Missing Individualism

Last month I was having dinner in my mess which caters to nearly 200 people. We were short of rotis so we ordered some and we were quite a number. And the waiter brought a plate full for so many of us. Obviously, we all jumped like a typical Indian mob. Alas, four rotis and two people were left. The other guy took all four. And it is not that no more rotis were to come. I could not understand the sense of insecurity a common Indian was having. Is it that the notion of optimum has still not sunken after nearly seven decades of British rule/scarcity?

Mess is a wonderful place where one can find similar behaviours. If you are sitting in a typical Indian mess and ask someone to pass the jug, the passer will first fill up his half filled glass first and then pass, as if he has discovered a newly found thirst; or is he the victim of the evolutionary indian insecurity deep rooted in our genes which arises from centuries of scarcity? Either way it is excruciating to watch this type of common behaviour.

India obviously is a vibrant and an arriving superpower but the common indian is still a timid individual, rather has a host psychology. We cannot do businesses individually, we are good at tennis doubles and awful at singles. We unite as a team when there is no other option. We like the herds and follow them religiously.

I think an indian individual has an instilled sense of insecurity when he is alone. Maybe it is the feeling, 'united we fail', that serves as a further justification of our failures that none is ready to espouse but everyone knows are inevitable. Whom to blame, huh?


Where is the Indian Individual's conviction? Why are we afraid to take decisions which are crucial to the fulfillment of our own dreams. Why are we so willing to tap the herd psychology and marry stereotypism when, I am sure, we have abundance of individual genius who can surpass the herd and set new benchmarks. Hitting the nail on the head, why do we need someone to protect us (a wall behind)? Maybe it lies in the way we have been brought up, following the stereotypical paths our parents have shown us but the change is needed and the society needs the change. Our country needs embodiments of individualism whom we can look upto and I am unsure whether plenty of them are in line.

Black: The Savior

When the world around us ponders over the corruption and black money, it is important to note why our money becomes black and why, instead of rising asset prices in India, we are not facing an asset bubble in our face.

Well, when Mr. Babu took money from the contractor, he could eventually not deposit it in a bank account. So, he thought to buy a house instead in the name of his wife. The govt. norms would not allow him to buy a house (an asset) quite costly vis-a-vis his income. So he told the seller that I will pay you half black and the rest white. Obviously, the owner was happy. Now, India does not have practice of issuing loans as per the market rate. The Indian Property law is not market driven, as the law should never be. The law can be based on some parameters but it should not be dynamically driven by it. The Indian lawmakers probably saved the day for India.

When the world was having a turmoil, 50-60% of our GDP was finding ways to be spent since the only thing stopping it was the archaic Law of India. If it would have been the other way around, Mr. Babu could have shown a stock purchase, inflated his profits therby making it legitimate and then, on the books, bought the house for an x amount registered in the banks. Bank also knows that Mr. Babu's home costs a lot more than he has shown in papers and in case of a scrutiny, the same can be highlighted.

The transparency would have made the market hands on thereby making the fall more steep. In India, housing price is a localized and customized phenomenon. This saves the day when everything is falling down, because the actual cost is always higher than that in the books. So, all in all, black money becomes a savior when macro-economic situation is not looking fine. And that would not have been possible without the old and beautiful Indian law.

The Sacrificial Generation

In the history of fame and corporation, the foundations of an idea that has revolutionized the dynamics of livelihood has not been given but implemented by a sacrificial generation. It was the generation which had no time to listen to daily chores or live an ordinary life because they were born to give the world, what I call, pumps of a nation. These pumps gave birth to revolutions our nation had never seen before like telecom revolution started by Bharti-Mittal or the power revolution which we will all see in 5 years or soon.

Obviously, they sacrifised a lot. It is said that the idea of insurance was born in a slum where these people hated the whole idea as such but look what it turned out to be. What were they losing? It was nothing except a ordinary life. It is one to know the objective and then sacrifice, a privelege which a socialist setup could never lend, and it is the other to be driven by an idea like you are pushed in Mumbai locals. The choice obviously lies with us.

For, the likes of magnates we see today (Ambanis, Birlas, etc) are not the chosen ones, but they are the lucky administrators who's one sacrificial generation had laid the seeds of implementing many a ideas that can push all the undecisive ones along. This one generation can be called as a mutation in the history of economic evolution. You might be one of these X-men, all that matters is one decision you will never regret taking, whether you wanna push the world or get pulled. Because once on deathbed, like an old warrior, you might wish a death in blood than in your piss.

Get Paid For Being Pregnant

The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana seems a boost to our population numbers. Every pregnant woman will get a sum of Rs. 4000 over a period of six months. All street vendors would be covered under this. There is no doubt that the maternal aide program thus created will help many but will prove as a headache to human resource deptt.

This seems to be benifitting nearly 18.6 lacs women and would soon turn out be a huge business in places that are poverty stricken. The places where you see threatening eyes when you click your dear friend near a picturesque. It is sad to see places like these and it definitely reminds you of the high Ginni coefficient.

