India (and my knowledge of indian economy) Unbound

I got a chance to read a relatively old book “India Unbound” by Gurcharan Das as a result of some argumentative  chat-time discussion with my friend, on socialistic and free-market economy and their impact over the problems of India. The book, narrated in first person, is largely a discussion on the economic policies of Indian government  since India’s independence. I started reading it with the mind set that the content is going to be just plain criticism of the economic policies but I was taken by surprise when I found it to be an almost informal memoir. Another positive worth a mention about the book is the insight it provides about the lives of a lot of people like G.D. Birla, J.R.D. Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani and Aditya Birla among others whom the author has met. He has presented the book in an interesting manner with his own experiences and outlook on things but not without required analysis and scrutiny. From his childhood stories to his vicks vaporub days, his tributes to tainted(in some ways) people like Laloo Prasad, Mulayam Singh and Dig Vijay Singh are clearly a celebration of India and what has made the book so lively to read is that he has criticized the policies at the same time. Reading through the book, it becomes impossible to escape the feeling that India has ended up doing well despite the screwed up governance.

Das agreeably argues that controlled economy model where production, distribution and consumption are highly restricted by the state is the primary reason for India’s backwardness. Das blames Nehru mainly for the License Raj, narrow thinking that competition is evil and the huge investments in PSUs which later turned out to be running only for providing employment and not for profits. Das cites socialism with bureaucracy results only in corruption. Lal Bahadhur Shastri who succeeded Nehru made attempts to undo Nehru’s mistakes. He is credited with the Green Revolution as well. Then comes Indira Gandhi’s ruthless mismanagement of economy in the name of socialism, one simple fact says it all – the corporate tax was 97%, that J.R.D Tata had to sell some of his property every year while some businessmen had to resort to smuggling Humour apart, it was so shocking to know that the situation was so worse in our country just 4 decades ago. Following that, Das covers in detail the 1991 reforms and completes with an emphathetic monologue on the ‘reformed’ India.

Overall, the book made me have a different view on business men and understand that the economic reforms are not merely about globalization. But I couldn’t agree with Das’ view on bureaucracy completely. He has taken no effort to understand what a highly efficient and disciplined bureaucracy can achieve. One more thing quite disturbing about the book is the lack of neutrality. While Das agrees that market economy is not the panacea for all problems like poverty and that the government would have a role in regulating the market economy, he never discusses or even hints about the problems in market-economy. May be it is an intentional miss, but this alone is not enough to label him as a supporter of capitalism. To understand why, just read the book

Slum Dog Millionaire is not a great film

I resisted myself  from writing about this but unfortunately I couldn’t. Those who are excited about this film winning the oscars might know it themselves. Let me make one thing clear. I’m not a hater of this movie! I also liked the movie when I watched it.  It had a different  contemporary story line and of course, was a well taken movie. But there was literally nothing in the movie that deserved so much. What reality does the movie convey? Does Boyle think slums are only in India and not in UK? Are there no good things happening for the people in slums? Are communal tensions only in Indian slums? Does he think his country is free of racism? Then why the hell he chose India? Ok, let’s assume everything against India for the above. So, at least, was it a serious movie depicting these problems in India? No way! The reality or the seriousness just ends with the performance of street children in the movie and many indian movies have already done it better. The movie turned almost comic there after – right from mafia boss eating sandwich to the song-dance masala at the end. How is the movie really different from an average bollywood movie where love wins amidst problems? you’ve to be honest to understand it’s definitely not worth the hype that has been created. One simple reason the film has got so much recognition from the west  is the fact that west just loves to see India as one big slum and whoever shows it like that will be awarded and rewarded. Rahman receives awards for this kind of a film when he has composed extra ordinary music for various films and albums. And he dedicates them for India   Absolute disappointment is not the West seeing India as a slum, but we indians looking at it the same way! Let us just kill the habit of over hyping  every thing that comes from the west!

Windies’ Cricket

This week was a happy one for me as a lover of cricket and an ever enthusiastic supporter of the once mighty West Indian Team. I don’t know why I started liking players of this cricketing team but I just love their occasional comebacks and adventures, like the one Chanderpaul did recently. There are 2 main reasons for me to like the players of this miserable team. The first reason is they often lose matches at the last minutes after being at a comfortable winning position for most of the time (Eg. 1996 worldcup semifinal against Australia) I still find it very hard to accept the result of that game! The second reason is they make adventures when others think that it is quite impossible to happen(Eg. Lara’s 400 in reviving his lost record of 375 which he had lost to Hayden before, their historic win against Australia in Antigua test etc). And most of the time, these adventures come up once they’ve won the series already or they’ve lost it already, when they are free from external pressure arising due to the results. I too exactly have this mindset most of the time in whatever I do. I cannot bring out the best in me for something called a contest or a competition, and even if I can, I won’t do it. May be, it is this similarity that attracted me towards Windies’ cricket. Anyway I’m not as unpredictable as this team But this is the first time when some adventure has helped the result to be in favour of Windies. A hearty thanks to Chanderpaul for that!
After Lara retired, I had a feeling that this team was just going to get wiped out from cricket but now I think I was terribly wrong! It’s just a matter of more players like Gayle, Chanderpaul and Bravo getting into the team and play their natural game. I’m not saying that they are going to revive their past glory but I just believe they are still capable of doing it. Even if they don’t do that, neither me nor anyone is going to bother. But still, I would love watching them play their own cricket with their own unpredictability because that is the real nature of the game. It is sad that some people are trying to spoil the nature of the game by trying to do business and make money out of it, in the form of ICL and IPL. Believe me, hard hitting alone is not cricket and won’t stay in the run! Imagine a scene where Sachin or some other cricketer is in the middle of the ground, screaming “Are you not entertained? Are you not, entertained? !” (Remember Gladiator ?) after hitting some fours and sixes in an ICL or IPL match. I think that situation is quite possible in coming years!