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100 meter freestyle swimming to be the way forward : IITJEE Pattern changes from 2017

Imagine Freestyle swimming as the way to select IITJEE topper. The innovative way found by the exam committee to kill the coaching industry by 2017! 🙂 🙂

The IITJEE format change is again a hot topic. Journalist friends and writers are calling up to seek my view. Most will pass of most of the conversation as their personal insight. Will put the inevitable “industry sources who did not want to be named” in half a dozen places. Will attribute whatever they want to attribute to you. And the life moves on. But, the education system will remain the same.

This is just to capture some key points on the subject so that my views are known to one and all with no intermediaries to deal with.

1. It is all about demand and supply, stupid :
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How the heck does it matter when the exam pattern is changed ever so subtly in a country of a billion ? Why don’t these idiots get it ? Or they do get it but it suits them to act stupid. Each time that they change the pattern of any exam in the country, their favourite “go to town” story is that they are blunting the coaching guys’ diabolical hold over the kids. When would they stop kidding themselves ?

When they introduced weightage to the board marks, they said that it was to blunt the coaching industry. Now they remove the same and introduce something else, the reason remains the same. My theory is simple – you could replace all the current methods and introduce a 100 metre sprint or a 400 m freestyle swimming as a way of entrance into an IIT or an IIM…..would that change the scenario ?

As long as there are only 100 seats in the computer science dept at IIT-Mumbai and there are 15lakh students dreaming about it, the competition cannot be wished away. Coaching is just an enabler in the process.

2. Focus on fundamentals and seek inputs from coaching industry
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The policy making is a bit of a joke. The entrance exams are treated as an appendix to the entire education process. There is no dedicated organisation that is continuously researching and developing the science of testing the candidates. It is an ad hoc committee that comes and does a hash of the whoLe thing and goes away. Can it not emulate GMAC for each of the prestigious school intake processes. Law exam paper is full of errors. A private B-school reproduces an entire section from a mock exam of CL. The longer you would look at it, the most depressed you will get. And these guys have the gall to talk!

Focus on Aptitude. nothing else :
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Why does any one need to have anything more than the aptitude for that field at the entry stage ? Focus on science aptitude for IIT or medicine. Focus on logical and legal aptitude for law. Focus on management aptitude for MBA and so on. That is the best way to blunt the ill-effect of the coaching industry, if at all these guys are keen to do that.

Establish dialogues with testprep players :
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Go and visit some of the top universities globally including Stanford and so on. There is a healthy presence of all the testprep material and courses in one section of the library for the benefit of students. Can you imagine our holy educational Imams and Shankaracharyas do that ? ISB, Hyderabad and Jindal Law school are the two exceptional case studies of building a brand in India and I would attribute their success to a lot of dialogues and brand building relationships with testprep players in a fair and professional way. Most others try short cuts. The government institutions are too lazy and lack ownership to do anything.

Big Data about the million aspirants :
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The fact of the matter is that the big data and the detailed analytics of each aspirant is with me as a coaching guy to the millionth detail about each of the students who walks our corridor. I can tell the strengths and weaknesses of a students at a topic, sub-topic and question level with an accuracy that is possible only through super-science of data and statistical modelling. We predict the percentile to the accuracy of second decimals before the results are out. But, do they care !!!

A B school or a T school would be smart to work closely with coaching guys to improve their processes. Forget that! They think it is an infra-dig to engage except for the newer and younger leaders who are coming through now.

3. Provide the level playing field to the poor students :
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Many state governments and even not for profit organisations are progressive enough to design schemes to help and support the lowest socio-economic segments of the society. TN, North East council, Delhi. Kerala are just a few examples of states supporting students to prepare for IAS, IIT, Medicine, etc., and are also bringing in the expertise of coaching companies to deliver the programs. That is the direction to go and ensure that the best of talent from the country finds its way to the top institutions.

I sincerely hope that sanity and progressive mindset prevails in the room when the policy makers sit down and take the final view on the IITJEE pattern once again!

