The Hindu Business Line : India — the land of people's power

India's transformation has been spectacular in the last two decades. Services and IT prowess have catapulted the country to the top of the table and this century is surely India's. What was thought to be its biggest drawback — population — is turning out to be its power. Not that there are no problems, but they are nothing that India's inherent strengths cannot overcome, says AJAI CHOWDHRY.

The pride and confidence of the youngsters will take the nation to great heights

India is on the threshold of receiving rare global economic accolades, the kind it has only seen heaped on the much smaller Asian economies in the 1980s and the 1990s. But unlike the pride of Tigers, the Elephant is well and truly considered to be beginning to dance. From Wall Street to Oxford, toast is being raised to the success story that is India.

The good thing is that this much-vaunted success is owed much less to India turning a flat world's back-office or just its Information Technology prowess, but really to a number of factors that have combined to see the country rise phoenix-like from its many and myriad problems. Well, as they say big country, big problems, but none that its inherent strengths cannot overcome.

The recent stock market crash notwithstanding, Indian economy's excellent performance; the strong rupee (until recently); the growing exports; the improving communications and commuting infrastructure; the booming real-estate; the humming manufactureing; the soaring Information Technology sector; the revving automobiles; the soaring aviation, all suggest a confident stride into the 21st Century.

It has also showcased its ability in design and research; outsourcing; medical and pharma research; tourism; retail; and petrochemicals. In music and arts, Bollywood and sport also it is making a mark.

Global status

These are just some of the areas where India has either made rapid strides, or emerged a global leader. Was all this expected two decades ago? It is easy to lose one's bearing in the excitement; easy to get drunk on this new-found global status. But for anyone to honestly say that one knew so much was coming so soon is like being a pompous parakeet in the monsoon.

Who had in the 1980s or the early 1990s thought of the Indian- techie wanting to leave the seemingly high life of the United States for a better piece of action back home? Those were the days when H1B visas and the Green Card were as sought after expressions among migrating Indians as some of the very American euphemisms, or Brand America's corporate icons.

Perceptual transformation

The alchemy of factors has turned that on its head in recent years. Today, the Indians working overseas and watching Indian television channels and their homeland being a toast of the Western media often feel restless, and it is not uncommon for them to enquire from friends and relatives about opportunities back home. Nothing else captures this better than the global perceptual transformation of India in the last few years.

Today, the prevalent fear among many developed nations is about the loss of skilled immigrants — a vital resource — who today are increasingly moving back to India to explore the ample opportunities this land is throwing up. Ditto for losing a number of other jobs that Indians can do better and at a fraction of price than their Western counterparts. Good morning America, the Sun is well and truly rising on a flat world and India could well emerge as the global capital.

Tonnes of newsprint, covers of global business magazines and hundreds of international leaders are today not hesitating to talk about India's greatness. Even as the West talks of all things India and not anymore about the land of great unfulfilled potential, there is a certain awe that Asian Tigers never evoked and which, in comparative terms, is only matched by the huge brand equity that China has built globally.

Technology innovator

If manufacturing was China's apogee, services and IT prowess can definitely be said to have propelled India onto the West's horizons. Who would have imagined that a nation that had banned import of technology in the 1970s and the 1980s would become the hotbed for technological innovation by the turn of the century? This was made possible by Indians who had the faith and belief in what Indians can deliver anywhere in the world, if given the right milieu.

When some enterprising Indians took the courage to look within, rather than outside for opportunities, they established dream corporations, the stuff Harvard and Cornell case studies are made of. They took a pride in their country, and worked to make the world proud of it. A case in point is IT hardware development — India is the only country where Indian manufacturers still rule the market. The same market that few gave a chance until the 1990s, least of all for manufacturing!

The same market has metamorphosed today into what they now call `a big pie', among the handful worldwide that are growing exponentially even as all other geographies slow each year, leading to closures and job cuts. Indian products, such as the rural PC platforms developed by HCL and Wipro, have led international majors like Intel to co-work with them and develop a specific range, which they would sell in the developing markets.

`Mind India'

HCL has created a forum called `Mindia — celebrating the prowess of the Indian mind'. The platform, already 18 sessions old, has invited Indians from different walks of life, each deliberating on what he/she feels constitutes `Indianness'.

This attempt has really been stimulating, exciting and needless to say, enriching. Though each individual brought his or her own unique interpretation of `Mind India' at the forum, there was one thread of commonality and consistency that pervaded throughout — Clear sentiment of pride and esteem in being an Indian. And the continuing inspiration to contribute to this elevating image of India.I have no doubt that this century clearly belongs to India. Such is the power of Brand India that its billion plus people, who were tagged as its liability, are today being looked at as its biggest strength. The country's youth, which would constitute its active workforce for at least the next 25 years, is a lot more adventurous and enterprising. The pride and confidence of the youngsters will take the nation to great heights. That simply means that pride for India would only get stronger and inspire more technology innovations, more aggressively than ever.

(The author, a Founder-Member of HCL, is Chairman and CEO of HCL Infosystems Ltd.)

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