of writing something on this topic has been around for quite sometime now. But somehow I managed to delay the temptation. Finally, after listening to Kapil Sibal's interview, 10 mins ago, I decided its time for another small write-up on the blog. The interview was about the recent reforms our ambitious HRD minister endeavors to bring about. Now to our topic.

The world is heaving a sigh of relief as the economy all over the globe is strengthening. Certainly, the Indian service sector, the driver of our economy, will benefit to a significant extent. Among the IT and ITES sector, L&T Infotech, Mahindra Satyam, TCS and Infosys, among others, have bagged multi-million dollar projects. But then is there another angle to this sweet, nice picture?

Lets go back in time by 20 years.

The 7th largest nation of the world had no major say on matters of prominence. It was labeled as a poor country, struggling to cover its deficits and in debt despite the best efforts of its far sighted leaders. A country with high corruption and crime rate despite having a voluminous and a well-compiled Constitution and a system with healthy decentralization of power.

I agree that I have not brought out the positives but whatever I have stated above is true.

In those days we had lots of Indians flying to the Arab nations for employment. They used to comeback after a few years and were certainly richer but the nature of the work was anything but respectable. Their employers hired them because they found it cheaper than the local workers. In short: Indians, and workers from similar nations, supplied what was the "cheap labour" and were easily available because of the high number.

With changing tides, literacy level has increased, we are more skilled and learned. The result: lots of Indians are placed in positions where they pull the strings. There are more CEO's, doctors and engineers of Indian origin in the US than migrants of any other nation. India today is an important strategic partner for the so called "developed nations". However, we are still called the cheap laborers. A customer in US has to narrate the problems of his Notebook PC to someone sitting in an air-conditioned building in Bangalore. The pay rolls of workers in UK is being monitored by a Software application made by an Indian MNC. Certainly I am not questioning the quality of the jobs we perform as software engineers but why do we get to do only limited things?

Why does Intel, Google have a R&D wing but TCS and Infosys don't? Why do we have only one Anand Kumar and only one group of Super 30 in the entire country?

The answer to these troublesome questions lie in the education system. Let us look at the various actors involved in the education system: the parents, the School Management, the Teacher in the School, the Environment, Neighbours of the student, the State government and the Central government.

Clearly the government alone cannot reform the system. Measures need to be taken by everyone involved. Thankfully we have a minister who believes he can bring about positive changes. But is that enough? Academicians all over the country have been pressing for a contemporary syllabus. But aren't we underplaying the increased burden on the students? What should be done to prevent the small but significant brain drain from the country? Why did C.K.Prahalad choose US ahead of India?

What do you think? Is India high on potential, low on application?
Keep posting...Keep blogging...Keep learning

With special thanks to S.Praveen Kumar sir, who suggested the topic.

With lots of love
Atul Mishra

Naxalism: Can Someone Justify This?

Dear Friends,

Last night I was thinking about Naxal movement in India when a news strip caught my eyes. It read "7 CRPF men killed in Bijapur following a Naxal attack".

The prime minister describes Naxalites as "the single biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country".

What began as the Communist movement in India, is now a menace. Ironically the founders who were responsible for the genesis of this struggle have distanced themselves from the movement and some have even turned to parliamentary democracy for revolutionary activity but their followers continue to distort their ideology with every passing day.

Before we label them as home grown terrorists, we must understand the motivation and the cause of their struggle. Mao said "power flows from the barrel of the gun" and perhaps that's where these self-styled Maoists derive their motivation from. The cause is to prevent themselves from being deprived of their land.

Let us not forget that India is not only growing as a super power in space research, in world economy and in IT sector; but it is also ranked 2nd in the number of malnourished children(after Bangladesh), underweight children are more common in India than in the Sub-Saharan Africa, 4 children of our nation die every minute - and they die of curable diseases like typhoid, measles, pneumonia and malaria.

There are villages where snake bites are common but no medical aid is available. We live in a country where a prime minister once said "for every one rupee we allocate, only 10 paise reaches the common man" (The PM I am referring to is Mr. Rajiv Gandhi). Today the world bank says that only 31% of the allocated money is put to use, the rest ends up in lockers, safe in remote banks. The public distribution system is so bad that several tonnes of grains in Punjab and Haryana are wasted, while there are droughts and famine in Bihar, Orissa.

Aren't the peasants justified in protecting their lands from feudal lords? To an extent yes. But the question is, should it be done like this?

How can one justify killing innocent people? A civil war, or a people's war should not devastate the civilians. India has remained a successful democracy and despite Naxal threats there have been elections. What have the representatives from these areas managed to accomplish? Every year Rs. 2 crores is allocated to each Member of the Parliament for the development of his/her constituency. Why has no progress been made?