Happy Teachers Day Ramblings : :) :) :)

Happy Teachers Day Ramblings : 🙂 🙂 🙂

Our grandfather was a teacher and then a headmaster. He lived all his professional life in the village of Allagadda in the Rayalaseema region of AP. He was a respected man in the village. My father has been a teacher in disguise. A govt employee (P&T) who found excuses to stay at various telegraph training institutes as often as he could. I have seen the love and respect his trainees had for him. It is also evidenced by the number of wall clocks and wristwatches at home – he got one at the time of graduation ceremony every year :). When he had more time, he would coach children in our ‘colony’ (my friends and children of his friends) – Mathematics was his favourite. English too, I recall. Also, I can still remember ‘Ozymandias’ that he taught Annapurna Didi that I would overhear as he taught her. My mother started and ran a school at home called – Bharatiya Bala Niketan. Both of them now spend all their time teaching Sanskrit at Samskrita Bharati. In short, this runs in our blood. Sreeni, Dr. Param and I could call ourselves anything though it is a disguise. It is teaching, simple. So this is a special day. Happy Teachers Day 🙂

Teacher in India :
During these 40 years, though, one thing has changed for the worse. The social ladder on top of which the teacher was perched has turned upside down. The reflection of the outcomes of the same is omnipresent. My grand-dad was a respected star in his village, my father had to pursue his passion on the side. In our era, it is all about net worth. Money is the only reason for being accorded the pedestal and poor teacher can never get there. So, he languishes. And when he languishes, the nation slows down. She underperforms vis a vis her potential.

The redeeming feature though is that our society values education at the core of it – the family. Hence, with all the idiots doing mindless stuff around us, we still are safe. The family and the mother is possessive and also feel utterly responsible about the progress of the child. They go to any length to enable the launch pad that pulls the next generation out of the hell hole called poverty. Education is the only escape from that rut! 40 years ago, two sets of people were working at it…..now, the teacher is disenfranchised from that process. Only the family is at work.

No policy maker has the balls to make teaching the most rewarding profession. Why, the heck, should a research scholar or a so-called any educated elite (IIT, IAS, IIM, Ph.D ) not be teaching in a school. What is so great about investment banking or selling airwaves for a mobile company. These highly educated people are doing worse things. The reason is simple – MONEY.

You make the teaching profession the most rewarding and see what we can do to the fortunes of our country in one generation. We are, actually, an outcome of an era that had teachers from the top quartile of the talented population. Not anymore. The more you dig into statistics the more disillusioned you will be.

Teaching recruitment is a mafia. no bureaucrat or politician has the nerve to put his hand into that hell hole. I recall a research paper long ago which said that the two most paid professionals in Japan were the teacher and the policemen. Without any doubt, it makes sense to me. But, who cares! Nevertheless, Happy Teachers Day. 🙂

IRONY OF IT :
There is another irony to it. Our permanent teachers in the government schools are paid very well compared to their counterparts in the normal private sector schools. Man to man. Role to role. Of course, I am not comparing with the hospitality-specialised schools who transact educational business 🙂

It is also a fact that anywhere between 50-90 percent (depending upon which city or village) of all children in our country go to a government school and hence reclaiming qualitative leadership is an imperative.

LEASERSHIP IN EDUCATION :
Instead of utilising these high budgets for permanent teachers and attracting the top talent into the school, the school running administration deals with the issue in a weird way – By recruiting ad-hoc teachers at one fourth the salary-remuneration. So, your child is taught by an MLA or MP supplied manpower who is paid Rs 15-20000 instead of a better qualified and motivated youth who gets paid Rs 75000 to a lakh! Yes, a yoga teacher’s salary in a school that I visited recently was at Rs 87,000 and the history teacher’s was 92,000. That is good. But, we put adhoc or temporary teachers at a fraction.

These savings are being worn as badges for smart management by various hierarchies of the administration. No one has any courage or conviction to take the bull by the horns. The outcome is a disastrous output in the form of an ill-formed youth, in the worst case and an ill-equipped degree holder who has no skills, in the best case. IITs and IIMs are an epitome of the best case scenario.

