• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

Timeri N. Murari

AT the end of summer holidays or business abroad, we have to return to the harsh reality. We cannot help but compare the progress of foreign countries with the lack of it in India. Forget the West, it is an aeon or two ahead of India. The East is an aeon ahead of us. Even the very point of entry into their airports makes us realise we still live in the 19th century.

A friend who had never been East took off for China. He was not expecting very much, a quick sightseeing tour and back. Unfortunately for him, he returned very depressed. He had spent a few days in Shanghai, an old city, historically speaking. The Shanghai he saw belonged to the 21st century. It was, in his opinion, more glittering and more impressive than Manhattan. He stayed in five star hotels that charged a third of the price of our so-called five star hotels. He wandered around spotless clean streets, and was met with courtesy wherever he went. America was everywhere, from Macdonald's to Saks Fifth Avenue. Of course, we know China too is everywhere. Pick up a sneaker with a brand name and it has been made in China, buy a clock in Manhattan and it has been made in China, even the computers are made in China. The highways he travelled on were better than the autobahns of Germany.

My friend was bewildered by China's progress. Fifty years ago, China and India were on level as two poor nations. Fifty years later, we remain near the starting gate, while China nears the finishing line. The communist government, he thought, was more capitalistic than an American government. They had plunged ahead with the most radical reforms to their economy, and are now an economic power equivalent to the US.

We hear the same envious stories from friends who have returned from Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. These old tiger nations have shaken off their bad days and have bounced back. They do have their own forms of democracy and free elections but somehow they can get the people, the politicians to cooperate in getting their countries to move forward. China does it by diktat. Maybe they work a lot harder than we do. We are the only nation with around 30 days of official holidays a year. The US has two.

And what does India do? We return from our trips to enter shabby airports. We can see the efforts made to spruce up these godowns — an escalator here, a flowering plant there, a new carpet that is already frayed. We shuffle through a transit point that will then hurl us back into the chaos and confusions of an India that struggles to cope with its billion people.

It is not so much the crowds who depress us on our return but the images we have shown of ourselves in these other affluent nations. We have shown the ugly and brutal face of our riots. The riots alone have been responsible for a steep fall in tourism and in investments. Another friend who had worked for two years on setting up a major American investment in India was abruptly informed that it was cancelled. They would set up their project elsewhere. Although they did not use the word `riot', they said politely that India was a disturbed area. Since they were planning to invest a few million dollars, they could see their money going up in smoke. India is too unpredictable for foreign investors.

Other investors have been waiting years for an improvement in our economy. They want to see this long heralded `liberalisation' that, like the Second Coming, never seem to draw any nearer. They are also very aware of our politicians' greed. Their reputation for corruption and intransigence has spread far and wide. Foreign companies know they will be slowly bled to death through Indian corruption. They will not get their power, their water, their telephones, and their Custom's clearances without having to pay hefty bribes.

Corruption certainly does exist in other countries. We read regularly that the Chinese government has executed a few officials and bureaucrats for corruption. Maybe it deters the others. It probably does not, as these executions continue. However, foreign investors see that that China is making an effort, drastic as it is, to curb the corrupt. In India, our politicians promise us a `clean administration' before they get into power. But we all know it is only rhetoric, something to fill the gap between `uplift of the poor' and `liberalisation.'

So, we return from our summer holidays in those splendid nations, sadder but no wiser. We see India's potential to match those other nations but we also see the insurmountable obstacles placed in its path by our politicians and our bureaucrats. They are the only ones who finally benefit from this backward India. It remains here for them to loot.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
Floating rates

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line