But still the sight of small young girls going to schools is refreshening. But guess what the ministry has given a hidden incentive to only those families having strength of five. Though we need to improve our infant mortality rates and low birth weights, but this is a solution with some externalities that seem far more harmful and I can envisage a viscious circle ahead.

TOSS

That was the first day when I felt that I had been listening to all the crap in the classrooms till yet. It was not about the class, the quality of teaching or the resources. It was the teacher, the most important person in the life of a student. He's our Project Director (PD) and he's got it all. The feeling was the elation that a child experiences when a grandfather/mother recites a story to a kid.

The lecture was a sheer technical story; the experience was pouring out of PD as if he had been immersed in the process of building the largest machines on the planet. The reverse engineering was being done through the very basic science which even a tenth class kid knows. That's when it hit me like a bullet that when we all had been studying for hours no one taught us how to think which is the underlying skill for understanding systematically. Just imagine if our PD would teach a bunch of third class kids for an hour on Sundays. He can produce many PDs like him and our country has no dearth of such people who just fade away from the face of earth by devoting their lives to the only process which they enjoy.

That's where TOSS comes in. These people are eager to contribute and would love to Teach On Saturdays & Sundays. A huge responsibility of educating the young and making them 'really educated' rests on on all the experienced 'corporate teachers'. If we make the point bigger, it might be a Teach Revolution.

How Does the Debt Work?

Here's a story how big our Debt might be. Headlines: America in debt of trillions of dollars. Oooops!! Isn't is horrifying? Well maybe not. Let us look a bit closely and understand it through a small 'ode'.

A small motel in California.

Scene I:
Traveller: Hey! Wake up you Mr. I need a room. (Pays him 100 bucks)
Motel Owner (MO): Ohk. 100 bucks!
Traveller: ??? Are you out of your mind? This is recession going on.
MO: Well, get it or get out. (Takes the buck). I will be back in fifteen minutes.

Scene II:
MO: Take your money, man. We are even now.
Contractor: Well, yes until you return my drilling machine.

Scene III:
Contractor: Well, Mr. Manager. Now I dont owe you a single buck you blood-sucking new version of satan.
Mr. Manager: You still owe up 10 bucks of interest. I won't let you go coz all of us are after all returning the interest to the mighty Fed.
Contractor: Oh take the cake. I will return the cherry later.

Scene IV: ( Hey, Sandy!! Go, go. Just make him feeeel good. Alrite!! Just ride. GO!)
Bank Manager: Hey! Ms. LovelyAssForYou. Here's the rest.
Prostitute: You didn't turn your back on me. you are a nice man, Banky. Want another.
BM: No, I have to file Chapter-11 today. My bank is going broke tomorrow. Smiles.
Prosti: Well, then we will celebrate the fat check you will get tomorrow, Fatass!

Scene V:
Prosti: Hey, Lou! Thanks man. Seems like a new arrival huh? Set me up. And here's your pain in ass. Take it. I'm waiting. Just say ready when he says yes. ohk?
Motel Owner: Well, yes! But no lending this time.
Prosti: You dumbass! It is his room this time not mine.
MO: (Makes a deal).


And the chain goes on. Well, maybe you guys got it. But the total debt was 500 bucks. See, how big and inter-linked it is.

The Last Four Years.....

I still remember the first day of the college and the only thing I understood was that it was not for me. I realized that either I was in the wrong college or maybe wrong profession. As many say time is the best medicine. Soon I found that here people vary from chill-out-creatures to serious psychos. Everyone having a different tale ranging from joints to niche ambitions. I realized that it is not the brand of college that matters but people who make that brand. I was soon feeling lucky seeing the long and successful alumni. I thanked God but have known since childhood that mediocrity is in abundance but excellence is rare. Soon I was finding the parameters of excellence. I could not find any external parameter (except beauty in case of girls). Money (it will come), CGPA (does not matter), intelligence (all here are equally or rather more intelligent than me), character (well maybe), cars, girlfriends, placement, etc. nothing fits. Well then what?

The first I found was in the third year. Since childhood I wanted to be an engineer, to build big buildings, big planes, etc, I have never thought about money. When I was interning in L&T I found that after working till late one night, I didn't want to go the next day. I understood that it is the hunger that matters. If you are not hungry, sooner or later you will be complacent, nothing will matter. The second one I found out in the last semester - the people. They only can make it happen. They can pull you out they can push you, from birth till now, they were always there to listen to me, to rebuke me, to support me - friends, parents, etc.

After long four years, all I have left still is hunger and people those who can die for you and I can die for them. After these four years some will achieve goals, some confused like me will reach a bit later, but all us - hungry people- will reach. Everyday reminds me of the first day: the stage, the auditorium the gorgeous seniors, the vibrant Director, etc. I still question myself whether I will be able to justify myself as "ENGINEER" for the rest of my life. However, hellish it was, it was worth the friends (people).