Why is there no institutional framework to build education leaders ? If we have Instituions and processes to supply engineers, administrators, lawyers to the economy, why don’t we have a top notch and comparable that attracts the best talent and that wants to be in education. They also need to be paid the same as an IAS officer. But, he stays on education for his whole life just like an IFS officer. It can be a stream taken from the IAS itself in a manner that recruits people who have a strong commitment ans passion for education. Policy makers, politicians of that vision – there ? Nevertheless, Happy Teachers Day 🙂

In my view, there is nothing more valuable as a contribution to the society as a professional than to be a teacher or Guru to the next generation. Every profession plays an important role in the society yet a great teacher comes right after the mother and the father. When I look back at the decision of quitting the corporate sector to become a ‘coaching guy’, I did not have to explain my decision even for a minute to my parents. That I was getting into ‘teaching’ made my father very happy as he understood that much more than the whole meaninglessness of selling pharmaceutical drugs. That too, after an IIM. 🙂 For the world, it was quite the opposite! Wise man, he is:) Happy Teachers Day. 🙂

Gurur Bramha Gurur Vishnu
Gurudevo Maheshvarah
Guru Shaakshaath Parabramha
Tasmai Sri Guruve Namaha

Happy Teachers day, yet again!
Satya

Dictated by heart – The Hindu

Satya Narayanan R reveals that his relationships with food, poetry and teaching go beyond the surface
S. RAVI | August 13, 2015 | The Hindu

For Satya Narayanan R, the Founder-Chairman of CL Educate and the poet whose second collection “Dhoondh Le Phir Se…” has been recently launched, everything is incidental. I ask, to what? “To what I essentially enjoy and believe in. I became an entrepreneur as I love teaching all age groups. Similarly, poetry for me is a deep inside out journey and I am an instrument capturing the moment which presents itself in words.” The teacher and poet puts across everything about his life in simple terms at a luncheon interaction at Spice Root in Imperial Hotel.

I begin by enquiring as to what led him to Urdu poetry?

Listening to old Hindi songs on radio since his student days and throughout his stint in St. Stephen’s and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore made him fall in love with the language, he replies. “It left a deep desire in me to learn Urdu and I did not want to die without doing so.” So in 2010 he hired a maulvi who taught him the language and the script, over the weekends. He then moved on to reading Urdu books, newspapers, essays and periodicals. Poetry was still not his dream or goal. It was again incidental to his completing an unfinished song for his young music teacher. “From then I started writing poetry as part of my homework which the maulvi ji critiqued,” reveals Satya. The late Shahryar after hearing his poems commended his effort and asked him to continue writing leading to the first and now the second collection.

The poems in “Dhoondh Le Phir Se…” were penned over two years. They dwell on a mix of subjects like romance, current affairs, anguish, reflection, world affairs, among others. “Each has been triggered by the moment. Yes they are on varied topics as I do not want it to be classified under a particular template or label.” Elaborating he gives example of “Nirbhaya“. “It is closest to my heart. The incident and more than that the way the media conducted the whole show shook me up. The tragedy and the insensitivity displayed were very painful. I wrote it sitting alone in a park.” Through such verses he does not intend to preach but share his anguish with the fellow beings.

The two versions of “Jurm-e-ishq” for Gen X and Y present a funny and humorous take at changing generational outlook of romance while “Kaun Thi Woh Ladki” depicts a modern city girl. Observing a lady passenger in plane with long tresses displaying her feminine charm resulted in “Jalwon ko yoon na bikhero”. In the profound verses of “Sapurd-e-khaak-e-mann” the poet wants his organs to be donated after death in order to be useful post death. In the same poem he beseeches his family not to waste time and money on rituals.

