A Note To India's Builders

Some ideas to think about as the country grows

Hello,

The future seems remarkably bright for India.

As Nikhil Kamath says, India is the coolest party in the town for global investors.

Everyone wants a piece of the action. The projected numbers say we will be the fastest-growing economy for a while, and #3 in the world very soon.

It does sound very optimistic and exciting, I won’t deny it. But at the same time, I feel there are a few meta-ideas every Indian who will be a part of this incredible story must think about:

1. Never smoke your own stuff: The world and its fund managers seem to be going nuts about the India story. Great. It may even seem like some have convinced themselves about the inevitability of India’s majestic rise. Even better. And this sometimes happens because once you’ve bet the farm on an asset, you want it to go up really bad- and that want slowly morphs into a belief.
   
   Let the world wax poetic about our economic potential. We must remember that a good story is merely the beginning- the hard job of doing the actual work, building businesses, pulling people’s incomes upward, and hitting 7% growth rates for a few decades is still ahead of us. So instead of prematurely celebrating, we must get down to business & turn the narratives into reality- and not laze around complacently, basking in the glory of all those giddy newspaper headlines.
   
   
   

2. Build before you brag: Just as we acknowledge that the real work is ahead of us (and there’s no denying that we’ve already made giant leaps in the past decade), we must focus our energies on building world-beating technological, cultural, and creative products instead of merely chest-thumping because Navbharat Times says India is the fastest growing economy and ahead of China. It is in times of narrative euphoria that we must remind ourselves: that we haven’t fully won our bragging rights yet.
   
   
   

   
   
   

3. Create, don’t crave: Another tendency we must avoid like the plague is to seek endless Western validation for our ideas, products, and culture. It may seem like finally India is getting noticed by the world- but it doesn’t imply that we must now get our due attention and all our amazing ideas and inventions must receive a standing ovation from the global sisterhood. No, soft power follows hard power. The world admires nations after they’ve acquired some combination of economic, technological, and military clout- that is when they start believing that there must be some great things about the nation’s culture that have enabled it to reach a strong position. So we must first create and acquire hard power instead of prematurely craving appreciation from others.
   
   

   

   Just threw in this cool pic for no particular reason

   
   
   

4. Contribute to the buildout: Those 7% CAGR figures aren’t going to magically put themselves on the charts. It’ll require a concerted effort by 140 Cr people to turn it into reality. It’s convenient to believe that all of that work is the responsibility of policymakers and businessmen- but do not deceive yourself with such ideas. Every person has a role to play- and most importantly, it’s the fortunate- the educated, affluent people, who have to work hard towards this goal. It could be through starting businesses and generating employment, adding value through your job, volunteering for social organizations, or donating money to help the not-so-fortunate rise and make a life for themselves. Everyone has to take part in the build-out. I strongly believe that if enough affluent people such as you and I take responsibility for educating just 1 underprivileged child, it could dramatically change the face of the nation. That’s the kind of work all of us have to do, beyond the starry world of business and technology.
   
   
   

5. Celebrate, not overcompensate: There will come a point where our rise will naturally result in greater soft power and cultural appreciation. But we must remember to not drink the Kool-Aid and believe that we are inherently superior to, say, the West, in some spheres (like philosophy or music for example). Feeling proud and arguing that we are superior in certain facets is understandable (owing to our deep mental colonization for a few centuries), but that doesn’t make it correct. If we, after acquiring power and becoming a much richer place in 2050, start believing that there’s something about being Indian that makes you better than others, it will be no different than the European colonizer from 200 years ago whom everyone came to loathe. We must celebrate our culture, but take care not to overcompensate in the other direction.
   

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Don’t get me wrong- we’ve come a long way. From the infra buildout to digital public goods, the country has been on a tear and it’s hard to come across another time post-1947 when the optimism was so high.

We must just realize that this optimism is a tool to propel us to do the work and become a developed nation. We must do it not just for ourselves, but for the sake of all those who were denied a good life, either due to sheer bad luck, or structural forces that keep them tied down.

So let’s get to work and not count our chickens before they hatch. As Deng Xiaoping said, “Hide your strengths and bide your time”.

Let’s build, and let our work do the talking.