Continuing the series of posts by Sanjeev Sabhlok, I am very glad to present this thought-provoking argument on creating and maximising opportunities.
*** Guest Post by Sanjeev Sabhlok ***
No one in developed countries will be found living off a few coconut slices sold under the hot sun each day. So why is this man forced to waste his entire life in this totally insignificant activity? An answer is found in our politics.
This man could well have been a successful industrialist or entrepreneur given the right opportunities. But today, most Indians are either illiterate or unskilled. Socialists (most existing parties are socialist) have sentenced this man and millions of other Indians like him to a lifetime of miserable poverty. Politics is the key difference between success and failure.
The magic of free trade
Adam Smith showed in 1776 that we become richer each time we trade. Both sides gain. Free societies therefore do not indulge in the futile battle between winners and losers. Everyone can be a winner. Wealth creation is not a zero-sum game. The size of the pie is not fixed in free societies; it constantly expands. Even if a person’s relative share of the pie declines as the pie becomes larger (ie. inequality increases), each person still ends up becoming better off.
Adam Smith showed that if each of us produces things of the greatest value we can, and are allowed to maximise our personal gain, we will end up contributing the most to society. If everyone produces most effectively, a society’s total wealth will increase. Indeed, this is trivially obvious. So why did India discard Adam Smith and follow Karl Marx and the Fabian socialists instead?
The stark choice before India: success vs. failure
India will continue its bad policies if we continue to elect the same old corrupt socialist governments. Today, our governments are not held to account. Our municipalities do not clean up the roads nor provide well-lit foot paths. We do not get regular supply of water and electricity. All this is happening even as the quality of life in the West gets better each day through good governance.
If we really want to, we can get accountable governments in India very soon - governments that enable citizens to achieve their highest potential; governments that follow world-best policy. But it will mean changing almost everything we have done for sixty years. It will mean demanding the policies of freedom. It will mean that many of us will have to join active politics to promote freedom. Societies cannot change unless ideas are translated into action by real leaders.
*** End ***
Related Posts:
Unbridled Capitalism? - Guest post by Sanjeev Sabhlok
What is Freedom? - by Sanjeev Sabhlok
January 2nd, 2009
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Indian Economy, Personal, Political Ideology, Politics and Governance, Politics and Governance in India |
3 comments
Some excerpts from a brilliant essay by Paul Graham - What you can’t say. Deeply thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating:
*** Excerpts from What you can’t say ***
…What scares me is that there are moral fashions too…they’re much more dangerous. Fashion is mistaken for good design; moral fashion is mistaken for good. Dressing oddly gets you laughed at. Violating moral fashions can get you fired, ostracized, imprisoned, or even killed.
If you could travel back in a time machine, one thing would be true no matter where you went: you’d have to watch what you said. Opinions we consider harmless could have gotten you in big trouble. I’ve already said at least one thing that would have gotten me in big trouble in most of Europe in the seventeenth century, and did get Galileo in big trouble when he said it– that the earth moves.
Keep Reading…
December 29th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Debates & Discussions, Personal, Political Ideology |
2 comments
Following the first skype call we had a few days ago, I would like to invite all of you to join the conference call tomorrow, 12th Dec at 8pm IST, focusing on Identity.
The single point agenda is:
“What can be the defining basis for an Indian identity?”
The call will be via Skype. My skype name is b.shantanu
Pl. leave a comment here if you would like to join or send me a message when I am online tomorrow and I will invite you in. To get in the frame, please try and have a read through at least one of the posts below:
Related Posts:
The Politics of “Identity”
“Reclaiming India” - excerpts
December 11th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
An Indian Identity, Debates & Discussions, Identity, Personal, Political Ideology, Politics and Governance in India |
6 comments
In conversation after conversation following the attacks in Mumbai, the one thing that invariably comes up at some point is the need for “ordinary” people (or to be more accurate non-professional politicians) to get involved in the political process and bring about change in India.
