The India “Story” – An Elusive Future

No Bull$hit Please

I often watch videos off the TED site, but some videos related to India, off late, set me thinking.

Shashi Tharoor and the Power of Soft Power (referred to as ST from now on)

Devdutt Pattanaik on East v/s West (referred to as DP from now on)

Mallika Sarabhai – Dance to Save the World (referred to as MS from now on)

I couldn’t help but notice and laugh (yes, laugh) at the commonalities that these speakers… let me rephrase that… these Indian speakers and their Indian speeches, shared with one another. Short answer – Stories. “Story” and “Story-telling” being the theme of the day in TED. If there is one thing that I have learnt through experience, it is that if something doesn’t have an insight – its just another pile of bull$hit. The Indian constitution is a good example – a huge tome of innumerable laws, and the country is just the opposite – a lawless oxymoron.

Let’s see some common themes that recur in these three talks.

Mallika Sarabhai:

She alludes to the story of the one-eyed monkey, which is (and was probably told 1000 years ago as) a satire against the prevailing social injustice, and then continues with the facts: “In India there is a rape every three minutes… 25% of which come to a police station… and of these cases, convictions are only 4%.” She then refers her mother who saw social injustice – then made a dance form on it – then invited Pt. Nehru to see it – then when the bewildered Prime Minister asked her what the dance was about – she explained it. Only then, did our PM launch an enquiry into the issue. Then MS argues that this is what we need as a means of communication! (meaning to say dance and other art forms). Hmm.

She then acknowledges that the Indian government is not able to provide clean water and that due to the consumption of dirty water, people die. And how some non-profit organisations, are educating the rural and poor masses in filtering the water before they drink it. So, the point is that if someone in India does not get clean water to drink it is their own responsibility to clean and drink it. (The method cited in the video is to use a clean cotton cloth as a filter – which to most poor masses is a luxury in itself). The government will just sit and watch.

I didn’t get the subtlety in the story of the whistling princess.

Summary: Integrate art into decision making. Unless we do so, we cannot progress.

Devdutt Pattanaik:

DP starts with a story as well. “Of Ganesha” (notice the smile). He then refers to the difference between “the world” and “my world” and why understanding this difference is important.”All you have to do is understand the Mythology of cultures around the world, to understand how they do business”. He then recites a fact and says that “…look at the people around you who have done business in India and you will see the exasperation on their faces.”

He says that globalisation is taking place – the west is based on a linear, one-life mythology and India is based on a multi-life mythology so there is bound to be a clash when these two cultures combine (in business, or otherwise).

Summary: “Depending on the context, depending on the outcome, choose your paradigm.”

Shashi Tharoor:

I really struggled to find a point in this one, as in any other speech by a politician – but I will try.

“I just don’t think that India should be about being the next 21st century power”. He goes on to say that India has a large population, an excellent millitary strength and sufficient nuclear power – but that these are irrelevant to discuss the notion of being an internationally recognised nation. He says, that the ability of a nation to attract others truly constitutes being a superpower – a country’s culture, people, foreign policies etc. “The Beijing Olympics were an exercise in Chinese soft power”.

“Countries are being judged by a global public who are being fed on an incessant diet of televised images, cellphone videos, … all sorts of communication… are telling us the stories irrespective of whether the people of the countries concerned want to hear those stories…” Coming from a former journalist – this is the most hillarious comment that I have ever heard.

He goes on to mention more facts: India has more news channels than many other countries combined. India is a great telephone market… and so on. He mentions that the government of India made clear in 1984 that it had no obligation to provide phones to the people of the country, that in a developing country, telephones were a luxury and not a necessity. He further mentions that today there are more than 15 million cellphones added to the Indian market every month and that the poorest of the poor are amongst those that carry them. “Empowerment of the underclass is the result of India being connected.” Ofcourse “Bollywood, yoga, dance, art, music” of India are world popular. And finally he comes back to what I thought he would come back to – “It’s not the side of the bigger army that wins, it’s the country that tells a better story, that prevails. And India is and must remain in my view – the land of the better story.” He says that nationalism of “an idea” can essentially endure differences of caste, creed, culture… etc.

And then he makes a “point” – “If there is anything worth celebrating about India, it isn’t the millitary muscle, economic power, all of that is necessay, but we still have a huge amount of problems to overcome” … “We have to deal with the hardware of development – the ports, the roads, the airports….” and the “need for a person in India to be able to have a couple of square meals a day and send his/her children to school.”

Summary: The country is messed up and we’re trying to improve it. Spoken like a true politician. I think he got all the votes in the audience.

So what are these people talking about? The Indian Story. Ironically, every one of them acknowledges that India has sub-average conditions of infrastructure, that the politics is messed up, that it takes more time, money and energy to do business in India than anywhere else. This reverberates with a quote from a leading marketing guru – “In India, Government is a problem; In China, Government is the solution.”

What is most irritating is that all the above three talks are 80% hogwash without any operational implications. Fine, that the infrastructure is messed up. Fine that when an average Indian wakes up in the morning his/her first thoughts are – Is there water supply in the bathroom today? Is there electricity in my house today? Are the roads flooded – Will I get to the office today on time? But what is the solution to all these?

The solution is told by all the above speakers – Mallika Sarabhai, Shashi Tharoor and Devdutt Pattanaik; and the solution is “Story”.

So next time an Indian complains about infrastructure, education, lawlessness, dirty politics… anything; just tell him a story. That’s what we have done, that’s what is our strength and that’s what we will ever be good at – telling stories.

I think India should market itself in a way that might appeal to foreigners, “Give us your money, tax, hard work, and … we will give you stories.”

All of the above speakers should cut down the bull$hit and find some inspiration in the hard work and knowledge of people who can translate vision into down-to-earth objectives and planning. Shame on the Indian “story” and the protagonists of the same.

The following talk had a far positive impact on me than the three talks above combined. These are the no-nonsense, no-bull$hit people who despite have been brought up in a world without technology, know what it means to have a vision and make it come true.