My Pithy Reflections before Speaking !

     Nations have progressed  with  Innovation  and  Creativity  since the olden ages.  Where does India  stand and can we regain the glory if the consensus is that we have lost the edge ?  This is just a concise reflection just to accend our minds and not meant to be an exhaustive analysis and interpretation.

     I strongly believe that  the “way to progress and prosperity is as plain as the way to ‘market’.  It just depends on two things :  ‘Industry and Frugality.’  Make the best use of both, but never waste time and money.  Without industry and frugality, nothing can succeed;  with them, everything can be attained.”   ( I am frugal but not grudgingly niggard  though in life )  Sounds simple, isn’t it ?  But true. Here’s the substantive :

     U.K. held the lead over the world for a long time in history.  Industrial revolution in the 18th and 19th Centuries propelled it forward.  Electricity invented;  Textile mills boomed;  Railways and Ports flourished ( Ports traded on seafood exports/imports );   Excellent Civil engineering (British became famous for that);    Cambridge and Oxford Universities  stood in the fore front.  They combined well with industry to bring about the transformation.

     After the World war I  and  World war II,   U.S.A.  took the lead with its industrial revolution and innovation on the ascension.  Hoover Dam,  Golden Gate bridge, Sears Tower,  California to east Coast network,  Highways,  Aircraft,  Boeing,  Automobiles,  Combustion engines, Computers,  Internet  are just a miniscule part of the growth.  Harvard,  Stanford, and Yale became prominent and integrated well with the industry.  BSD,  DEC,  Unix,  NASA Space program,  Hardware  SPARC,  IBM,   and software giants like the MS, Oracle, Cisco  ..  ..  added the catalysts to progress.  U.S.A.  had taken the lead ( and is still leading )  over the World.

     Can  India replicate and take the lead in future and if so when ?  Jawaharlal Nehru  envisioned Public sector as the growth engine of India ( BHEL,  SAIL,  AI,  BARC  etc) to put India on the International map.  Despite good initiatives and aggressive persuit what we witness today is cankerous corruption,  nepotism and cronyism pervading all sectors of economy stoking the CULTURE of Personal Aggrandizement in the Society.  India  lost its  hardware to Taiwan and South Korea.  Chinese are galloping with focus on Infrastructure,  Dams,  Roads,  World Class cities making a mockery of our attempts ( I remain humble  even while admitting this ).  The best known  Indian Products still are  “Yoga”,  “Ayurved”,   and  “Vedanta”  philosophy that is original.  Ancient Indians took pride  in their inventions of  Numeric System,  Zero,  Surgery,  Astronomy,  Mathematics,  Algebra,  Trigonometry  etc.,  We now seem to desperately depend on ready made or quick fix  research done by others and to translate here.  Is it lack of innovation or Creativity ?  Where are the new marketable software or development ?  Have they deserted our shores so soon ?  Have we created a  ‘halo’  around people from  IITs  and  IIMs ?  Even  before  these  institutions  we had  promising  institutions/universities  in  Thompson’s  College of Engineering,  Roorkee;    Guindy Engineering College, Chennai ( formerly Madras);   Bengal Engineering College, Seebpore;   Banares Hindu University   nurturing  and  fostering  excellent  practices  and  thinking  in the minds  of  the discerning.  Einstein,  Edison, Graham Bell and the likes  were not educated or trained in  Harvards  and  Stanfords.  Where do we actually stand  today/now ?  What needs to be done immediately ?

     Reflect and ponder !!!

     ” Dieu avec nous ”

Friday,  Novembar 8,  2013.    10 .00 a.m.  (IST )