The piping hot Thai vegetable curry and jasmine rice forces a break from poetry. Relishing his tried and tested dish, Satya says, “The Thai cuisine has a nice flavour and is neither heavy nor oily nor spicy. Just like homemade food.” Even though his first love are different South Indian vegetarian preparations, he is not stuck upon it as he likes baigan bharta, rajma, tandoori roti, Gujarati thali and Rajasthan’s dal bhati choorma too. “At every place I request for authentic traditional food. I tell people to offer me what they themselves would have.”

Extending this logic he adds, “Whichever part of the world or India I go to I try their local food. It helps in discovering new things and secondly avoid suffering disappointment. For instance, if I were to order a dosa in Rio de Janeiro I am bound to be disappointed. Hence I might as well eat what Rio makes the best.”

Alluding to different cuisines of the world, Satya comments, “Actually I find more similarities than differences in them. Dissimilarities we expect and hence similarities surprise us more. For example the Mexican burrito is basically rajma inside the roti although the bean may be different. Same is the case with falafel or the Arabian or Mediterranean food. I suppose it proves the universality among human beings.”

Taking a second helping Satya talks about his preference for home-cooked food. Even when he returns home by late evening flight he likes to eat curd rice with pickle at home. The daily menu comprises a healthy mix of both south Indian and north Indian food, i.e. rice, sambar, rasam, etc. along with phoolka and subzis.

The poet considers himself blessed having enjoyed great delicacies made by his grandmother and mother like mudda pappu and Mysore pak respectively. “This tradition continues as my wife is an excellent, enthusiastic and effortless cook. Her mor kuzhambu and subzis reflect her magic and love.” Satya himself is a good cook having learnt the rudiments while assisting his mother. “It is based on first-hand experience. I slice onions pieces of equal width. My different variations of omelettes, thogayals and pachadis are also much appreciated by my wife and friends.” He still takes charge of the kitchen in his wife’s absence and is joined by his daughter, a cooking enthusiast.

A street food lover who likes gol gappa, chole kulche, bhelpuri, vada pav and mirchi bhaji, Satya quips that God has favoured him with an excellent constitution as he is able to relish these items which are literally from the street and not the ones served in the five star hotels.

Refusing to order desserts he says he is partial to pal and semiya payasam of South and its Bengali version. “I barely manage ice cream. My wife and daughter love it and so when I am with them I melt it and drink it,” he says with a wide grin.

Satya — the cook, entrepreneur and poet — categorises these forms of art as creative processes in which there is no right or wrong and no rule book to adhere to except some reference points. “They are all situational, contextual and relative to a person, to a context and to the moment,” he says winding up our lunch with promise to continue teaching and writing poetry.

Narayanmurthy, his IISc Speech and a perspective

Badi-Munh-aur-chhoti-baat : N. R Narayanamurthy

 

I have been resisting this for a couple of days now.  Having known the ways of the reporting in the media for long – many a time, it magnifies a small portion of a big piece or speech without looking at the overall context.  It ends up eulogising or critiquing beyond reasonable limits. Hence, I wanted to not react without reading the actual text.  I managed to pull out the text by NRNarayanmurthy on a rare jobless Saturday of mine.  I realised that what I had read about his speech was nicer than what he ended up saying, If that text is an actual one!

Yes, I am referring to the speech by NRN at IISc.  Our living legend is, at times,  a small time marketing man –   Plugging away his own achievement or Infosys at every opportunity!.  This was one more such occasion.

So, Murthy says that there has not been any innovation or contribution by IITs and IIsc and other higher learning institutions for the last 60 years.  Such a dramatic and sweeping statement sounds good in an Arnab Show on TV from lesser mortals.  Murthy joined them from a much holier portal.

The worse was to follow. I quote – “The only two ideas that have transformed the productivity of global corporations – The Global delivery model and the 24-hour workday – came from a company called Infosys:.

Modesty and truth died a hundred deaths that moment, Murthy!

Elsewhere in his speech, a bunch of accomplishments by India, as a nation, is rushed in a single sentence with a bunch of commas – green revolution, white revolution, space program, and so on.

So, who enabled those ?  Not Indians ? Not engineers or scientists from India ?  He takes that and attributes to Mr. Nehru.  So, did IIsc and IITs not play a role there ?