I believe there is now widespread dissatisfaction around the performance of our elected leaders and people are increasingly questioning their ability to perform. There is also growing skepticism about the established, mainstream political parties. Everyone down from Aamir Khan is talking about how politics needs to change and why the “youth” need to come forward to lead this movement.
For those of a certain age (i.e on the wrong side of 30 - and more - including me), this might sound too idealistic, too simplistic and too easy. It probably is…and yet there is no doubt that there is a real groundswell of discontent - which if channeled correctly can bring about significant and sustained changes in the political landscape.
To everyone who has asked me in the past few days about what can they do, I would repeat what I wrote a few weeks before (here and here): 1] Read about issues 2] Discuss them and 3] Get involved in some group or the other.
Fortunately there may not be any need to re-invent the wheel. I believe there are at least half-a-dozen serious and organised groups who are striving to shake people out of their lethargy and get them involved in the political process.
I have written about some of these groups before…but here is a short (and almost certainly incomplete) list of some of the more prominent ones.
Loksatta
Jago Party
Bharat Punarnirman Dal
Professionals Party of India
And then there are initiatives such as Jaago Re! and ADR (Election Watch).
I understand that you may find it hard to agree with some of their agenda and/or tactics but I think the intentions are genuine - and don’t forget that some of them are doing real and serious work on the ground.
I am informally associated with several of these groups and am currently spending most of my time on coming up with an ideological framework that could guide a new political movement. Stay tuned for this.
Also I am planning to have a follow-up conference call this week on 12th Dec (Fri) at 8pm IST. I am trying to arrange a bridge number in India so that everyone (from India) can easily dial in via their cell-phones or landlines rather than having to be on Skype. More details on this soon. Pl. note the date and time in your diaries. Thanks.
Related Posts:
Changing India - Step I
Let a hundred flowers bloom*
Lets come together to build a *new* and proud India…
In defense of MMS, Shivraj Patil and others
December 8th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Personal, Political Ideology, Politics and Governance in India |
18 comments
A small effort in London to remember the victims of terrorism…
Mumbai Remembrance
A quiet, non-political, non-religious time for us to stop and reflect for a while
Date: Friday, December the 5th 2008
Venue: Lecture Theatre SG06, London Business School
Regent’s Park
London NW1 4SA
Time: 1700 hrs to 2100 hrs (You are welcome to come in, whenever is suitable for you during this period)
Directions: Can be found here. Nearest tube stations: Marylebone, Regent’s Park (both on Bakerloo line), Baker Street (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Jubilee and Bakerloo lines)
Thanks to London Business School and the students from India, for responding swiftly to our request and organising the venue.
***
Thanks to Shefaly, Amitabh and Ashutosh without whose support this would not have happened.
If you are in London - or know someone who is, please pass on this message to them (you can use the “tell a Friend” button below). All are welcome.
December 3rd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Personal, Terrorism in India |
9 comments
In other words, Stop blaming the politicians
.
Namrata Goswami, Associate Fellow at IDSA quoted in rediff:
...A start…can be made if we stop blindly condemning politicians or, at least, suggesting that they are solely responsible for the problem. “That is bad analysis, to suggest the Mumbai attacks are solely attributable to bad politics. And bad analysis produces worse solutions“
Arun Shourie on IBN:
Things to do.
First, act on recommendations that are made by committees you set up. Second, that will not happen unless we send a better type into legislatures and, thence, to governments. When we select leaders who treat the police as their private army; when we select leaders for whom investigating agencies are instruments to fix rivals or let off allies, don’t expect the police and agencies to suddenly turn around and forestall terrorists.
Oz on Mumbai Terror Aftermath: The Top 10 Pinheads from India (excerpts)
Pinhead #1:We The People
So why are we the biggest of Pinheads?
