60 years... What we've done...

Yet another independence day has passed by... Im guessing people would have spent it by sitting at home .. watching the cricket match or gone for Chak De India.. felt all pumped up about being Indian... and gone back to their daily lives....

I am in a foreign land, but still I see a difference in the way we treat Independence these days... I vividly remember the 50th Independence day celebrations as a student, it was an occasion of great achievement. India as a country was relieved to have survived 50 years of its existence.

I guess at 60, things have changed.. we are used to living the good life... We know we are among the best in the world and dont need any level of self assurance about that. Most of my friends working in IT companies went for work on the 15th cuz their counterparts in other countries were still working... It shows that people today are more concerned about the future versus mulling over the past and basking in our own achievements...

Looking back in the past 60 years... from a layman's point of view, what is that I am proud of?
I am proud that when anyone in the world needs help on the phone, they will hear an indian voice on the other end.. we are the world's helpline (we even came in Transformers, i guess the first Indian appearance in a blockbuster Hollywood movie for reasons other than eating snakes)
I am proud that my friends from other countries have heard about Bangalore and Cyberabad and Infosys and not just the Taj Mahal and snakes and Himalayas...
I am proud to see Bajaj Pulsar's zipping around the streets of Singapore and Manila, side by side with the Yamahas and the Hondas of the world...
I am proud that Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai is the best club I have EVER seen...
I am proud that my friends have started asking how to spell Bharti or Satyam to invest their stocks in..
Most of all ... I am proud of the people... the guys n gals I see around me... Something about them makes me feel that we have the resilience and the strength to handle anything in our path...

Having said all that, there are issues which go unnoticed year on year.. Issues which have been plaguing the country since time immemorial. I saw one of the TV shows on India which came in the BBC last week, and key issues which were discussed were, bad infrastructure, lack of wider roads, lack of good international airports etc etc.
I do agree that these are issues, and these are the issues that are cried hoarse by net savvy citizens like u or me... However arent we skimming the surface when we talk these as the key issues for the country in the future?

As IT/Service Industry professionals, one point which we gotta remember is that we are just 23% of the work force in the country (actually IT is only <10%, the rest being from services industry). But 60% of the Indian GDP comes from services. 65% of the work force in the country is still in agriculture. But only 17% of Indian GDP comes from agriculture. Hence for short term gains, it makes sense to invest in the IT industry and tap on the growth further. But that would mean that we will need to provide employment for roughly 60% of Indian work force in the IT /services industry and import food from abroad (very very implausible and risky option) or build the agricultural industry in the same way that we built the IT industry.

But what are we doing to promote the agricultural industry in the country? Why is it that even now we have only Amul as a true foods company that has helped the lives of thousands? Why is it that corporates have always shied away from entering into a processed foods industry? Is it because of the draconian rules we have in the system or the lack of will to tap into a goldmine of a opportunity ?

However to bring in efficiencies and scale into the agricultural industry , we will need to do more than plant the seeds and pray to mother nature for rains... It comes with educating people at the grassroot level on the right methodologies for farming, getting scale in terms of purchasing power and tying up with the right organizations to ensure that the farmers get the best deal...

But to do all this, something fundamentally has to be ratified... The PM proclaimed proudly that they would invest 25000 crores to ensure employment for farmers. But what is the point in employing farmers for a year or two if they dont have the basic education or knowledge to look at their land and their efforts as investments for the future? How much has the government ever invested in primary education? The PM also proclaimed that we will open 8 new IITs, 7 new IIMs etc etc. They all make sense, but what level of investment and resources go into building the primary schools, investing in adult literacy programs in the country? Literacy does build equality in society.. Kerala is definitely an example for that...

Well i guess I can say all this sitting from my "ivory" tower (which is on the 10th floor. However, I guess the fact remains that at 60 years, we are at one of our strongest ever positions, which gives us the best opportunity to correct fundamental issues about the country....

By the way Chak De India is an awesome movie.. and I guess watching it gave me the inspiration to write this stuff :)