 

NRN is, of course, a super-achiever

I would like to clearly state that I have been an admirer of two entreprneneurs from India all through my own journey as an entrepreneur – NRN and Premji. Their ethical approach to business and the ability to build scalable organisations from near-scratch (for premji) and absolute scratch (for NRN) is great!  There are not many like that when I was growing up as an entrepreneur about 15 years ago.

 

Infy is a sweat-shop and NRN must take blame, if what he says is true :

Infy was a 4-5 crore company taking roots in Bangalore when we were graduating from IIMB (1991-93).  I recall how it was considered an infra-dig for top notch engineers and MBA to join Infosys. Of course, only until a bunch of guys made money through the Infy stock-option plan! Many questioned the business model of Infy and asked even at the end of Y2k – “How much more it would scale ?”  “How many more bodies will they make sit on bench / export for body-trading ?”

That was not innovation for the critics.  It just was body-arbitrage.  Quite ironically, I found myself defending Infy in all those conversations as I believed Infy was doing what was needed.

 

What is innovation ?  

Is it a grounds-up organic process ? or imported from another society that lives in a different life-stage of her own.  What is innovation in one place is irrelevant to another.  A cheap sanitary pad is innovation for rural india.  A battery operated water pump is innovation in India.  Who will guide an entrepreneur in Sitamarhi (Bihar) about it ? A VC from the Silicon valley ?

I never believed that the definition of innovation has  to be imported from the US.  The Americans and the US-tasted Desis had this argument about ‘product’ not coming out of India.  Their pet peeve was that India was not giving a new era product innovation to the globe!

It all was fine until NRN said the same thing again at IISc and yet creates a exception-category for himself and Infy!  Petty!

The global delivery model was worked upon by 2-dozen companies from GE downwards. The 24-hr delivery model was innovated and perfected simultaneously by a bunch.  Lets face it – the western corporations did not want to this ‘coolie’ job.  I have no complaints against Infy except when Murthy tries to decorate himself with stuff that is undeserving.  Actually, it is not even about Infy. It is about himself!

What I also like him to reflect upon are the following –

  1. The growth of the entire IT industry was hugely enabled by the rupee crashing from Rs 17 per dollar to the current levels of Rs 65.  Murthy sir – Am I wrong ?
  2. When all the small entrepreneurs slogging in India were paying 30 percent plus taxes, our IT poster boys were partying under a stupid zero tax regime.  Take these two out.  It is important to put things in context, Murthy!
  3. What stopped Infy from innovating ?  What has infy done that has not been done by TCS, Wipro or Nucleus Software.  Monetary success does not mean innovation.
  4. What are the companies that Murthy has invested in with his billions of dollars of personal wealth ?   even one disruptive and game-changing start-up like a Khosla or a Jack Ma ?  “Chaar aana daalo, aath aana nikaalo  ☺ ” is what all your investments are characterised by.  Am I wrong ?

 

Society or nation bigger than any individual :

India, as a country of a billion, has come past huge hurdles.  We have done phenomenal stuff w.r.t agriculture, milk, cars, technology, space sciences.  Count the number of countries that can manufacture cars, that can produce and launch satellites, that will have a trained surplus man-power in 2025 to help run the systems/organisations globally.

I am no jingoist.  I am acutely aware of the ills that plague our system.  I am deeply conscious of the transformational changes that are needed in the education system – from primary schools to college to research establishments.  Yet, I am also conscious of the fact that this is a billion people society. This is home to all the problems of the first world to that of the sub-saharan Africa.  And, it is creditable that we have reached among the top 3 countries in terms of economic power.

Our time has just about begun. We will produce thousands of successful innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists and doctors. We need to be continuously aware of our shortfalls so that we keep our gaze in the direction of improvements. The most beautiful thing is that we are a democracy that is going to enable millions of innovators and entrepreneurs without anyones efforts. The Indian family is of that kind, genetically!   We have gone through a 300 year cycle downwards.  The next 300 years are ours.  I have no doubt.

