Society and Culture
A Tale of Two Countries - America and India
Newsweek’s old assertion that emerging India shares much in common with America is spot on.
Late last week the New York Times reported of a growing trend of American’s coming to India to work. This, following a report of a growing local talent shortage (Skills Gap Hurts Technology Boom in India). And it is not only Americans heading to India. Europeans of all hues, colors, and languages are heading to India to work on BPO projects that are not English speaking.
Corporate India is expanding, its confidence evident in Tata Steel’s takeover of far larger Corus, an Anglo-Dutch steelmaker (A Growing Indian Empire). So far this year, Indian companies have declared foreign investments of $18.7 billion, more than all foreign investments coming into India.
And where corporate India flourishes, can cultural India be far behind? On the flight to London this past weekend, Easyjet’s inflight magazine ran a cover story of the Merchants of Bollywood, a cultural spectacle Bollywood style. Earlier, French TV was featuring the upcoming tour of Bharati, another spectacle touring continental Europe this fall.
Hidden in all these strands is a very important story of how India is replicating America is more ways than simply its embrace of opportunistic capitalism. Indians are not prejudiced about foreigners coming into their country. Remember that in the late 1990s it was American businesses campaigning for a larger H1B visa program? Now, in a strange reversal of fate, Indian businesses are campaigning to allow larger investments abroad, foreign investment in education in India, and are recruiting up to 10% of their employees outside the country.
If we are growing, we are also growing arrogant. Europe is seen as a laggard, an economic has-been. For our choice of national values, we wish to emulate not the social service egalitarianism of Europe, but the opportunistic capitalism and resource profligacy of America. As the NYTimes says, “The sense of opportunity, in fact, can inject an unnerving self-confidence in Indians of Ms. Gomes’s generation.” That too, is very American.
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[...] Dweep Chanana thinks so. For our choice of national values, we wish to emulate not the social service egalitarianism of Europe, but the opportunistic capitalism and resource profligacy of America. Posted by kuffir [...]
This is intellectual bankruptcy at its worse! You offer us no options but to choose from amongst different developed nations for our choice of national values. You forget that we have are a ancient civilisation and that we need to emulate no one. India has a set of national values already! Maybe things are changing, but there is no need to start from a blank. No need to wipe out everything that 5000 years of civilisation has given us.
Dear Karthik,
Thank you for your deep and insightful analysis of my intellectual capabilities. You fail to notice, however, that I was not offering any choices because I am commenting on what is happening. Anyway, since you offer no choice yourself, other than vague references to ‘5000 years of civilization’, I’ll stand by my analysis. I intend to expand that, originally limited to our consumer and corporate priorities, and you are welcome to comment further at that time - and perhaps even offer some real choices!
[...] the viewpoint of the ostentatious dollar millionaires (and billionaires) there is every sign we will go the American way, naively [...]