4 posts tagged “outlook india”

For those who don't know, Mr Vinod Mehta is the editor of "Outlook", probably the best current affairs magazine in India.

Mr Mehta, you're an ex-Mumbaikar in Delhi and I have always believed that you combine Mumbai pragmatism with Delhi political insights very well. I have always known you leaned slightly to the left, which is fine for I believe it is possible to be objective while having specific political views. But you have sorely disappointed me with your articles post May 16. I specifically refer to two articles:

1) "No Hate Politics" on May 25.

When I saw this, I was hoping for your usually solid analysis of the losers. I was willing to ignore the title, which obviously alluded to only one of the two big losers. The BJP's tally went down from 150+ to 110+ - a roughly 25% decline. It's ally, JD(U), improved its tally. A big disappointment to them, but by no means a washout. The Left parties went from 60+ to barely 30 - a 50%+ decline.

You said "Verdict 2009 is an unambiguous, comprehensive and titanic rejection by the country of extremist politics—of the BJP and the CPI(M)". Very true. But why does teh rest of the article only assess BJP while there is not as much as a word on the left - who saw a bigger decline by any standards? You said "Let me flag a few howlers". No howlers you can recall from messers Karat and Yechuri? Where is the balance? Where is the objectivity? This almost sounds like what I see on MSNBC & FOX here in the US- completely and unabashedly biased reporting. I still can't bring myself to believe this is from you.

2) Your last "Delhi Diary"

Here, you pretty much credit the left with "slowing" India so it avoided the financial meltdown and go on to say (of free market capitalism's trickle down effect) "if it did not trickle down in 20 years, what guarantee is there that it will trickle down in the next decade? Remember, the poor vote with their feet!

It is almost laughable to imagine that India would have been a US style free market with a convertible rupee, privatised everything and no social spending if the left had not supported the UPA. Sure we would have had a few more reforms, a few more privatisations etc. but nothing that would have inextricably entangled us in the mess. SBI would not have been a Citigroup kind of case, no matter what. It is inexcusable that the UPA messed up even the most sensible NDA programmes like the golden quadrilateral road project. It is too early to pronounce that programmes like NREG;'s are successes - but I do not dispute the short term benefits to some which no doubt helped the UPA.

Now, for trickle down. What trickled down in the previous 45 yeards, Mr Mehta? 15 paise of every 1 rupee that was spent on welfare programmes (the consensus, more or less). Would BSNL have provided a vibrant cellular market that we have? I do not dispute that we shouldn't ape the west. I do not dispute that social spending is a must even when we know there are leakages.  

But I digress. This is not meant to be a left v/s right or free market v/s socialism debate. This is about balance. You say you fear you may be labelled with the "S" word (Socialism). I say you should fear being labelled a leftist editor who has given up the Mumbai pragmatism, objectivity and sense of balance. Very disappointing. I am hoping this is not a trend.

In my prior post, I had mentioned a few traits that might be useful in an MBA interview. In addition to this, I would say get a sense of the current, prevailing 'world-view'. In B-school, the traditional 'world-view' has always been that capitalism is king and that it lifts standard of living through 'trickle down' and via the 'invisible hand'. Now, in the light of all that has happened, that world view is being seriously questioned. It has all been questioned by groups traditionally seen to be 'leftist' in their economic views - many of whom are now in 'I told you so' mode. Even the US government seems to be experimenting with what many view as socialism-lite.

It is quite possible that the interviewer across the table might be similarly viewing the current events through the prism of a cynical lens (Cynical of capitalism, that is). It will help to understand the arguments put forward by those who claim that capitalism has failed or is not the appropriate model for developing countries like India. Whether they convince you are not, it pays to know what they're saying and the supporting arguments. For instance, do you believe that, while capitalism as a whole is OK, lack of sufficient regulation was the problem? Or that the model is fundamentally is flawed? Is this a normal economic 'cycle' (albeit a very serious one) or somethign worse?

A good source of articles with alternative world views is, often, the outlook magazine  Also, Inda Together is an excellent source for such articles. See, for instance, P Sainath's article on the crisis.

Get a balanced view. It might just help.

Outlook India has come out with an article on English in India. Makes an interesting read.

http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080324&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=1&pn=1

There is an interesting quote from language expert David Crystal ("If 100 million Indians pronounce an English word in a certain way, this is more than Britain's population - so it's the only way to pronounce it"). Interesting eh? Inglish by brute force.