All we need to do is – Stay self-critical yet stay positive.  But, not holier-than-thou!

GDP and Self-belief of a society!

It has been a long time coming!  It always takes an irresistible moment to pen down it down…..
rather to hit on the key board these days! So, here I go…….

Let me start with a few random spray of thoughts :

  1. In 2006, at the IIFA awards in Dubai, the smart event managers from Bollywood made a
    calculated move of inviting the Malayalam Superstar Mammootty as one of the Chief
    Guests.   I am sure you can guess why!   The smarties did not know where to hide when
    Mammootty tore into the organisers and questioned the very concept of IIFA (International
    Indian Film Academy) when the competition is limited to just Hindi.   In its section, Indian
    Cinema, covering great strides made by Indian Cinema the poster s that were featured were
    Raja Harischandra, Mughal e Azam, Sholay, Lagaan, Monsoon Wedding and Bride &
    Prejudice Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Oriya, Assamese have no place in their IIFA.
    No room for Satyajit Ray or Adoor Gopalakrishnan!     I am not sure who appeared  in poorer
    light!
  2. Times higher education world rankings for 2014-15 are out and our Indian friends are upset
    that not a single Indian University features in the top 200!
  3. The centre of gravity of Hockey moved away from the sub-continent not because the
    Europeans mastered playing hockey on grass, but they effected the change in the game itsel
    – introduced astro-turf!  There was a time when India had one Astro-turf at national Stadium
    in Delhi where as country of the size of Netherlands had 250 astro-turfs!   You can guess the
    downhill from there!
  4. An infamous quote of ‘Beefy’ Botham was that the sub-continent was such a place that he
    would rather send his mom-in-law than come here to play.  Two decades later, all the
    cricketers are queuing up to play in the IPL and they don’t care whether  the match is at
    Raipur or Ranchi!
  5.  According to EIU, India will be among the top three economies in the world by 2030!  The
    Softbank Chairman thinks we will be #2 by 2025!  Just look at it  in detail – by 2050, India
    will be a 63 Trillion USD economy (from the current USD 2 Tn) while China will have crossed
    USD 100 Trillion (from USD 10 Tn) and the US will be around USD 70 Tn (from the current
    17 trillion).    After all, US will be 50% Asian

What is the point!  – “It is the Economy, Stupid!”

The famous line of James Carville (Biil Clinton’s Campaign strategist) will, after all, remain valid for a
while to come!  And when the Asian economy will contribute over 55% of the global GDP in 2050,
over 100 out  of the top 200 universities in the world will be in India and China.   Our own Acharya
Narendra Dev College and NSIT and Manipal university will figure there!  That would be because of
the fact that the EIU equivalent and the Forbes and NYTimes equivalent media are likely to be from
here.   The grass will have become astro-turf!

India will be a super power.  An economic juggernaut.   In 1750 AD, India and China added up to 67%
of global GDP. The wheel has turned a full circle in 300 years, as expected.  So, the question is not
whether we will be successful or not.

The question is what is it that we will be doing as we become successful.  Would we become also
aim to become the soft  super-power or not ?  Would we bring the wisdom of an Indian mother  and
the Indian housewife to bear upon our model of success ?   Would we invest heavily in education
ahead of many other things or not ?  Do we have the self-belief that our natural way of doing things
could be nurtured and re-invented without copy-pasting the western models of the 20th century ?

In a recent holiday in kerala, I saw that the only waste generated after a full meal was a banana leaf.
And imagine whom are we copying blindly!   Measure it against the waste generated at an up-
market restaurant that packs food or serves food.  It is a bucket full of plastic and paper.

India and the coming decades :

While we are busy searching for the models from the west, there is an increasing recognition in the
west about some of the aspects of education in China and India.  Each is aping the other.  The wise
among these will dig deeper and evolve the next practice by retaining the best of wisdom and
innovate the process by staying anchored in the future.

