House hunting, I met Shalom and her little adorable pug of six years, Jasmine. Shalom is the tenant, she and her husband are moving to a place with a larger yard, maybe for Jasmine? “Our overly spoilt dog!” exclaims Shalom lovingly. In that way we got talking and she explained how happy she was in their current dwelling. She had particularly chosen this house, because at first she was overwhelmed by the multitudinous faces. This house she hoped would ensconce her until she became acclimatised with our population.
We spoke forgetting the agent and my husband were waiting under the blistering sun outside. Shalom is so impressed with India. “I am amazed with the people here. They are so intelligent and can do anything! I literally mean anything, even a person who looks so ordinary is so savvy about most things, computers...” her sentence tapered off in awe to quiet introspection.
I felt happy about the American’s first impressions. Then I remembered the other thing she had said. As amazingly she found Indians very intelligent, she found government officials rather obtuse! It makes me wonder whether our country is battling within itself, like a man battles with schizophrenia; the ego and the alter ego. There are hard working Indians as against the officials and politicians. We have professionals who create the marketable concepts and commodities; health care workers, engineers and scientists who create platform for research and development; eminent doctors who care for people. Businessmen create wealth and opportunities for the country; these productive people are up against slothful officials.
We have Ratan Tata on top of the list, creating wealth and opportunities, Dhoni and boys, who reap in big money via endorsements. N R Narayanamurthy put Bangalore on the globe much to Obama’s chagrin. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen begot India fame. The list is long, many who create wealth intellectual as well as monetary; industrious against government that runs shoddy with excuses of monetary constraints. When Ratan Tata from India can lead his company effectively to grow 12 folds, obviously there are opportunities if there is the will, and a democratic process can do wonders for an economy.