Operation Green Hunt has certainly had a huge set back after Dantewada episode, but then are our CRPF and COBRA men enough? Why was CPI(M) not banned in West Bengal when the central government banned it? Why does the Home Minister offers to resign but refuses to use military or air force?

Dantewada has also been the place where the CRPF and COBRA forces had killed more than 50 naxals, in Sept. 2009. Certainly the message is clear, whoever plans better wins the battle. And that has been the case in every battle fought.

Why not deploy other para military forces? When the State Police does not have enough men and inventory too tackle the Naxalites why not upgrade them? Undoubtedly Naxalites fight their war from the jungles in the Guerrilla warfare style, should we not take this to another level. They acquire or manufacture the arms, certainly this needs money and it comes from loot and forceful extraction of money. Why not take steps to prevent them? We can take some inspiration from Assam where ULFA activities are pretty much put to rest off late.

What will happen if India attempts a war against Naxals...like President Mahinda Rajpaksa tried against Prabhakaran's LTTE?

In my opinion we need to step up the heat. We need to mobilise more men and deal with Naxals with steel will. However, military action is not the only way out. Invite them for talks, let the representatives work for their constituencies. Why not offer them opportunities in other sectors like handicrafts, tourism? It is no longer the peasants' struggle it started with...let's see where it leads to.


What are your thoughts on this issue?

Do post your comments and keep suggesting the topics you would like to read about.

Keep posting...Keep blogging...Keep learning

With special thanks to Ela Singh, who suggested the topic

With lots of love
Atul Mishra

All the Best

Dear Friends,

6th day of the month and no new posts...well yes I have been busy. The purpose of this post is to put on board the reason for long absence and to let you know what to expect.

I am leaving Vizag this evening and will get off the train on 8th. Latest by 9th evening there would be a write up on Naxal problems in India, college life and life after college and some more issues.

Keep suggesting the topics or discussions you would like to have and feel free to post your views.
In the mean time, few of my friends may post some articles. As I had said in my first post, "Why I decided to Blog?" this is an attempt to bring into light everything which can ever bother you. Be it the dossiers exchanged with Pakistan or the death sentence of Kasab, the resignation of Shashi Tharoor or the Government intervention in Indian Medical Association. Watch out for lots of interesting stuff.

Got to go.

All the best.

Keep posting, keep blogging, keep learning.

Love and Regards
Atul Mishra

Caste Sysem: Education, Employment, Marriage and Beyond

Dear Friends,

As I said in my first post, "Why I decided to blog?", this blog is a small attempt to bring into light every small thing which matters to us; an attempt made to reflect upon the society and the way we look at it; an attempt to voice our views, opinions and concerns on various facets of life. Well the title of this post gives enough indication of the focus of today's post. So lets get started.

You would have come across the following information in some way or other:

• Premier institutes of the country, IITs and IIMs oppose caste based reservation
• Inter caste marriage annoys gram panchayat, refuses to accept the relation.
• Inter caste marriage results in honour killing.
• Demands in parliament to have reservations in private firms

Is it time to do away with the caste system? If yes, then is it going to be easy? Certainly no; then where are the difficulties? Lets have a look.

As we all know, castes were developed to recognize the deeds of the person. All humans who performed similar tasks for livelihood were labeled to have same caste. Yes the focus was on karma. Advantages were clear, there would be brotherhood and not rivalry among the people of same caste. However, a person's caste was determined with his birth. Again this was very fair.

A priest cannot teach his son the art of business.

So let him teach what he knows the best. However, times changed. It became necessary for a brahmin to work for an entrepreneur. It was apt for a rickshaw puller to be educated. Hence things changed.

From pre-colonization to post independence, a lot of water had flown under the bridge. It was time for social upliftment of the deprived. It was time for the uprising of the oppressed. It was time to breed equality. The only way out was to force the so called 'upper caste', to place them under compulsion; in order to allow a breathing space to the people of lower caste.

This resulted in reservations.

That was 6 decades ago.

Today we see ourselves as a developing economy, a nuclear power, the IT hub of the world. A nation which was growing at more than 6%p.a, while the most of the world was under recession. We look to have a greater say in the issues concerning the world. We build Arihants and Chandrayaans; we acquire Arcelor and Corus; we sign nuclear deals and dossiers. But we also have farmers committing suicides. There is a gap between rich and poor; between the rurals and urbans; between the rich of the rurals and rich of the urbans. There is prosperity but there is also naxalism and civil wars. Yes we have a Bangalore and a Mumbai; but we also have a Dantewada and a Dharavi.