Only an idiot will not invest in education.  If a poor or middle class home invests between 15-30
percent of its monthly income in education, why would it be different for a nation. That too for a
nation such as India.  The more the leadership believes in economics, the greater will be the
conviction in investing more in education.

Singapore, Estonia & Kerala :

Singapore has been a ‘sexy’ nation for a while.  Estonia, as an example, is on the rise. It has already
been classified as a ‘developed economy’.  But, there are closer examples in India.  Kerala has
rendered the debate of ‘left’ or ‘right’ and all ‘isms’ irrelevant.  The prosperity of the state has to be
seen to be believed.  Sure enough, it will get classified very similar to Estonia, if it were to be a
separate nation.   And, mind you, it has a million flaws yet.  North of Vindhyas, we are dealing with a
billion, in comparison.  Yet,  we are on our way as a nation.

Bring the universities in :

The higher education and further education universities in Europe need India more than India
needing them.  Yet, a long term perspective makes it persuasive to make room for them to come
and establish themselves here.   The benefits of many decades of expertise in higher education and
vocational / skills education will become available to our masses.  The universities there are likely to
even change hands and become Indian in terms of ownership!

The 500 million Indians to be made employable is a very hygiene level goal that must not leave us
breathless.  It will, if we do not open up and address the world from a location of adequacy,
competence and self-belief as a nation.

At the 2011 World Skills conference in London, I had a chance to address and sell India to the
attendee universities.  Over a 100 of them from all over Europe, North America were in attendance.
The FE universities are struggling more than ever before.  The Govt funding has evaporated.  The
universities had never learned the art or skill of hunting for their meal!   You know the result of that.
“Zoo ka Tiger”!   There is a great opportunity to make it a win-win for all.    I may hasten to add that
the Indian student, the Indian entrepreneur and the Indian eonomy might end up benefiting much
more.  The overseas guys are likely to be grateful to us for it!

Incubation :

Koramangala (Blore) is already more throbbing than Palo Alto at its best.  Of course,  the sheer
population is a reason too.  But,  don’t we think that is one of our strengths once education is
delivered.   One of the most audacious thing any governance guy will do is to push the pedal in the
direction of incubation.   Make it a ‘cool’ thing for the youngsters to become a job creator than stand
the stupid job-queue!    This will also decongest the cities as many entrepreneurs are also feeling
comfortable enough to be at Coimbatores and Lonavalas and Othapalams while building disruptive
solutions using technology.  Remember, the world’s richest man sits in Omaha!   Technology and
bandwidth will make imagination and audacity count like never before.

Governance :

The future of Governance is grounds up and tech-enabled whether you like it or not.  The top-down
economic planning is an old and antique process.  It was considered ineffective by Gandhi, a man of
immense intuition.  The grounds-up  planning and execution with aggregation and broad direction
setting at the nodes  is a super-compelling argument now.  Technology@hands of a poor man has
turned most hypotheses on their heads.  Any marketer or entrepreneur or administrator needs to
reboot him/herself  into  an “Outside-in” approach from the current “inside-out” mindset.  The latter
works fine in a steady state but not in a disruptive era or a period of rapid transformations!

This is the time to go hammer and tongs.  Like Mammootty. He did not have to hear a Yash Chopra
or a Bharat Shah.  He was a super-star down south and al the superstars there – Mammootty,
Mohan Lal, Chiru, Rajani, Kamal had crossed the Rs 1.0 Crore mark much before Bollywood learnt
about it.  So, he had nothing to hear.  Hence, he spoke his mind.   We need to speak our mind as a
nation. We need to speak from a location of adequacy.  Our time has come sooner than another
saint of our era predicted.

Way back in late 90s, Dr Kalam said it.  Much before any one that I heard from.   He said that India
will be a developed nation by 2020!   We are headed to a good place. Who cares what is it that you
call – Developed or Evolved or Rich or whatever!     We must aim to become a path-showing leader
to the world through our own and organically rich and evolved wisdom – that is eternal yet young
and futuristic!

Satya
www.careerlauncher.com
www.muasir.in