(a) For believing that something good will come out of this
(b) For thinking the politicians and bureaucrats will do something to prevent this incident from happening again. Yeah right! No one will do anything for us… it is to each his own… we all have to find our own ways to survive day to day
…(e) For thinking that politicians and bureaucrats will now wake up and create this whole central anti terrorist federal level body where all information will flow fluently between all national, state level security agencies. You need a head, a brain and then the motivation and passion to go ahead and create it. All four need to be present in a person to do that. But if you have all four you are not in politics
…(g) Change can only come if all the venting, discussions, pressure on the government to change is done when the common man drops a day’s of work and simply converges with all on the street. Just sit on the street. The whole city in front of the politicians houses, Mantralaya et all. Remember the Azad Maidan March pre 1947? But then Shiv Sena or MNS wouldn’t be interested to organize such a sit on the street day… so here I’m doing what I do… blog about it for which I’m no smaller a pinhead than any in the list above… Jai Hind!
Amitabh Soni of BJP UK in a comment yesterday:
The last thing we need to do is blame others. At the end of the day it is us who are responsible how the outside world treats us..
.
Moral of the Story?
Let us stop blaming the politicians, the police, the intelligence agencies, Jihadis, Pakistan, D-company etc…
I am as much to be blamed for this as MMS and Shivraj Patil…
For preferring to stay quiet when I should have said something
For choosing to do nothing when I should have done something
For pretending not to look when I saw evil around me
For hoping that everything will be fine when it clearly was not
For believing that this is someone else’s problem, not mine.
.
The single-point agenda for the Skype call today was, “What can you and me do to help fight terrorism in India?”
The answer: Go out and raise the political consciousness of people. Go out and make others aware. Go out and connect with other link-minded people. Join a political group…Start discussing initiatives for change. Start dreaming…Dream of a better, stronger and proud India. And then, begin work on the dream…one step at a time…The first step? This time around, don’t forget to cast your vote.
Remember, to clean a pond, you have to step into it.
Related Posts:
Changing India - One Step at a Time
Changing India - Step I
Changing India - Step II
December 3rd, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Current Affairs, Personal, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
20 comments
Following my earlier post, I would like to initiate the first of a series of conference calls on “Ideas for Political Reform and Governance in India” tomorrow (2nd Dec) at 530pm IST.
The single point agenda is:
What can you and me do to help fight terrorism in India?
The call will be via Skype. My skype name is b.shantanu
Related Posts:
Changing India - One Step at a Time
Changing India - Step I
Changing India - Step II
December 1st, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Miscellaneous, Personal, Politics and Governance in India, Terrorism in India |
23 comments
Dear All: As many of you are aware, one of the things I am working hard to make happen next year is “The Hope Summit*
Several of you have asked how you could help and what do I expect in terms of assistance and support. Some of you have also suggested possible agenda-items, participants, venues etc…
This is still work in progress but I expect to devote some significant time and energy to it in the coming weeks. There are at least three action items for the next few days.
1] I would like to set up some option(s) for readers and others to contribute/donate directly throught this website (using Amazon/Paypal)
2] It would be nice to have a wiki-like site on which an agenda can be developed in an interactive way. I am not very familiar with the latest software apps to accomplish this so if any of you have some ideas/experience with this, please leave a comment here or email me at jaidharma AT gmail.com
3] There is a need to have some fairly regular real-time interaction between various people who have said they would like to help me. I am considering Google/Yahoo chat and/or GoogleTalk/Skype (in addition to a real-time mobile bridge for readers currently in India). Additional suggestions/ ideas welcome.
I would like to schedule the first of this call/teleconference on 2nd December (Tues) between 530pm - 7pm IST. Pl. leave a comment here if you would like to join in. I would highly value everyone’s participation.
You will also notice some major design changes on the site in the next few days…Again, feedback on that will be very welcome.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
* This is a working title and is likely to be modified/changed.
Related Posts:
A Response to Suriya’s “Open Letter to Shantanu”
Changing India - Step I
Changing India - One Step at a Time
November 25th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Miscellaneous, Personal, Politics and Governance in India |
7 comments
Dear Suriya,
First of all, thank you for your kind words of support, encouragement and hope. Although I had read your open letter a few days ago, I waited a while because I wanted to post a thoughtful response rather than rushing into a perfunctory acknowledgment.