So "preponing" a meeting or asking your "good name" and if you have "issues" may begin to mean worldwide what they mean in India - which is moving a meeting forward, asking your name and if you have children. I have been requested to "open the fan" and "open the window so atmosphere can come in" and a kind neighbor requested that I "middle middle come and go" to their house. I do not mean to be disrespectful to folks climbing the slippery ladder of English proficiency who end up tying themselves in knots when they literally translate a perfectly sensible phrase in their native tongue to English. I have personally seen heroic attempts to master the language end pretty successfully and it is heartening to see that. In some cases, the perceived inferiority at not being able to speak the tongue ends badly as the article notes.

Then there is of course the vociferous anti-English brigade which will not tolerate English or Inglish. Among the nuttier things that a member of this group did was to attempt to rename the venerable "Grand Trunk" Express train that runs between Chennai and Delhi. He wanted it renamed to its literal equivalent in Tamil i.e. the Tamil words for "Grand" and "Trunk" (a big box!). That was sensibly shelved after his counterpart in the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh allegedly insisted on translating it into Telugu and using that name for the train for its run in his state. Given that it runs in 6 states at least, that was the end of it.

While the term 'Bangalored' is in contemporary vocabulary - referring to the phenomenon of software jobs moving to Bangalore, India - the city of Bangalore itself is struggling to cope with the inevitable pressure on its infrastructure. While the advent of IT was celebrated as a welcome, labour intensive, non polluting employment generator in the 90's, it is now being seen as the root of all ills plaguing the city. Baffling as it may seem at first, the transition in perception has definite underlying reasons. The left leaning Outlook magazine did a good job in raising this issue though not quite treating it with sufficient balance.

http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20071217&fname=Cover+Story+%28F%29&sid=1

The IT industry is suddenly perceived to be a self-serving monster that will brook no interference in its quest for ever greater profits and IT professionals are perceived as overpaid, arrogant, snooty brats by many sections of the host society. Worse, both are perceived as parasites on the host. Needless to say, much of this is based on incomplete and often incorrect information and lack of understanding.

IT as an industry is not understood the way manufacturing or banking or medicine is. The city, state and country have showered subsidies, tax sops, grants etc. to a host of industries over several decades. These industries, at best, had modest success (and, in many cases, outright failure), employed modest numbers of people, built modest campuses and paid modestly. This, in spite of several other forms of protectionism, captive markets, negligible attrition (where will you jump to?) etc. In other words, they never really stood out. Many institutions were built and run at tax payers expense with little or no pressure to show returns on it. Some have done reasonably well with flashes of brilliance. Many others wallow in mediocrity burning taxpayer money. But they are ‘under the radar’.

Most employees were locals – well integrated in the host society – and did not have the means or the options to consume conspicuously (limited housing loans, no vehicle loans, and even if they could afford - two models of cars to choose from!). Few people monetized the perks that went with many of the old economy jobs – the subsidized housing in residential colonies, subsidized medical care (sometimes stretching into retirement), sometimes subsidized education, subsidized food and transport and so on. They were taken for granted and were not cash – and hence ‘below the radar’ again.

Whatever pressure they generated in the real estate market or on general infrastructure was incremental spread over time and mostly within the buffer capacity of the city to absorb. The city incrementally improved infrastructure and the buffer was again restored. The negligence and incompetence of city planners never got exposed. IMO – Bangalore anyway has less buffer capacity than other metros due to various structural reasons I do not fully understand at this point – and thus less margin for error or delay in infrastructure development.

And, last bit not the least, there were no 24 hour TV channels, a few staid magazines and newspapers and few incisive journalists.

Needless to say, the expansion of the IT industry has been more non linear and less incremental. Many IT employees are ‘outsiders’, most are young, fairly well paid and conspicuous consumers. I say ‘fairly’ well paid because there are far too many misconceptions about IT pay. Yes – a few people made it really big. But most others are doing well but not outrageously so. An economic and cultural gap opened up. The numbers employed by IT are far more and growing at a very healthy clip. Their contribution in engendering economic activity, providing employment of all sorts, generating revenue (indirectly via income taxes if not directly via corporate taxes) and putting the city on the global map was far greater. But that got drowned in the very visible ‘problems’ in infrastructure – mostly because of city administration not increasing the buffer capacity of the city in a timely fashion. When the IT industry asked the city to step up, it was perceived as arm-twisting and riding ‘free’ on taxpayers money.

I am really interested in knowing how this gap can be bridged - which, I believe, is necessary for the long term sustenance of the city and industry.