Co-chairman of India's Infosys Technologies Ltd., Nandan Nilekani
Imagining India: The Idea of a Renewed Nation
By Nandan Nilekani
Penguin Press; 528 pages
The Gist:
India remains uniquely bipolar. Both the horrors of the Third World and the comforts of developed nations exist simultaneously on the subcontinent. And while those on the outside have been transfixed by its galloping economic growth for some time, the emerging global giant is full of paradoxes. It is the world's go-to destination for talent, yet has the
world's highest high school dropout rate. Despite its robust
economic growth, India is wracked by seemingly irreversible poverty. Capitalism is
still, for all intents and purposes, a nasty word, corruption is ubiquitous and
the relatively young democracy is saddled with inexperienced leaders.
(See pictures of Saavn: Bollywood gets digital.)
Enter Nandan Nilekani, a co-founder of the global IT giant Infosys. Through his focus on global entrepreneurship (his globalization-friendly compadre Thomas Friedman of the New York Times credits Nilekani for inspiring his book The World is Flat and writes "Seattle has Bill ... Bangalore has Nandan"), Nilekani possesses a bird's-eye view of India's strengths and weaknesses. Though inclined to see information technology as a panacea for India's social ills (he admits he fears being deemed "the computer boy"), Nilekani is quick to caution that safeguarding India's growth requires far more than economic prowess. (Read "Stressed Out in India's Tech Capital.")
Highlight Reel:
1. On India's hesistance to adopt an entrepreneurial spirit: "When it comes to the full force of Indian regulation, India is still not a very business-friendly country, and we rank far below Pakistan and China in the ease of doing business. The regulations that remain hurt the small entrepreneur and the first-time businessman the hardest. Money in particular has been a touchy subject."
2. On English as the language of upward mobility: "The highly visible rise of the outsourcing sector has helped transform Indian attitudes toward the English language. English is emerging as the language of aspiration for the Indian population — as a passport to a lucrative job and entry into the country's growing middle class. A friend of mine is an entrepreneur who runs Corner House, a popular Bangalore ice cream and sundae parlor. He told me resigningly that he had taught his staff some English so that they would be able to take orders and they left him to join a BPO company!"
3. On some of India's more fierce internal conflicts: "Forecasts have predicted that India's twin forces of a free market and a secular state will ensure uninterrupted growth and a steady move toward liberal economic ideas. But I have noticed that people outside the country often sound far surer about where we are headed than Indians themselves. In this, India is a bit like a Monet painting — from a distance, the picture seems clear. It presents an image of an increasingly liberal, outward looking country which is eager for the opportunities that are now within its grasp. But close up, our reality is less straightforward. Many Indians stay cautious about our economic future, and fiercely disagree on fundamental policies."
The Lowdown:
While painting India's potential with broad rhetorical strokes, Nilekani achieves an impressive breadth nonetheless. He sketches an overwhelming list of sociocultural hurdles from the political legacy of Nehru-era socialism to education, the deeply entrenched caste system, and urbanization. But his reliance on platitudes and wide-eyed optimism is cogent only to a point: the hows are lost in the dust of repetitive hopeful declarations ("a different type of moment seems to be upon us").
The entrepreneur-cum-intellectual's salvo on the power of ideas is only convincing if such initiatives like universal health care and education cease to be continually and fatally stalled. Until then, such optimism will continue to be shouted down by the piercing shrieks of India's present challenges. And as Nilekani concedes, if you are playing a waiting game with India, you will lose. The Bill Gates of India does his best to weave his "safety net of ideas," but resolving India's inherent internal conflicts is sadly easier written about than done.
The Verdict: Skim