Let me assure you that you are not alone in your principles and intentions. On this blog alone, you will find several like-minded, kindred souls…No doubt there are many many more out there…
The challenge is to organise, unite and take up this task together…On our own, we will almost certainly fail..Together, we have more than a fighting chance. As you wrote, we need “…the power of a united voice” and agreement on certain “core issues”.
Some of what you are suggesting is already happening…There is an increasing number amongst us who are using RTI laws to make their representatives and local officials accountable…We need more of this.
I would not worry too much about print media…Although it will remain important for many more years to come, long-term trends are not in its favour…There will come a time (in my opinion) within the next decade or so when print medium in India will begin to suffer the way it is beginning to suffer in the west (declining revenues and readership)…So while it is important that our voices/concerns are heard, we need not rely in newspapers now..we can leverage technology to do that.
I completely support you when you write, “I want members to bring up issues and incidents that need others’ attention”…This blog is an attempt at making this happen…and I would be very happy to support any other effort in this direction…There have been some experiments in India with citizens media..but to really make it work, I believe one needs a team of at least 4-5 committed people…otherwise it is unlikely to take off.
I agree when you say, “It is imperative that like minded groups and individuals unite.”…This is precisely the sentiment behind the Hope Summit that I have previously talked about. I have already begun some work to make this happen. In the next few days, I will post a request here asking for some volunteers to help me in this initiative.
One other idea which I am exploring is to have regular tele-conferences on matters/topics of current interest where a lot of people can come together and share their thoughts. Thanks to technology, the cost of doing and managing this is minimal - all it needs is someone with zeal and patience.
Believe me when I say that I am equally concerned as you are with the increasing fragmentation that we see around us…It does not help matters at all…What we need in these times is statesmanship…sadly I dont see that any of that amongst our leadership today. That does not mean all is lost…A beginning has been made…
From one, we are now two…Someday we will be four..and that is how it will grow…The important thing is not to loose sight of the main goal - a proud, resurgent Bharat/India where each one of us - regardless of religion, caste, region, sex has the opportunity to be the best we can. That is my dream…I hope you share that.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
Shantanu
Related Posts:
Changing India - Step I
Changing India - One Step at a Time
November 21st, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Personal, Political Ideology, Politics and Governance in India |
3 comments
*** IMPORTANT ***
There is an article in the September-October 2008 issue of Think Israel that has been mistakenly attributed to me (as I found out this morning).
The article is titled “MOHAMMAD: PROPHET OF TERROR by Satyameva Jayate” and the footnote says:
“Satyameva Jayate lives in India. He also writes on India under the name of B. Shantanu”.
I have just sent an email (below) to the Editor clarifying the source and the mistaken attribution.
*** Email to Editor ***
Dear Bernice,
Thank you for your email. I find you have mistakenly attributed the following article in the curent ediction to me:
MOHAMMAD: PROPHET OF TERROR by Satyameva Jayate
Satyameva Jayate lives in India. He also writes on India under the name of B. Shantanu.
The article is actually from the following website: http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate/mohwar1.html and the second part is here: http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate/mohwar2.html
The site’s main index page is here: http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate/ and the author is not me.
My website is at: http://satyameva-jayate.org/
Can you please make the necessary corrections/amendments and confirm to me that this has been done?
Thanks
Shantanu
P.S. Could you please also let Marc Samberg know that the fore-mentioned essay is by another person not me? Thanks
*** End of Email ***
I thought I should post it here to put the record straight. As readers of this site know, I hold all beliefs and faiths in very high regard and there is nothing here which is aimed at offending any faith/ belief system.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
November 16th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Miscellaneous, Personal |
no comments
Dear Friends, Thanks to all of you for an overwhelming response to my two posts: Who is B Shantanu? and Changing India - One Step at a Time.