Aren't we living in a country diversified not only by language and religion but also by problems and issues? Shouldn't the laws of this land reflect the change in times; reflect the diversity and unity? Why not remove reservations in phases from the country? Why not have no reservations in more developed urban areas? Why not have reservations based on economic status of a family? Why not take into account the per head family income?

Can there be an end to the caste system? I believe yes.

If we permit inter caste marriages; imagine a brahmin marrying a businessman: what would their children be called? What significance will the caste bear?

It is all actually very simple

Remove caste from all equations

• Decide reservation based on income.
• Stop considering caste as a factor in marriages - it is the profession, lifestyle and compatibility which matters.

No doubt it will be tough to implement them, but its nevertheless possible. There will be opposition from the so called old heads and it will be the youth who will face the burnt...but in the long run it would be beneficial. Are we ready to change the society?

What about the political interests? Its an open secret that every party aims at broadening their vote bank. Will they allow such a change? If they don't then should we allow them into the parliament? The strength of any democracy is its people. Pakistan today is a failed state because its citizens are rendered powerless. We have the right; we have the power but alas we seldom show it.

What are your views on the caste system in India?
Should we continue to have castes or should we abolish them?
Can we bring in the change?

Please post your comments and responses.

With lots of love
Atul Mishra

Economics: Satyam scam good for corporate governance?

Dear Friends,

As I specified in the earlier post, "Why I Decided to Blog?" am back with my first write up. The aim of this blog is to encourage healthy discussions, so why not get started straight away.

Economic Times Reports:

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India(ICAI) believes that Satyam scam is among the best things that could happen as in near future it would improve corporate governance. ICAI is the apex body of chartered accountants in India and a statement of this effect on its part carries a lot of importance. The body believes that Satyam has now become a case study which would help in controlling frauds.

Well that's what ICAI has to say, but my personal view on the matter is that the scam was handled very effectively. In a matter of hours govenment decided to save the company. Indeed the scam hurt the image of India Inc. but the way things have shaped up is quite appreciative. Now for the matter of corporate governance, yes Satyam will eventually be a case study, but it also exposes the possibilities a director can explore for meeting his vested interests. This is in a way similar to the recent recession, whatever happened was bad and may be we have learnt our lessons but does this mean that we won't have an economic slowdown again? Certainly not. We had a great recession in 1930s, didn't we have one more?

What do you think, can there be another Satyam? Was the government right in intervening?

Awaiting your responses and comments.


With lots of love
Atul Mishra

Why I Decided to Blog?

Dear Friends,

Blogging is not new to most of you I guess, but as you would see the purpose of this blog is different. A few more days and I will become an alumni of GITAM. The last 4 years have been enthralling, it has changed my life and my outlook towards it. Perhaps that's what life is all about. You meet people, get an insight into their psychology and learn from them. Perhaps the best ability of a human is to learn from experience and the one who makes good use of this, beyond the shambles of uncertainty, attains success. And that's a personal observation. As I gear up to start afresh in this wide, fiercely competitive and challenging world I feel I can give back something to GITAM; to my friends and juniors and to the department in particular. As a junior I have always appreciated the value addition that a senior's guidance can provide and have found it quite pleasing to accost them. However, I don't know how helpful I have been to my juniors so I decided to offer myself another chance. And this was the best option to start with.

What this platform would provide you is a discussion portal to voice your views, your concerns about anything which bothers, concerns or interests you. From final year projects to industrial trainings; from industrial tour to final placements; from Lalit Modis to Barack Obamas; from Kapil Sibals to Jaswant Singhs; from academics to extra curriculars. May be I will be able to advice you over some of these issues, others will be taken care of by other alumnis like me and some others will sort themselves out. This brings me to specific areas of interest: what future plans do you have friends? Let me guess:

• Mulling over MBA(CAT & Co...I mean MAT, JMET, SNAP et. al)
• Planning to leave the country(GRE)
• Take up public administration(UPSC)
• Start earning
• Get more technical(M.Tech, research et. al)

Well, whatever it is guys realize one thing in life:

Its you and only you who has the right to define your success.

And once you do that never ever change it, unless of course you attain it. Hopefully I will find time to upload plenty of articles, prepare my own analysis and write ups of varied issues and keep posting. Please do tell me what type of discussions you wish to have. Help me make myself better. Any questions, suggestions or comments on any topic is of utmost importance to me. Please do tell me the topics you would like to discuss.



Cheers and may all of us rest in peace.

Very soon I will post my first write up on Satyam scam.


To all those who approached me for any sort of advice.

With lots of love
Atul Mishra