I am more hopeful than ever before and absolutely convinced that we are heading towards a transformation of the political landscape in India…It will not happen overnight…or even in weeks or months…But the fire of “hope” has been lit…and it is spreading slowly but steadily…
Many of you who emailed or called me after these posts asked what should they do, how can they help and what were my next steps. This post is an attempt to answer some of these questions…
.
*** What can you do? How can you begin participating in this noble cause? ***
1. Read and read lots…Unless we are well-informed and aware, we will be hostage to media manipulation, poor arguments and suspect statistics. So please make sure that you set aside time every day to read about the issues that face us (and I dont mean newspaper headlines about murders and rapes) and how would you think about them if you were in power? By way of reading list, I would recomend the monthly magazine “Pragati” and a collection of blogs on politics and economy (some names that jump to my mind include Offstumped, Acorn, Deeshaa, Indian Economy, Bharat-Rakshak etc; there are many others…this is just a sample list).
2. Discuss. Try and have regular informal discussions amongst your friends and acquaintances on these topics…they could even be at a social occassion…and need not be very structured…The important thing is to get people “thinking” about India’s problems - and how the roots for all these lie in poor leadership, ineffective governance and bad policies…and of course, please do join the various discussions on this blog. For those of you who would like to join in serious policy discussions, I would recommend the Freedom Team’s Google Groups where many policy-related issues are discussed in great depth (You of course don’t have to agree with everything that is expressed).
3. Get involved directly: Please think about joining one or more of the new political groups/parties that have recently been formed. There is more information on them here and here. Pl. try and use some of the “tools” that we now have to ensure more accountability, such as RTI. If you are in India, please consider these two excellent initiatives…If you have some more time, pl. consider helping ADR
.
*** How can you help? ***
4. You can help in this by spreading the word…Some of you have already done that…Thank you, in particular to Varnam and Dr Surya…but this work is ongoing …and we cannot afford to be complacent.
5. and finally, If you can help organise meeting(s), seminar(s) and/or fund-raising dinners in your city for me, please let me know by emailing me at jaidharma AT gmail.com The “funds” raised thus will be chanelled towards organising the first-ever meeting of leaders from new political parties, hopefully sometime early in 2009 (pl. see point # 6 here). More on this particular point, later.
I have some more ideas which I will share in the coming days. In the meantime, If you need to talk to me with some specific suggestions or ideas, please email me at jaidharma AT gmail.com and we can set up a skype/ googletalk call…or of course speak on the phone.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
Please read: Changing India - Step 2
Related Posts:
Fixing the “system” - getting down to the nuts and bolts
Lets come together to build a *new* and proud India
Politics & Corruption: Here�s how to fix the “system”
November 6th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Corruption in India, Current Affairs, Personal, Politics and Governance in India |
2 comments
Continued from Part I: Who is B Shantanu?
To be very honest, the “next steps” were the hardest part.
We all know how easy it is to theorise and preach…but when it comes to practising what we preach, we tend to get nervous, anxious, unsure…and end up worrying too much.
I passed through these stages…Every day for the last few weeks, I thought about this…How does one actually make it work?
There were some obvious challenges…The big one was the question of survival…
What do I mean by that? Here I would like to reproduce a short extract from Sanjeev Sabhlok’s recent comment on my blog:
“I completely detest anyone who claims to live first for their country. I want nothing to do with such hypocrites. I want everyone to live for themselves first and foremost. That is the surest way they will take India to greatness. Anyone who desires to ‘sacrifice’ his or her self-interest for the wider society is either a hypocrite or a totally irresponsible person, and we want nothing to do with such people.”
Those words echoed what I had felt for years…that one cannot really give up one’s responsibility under the excuse/pretext of serving the nation.
During discussions with some close friends with whom I shared this dilemma, I used to constantly emphasize that our challenge is to do something worthwhile/gainful (that enables us and our families to continue to enjoy a certain standard of living) while also contributing to the improvement of our society and our country (and I don’t mean simply by giving to charity).
I do not want to pretend that I have solved this puzzle.
But, for the moment, I think I have found a way out… Here I have to make a major confession. There is one person – without whose unstinting support and faith in me, all of this would have remained on paper…and only in my head…
That person is my soulmate (and my wife!)…For the last five years, she has given her complete support to my blogging and related activities. If you think blogging comes easy to me, it does not…usually each post involves quite a lot of work to ensure that the content is high quality, readily referenced and something that I can defend (– and of course something that I would not mind my daughter reading – or my parents…)
As I wrote in an earlier post on my blog:
Without her support, this would have been impossible to do…I thank her for sacrificing countless hours while I was busy at the keyboard or doing background research. I also thank her for being patient with me through my “dark periods” and the occasional writer’s block.
To me, her support was crucial…and she did not hesitate for a moment when I mentioned my ideas to her…
So what exactly do I plan to do?
First, I am reducing my hours of “paid employment”. Starting this December, I will be working part-time on two or three different ideas/companies. Most of this work will have to do with innovation, entrepreneurship, venture capital…
It will involve working with start-ups (on a consulting basis), mentoring entrepreneurs, conducting workshops (on business plans, presentation and getting financed) and possibly seminars for entrepreneurs, students in various cities in India.
I will also be taking up public speaking engagements on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Globalisation and of course Politics and Governance in India as well as abroad.
Second, I am setting aside at least two days a week to do things which I loosely combine under the umbrella of political reform/ political activism. This would essentially involve:
- Working on developing the foundations of a political ideology for tomorrow’s India (at the moment, this is loosely based on the premise of freedom and rooted in India’s “dharmic” ethos and culture; I need not mention that “Dharma” does not mean “Religion” here)
- Creating public awareness on the need for reforming India – beyond contributing to charities, NGOs or doing individual good. It would involve getting more people interested in active politics…it would also involve helping people understand the the fundamentals of politics and governance in India. In parallel, I will be working on creating a large group of policy-experts in various fields (e.g. economics, public health etc) who share a common desire to change and improve India
- Raising funds for what I would like to call the “Hope Summit” Some of you have heard this idea from me before…I intend to devote more time to actually make this happen
- and finally, working and advising some of the new political formations on a pro-bono basis. I hope to bring to this all my experience as a Board member and advisor to companies and businesses start-ups…In many ways, what we are attempting is very similar to starting a new company with a grand idea to change the world - think two students in a garage, 1998 and Google.
There are many more ideas than what I have listed here…Some of them will go away, others will be refined…some may never see the light of the day…
But one needs to start somewhere…and I see these as tentative first steps…
This will not be enough though…It just cannot be…We are up against a challenge of monumental proportions….A lot more will need to be done…and clearly it will be impossible to achieve any of this without your support..
I would like to hear from you about what else can be done…where else should I be focusing my energies on…Remember, there is nothing like a stupid suggestion…
So please do write in with your thoughts – either via comments to this post – or you can always email me personally (jai.dharma AT gmail.com )
Those of you who know me will guess that in the end, I may actually end up spending quite a lot more than two days a week on all of this….but that would not be bad at all…In the end, this has to be a full-time activity…
Eventually, the objective is to get actively and fully involved in the political process…and I don’t mean all by myself …but with all of you together…
I hope to be in a position within the next five years (and much sooner, if things so well), to be able to devote myself full-time to this activity.
How can you help and what can you do?
You can create awareness, give speeches/lectures/talks and think about the issues I have raised…You can help by creating forums, platforms, forming like-minded groups and talking amongst yourselves…The wider the discussion, the more creative it gets and hopefully even better ideas will emerge from this.
and most importantly…you can help by becoming financially independent (and beyond that, by having enough resources to contribute directly to this cause) - because unless you are financially secure and your family is well looked after, you will not be able to devote time to this.
Between ourselves, I have no doubt that we are significantly better “qualified”, committed and passionate about changing India than many of our “leaders” who claim to represent us.
As Babu Joseph wrote in an earlier comment on this blog:
We have only 2 options:
- Locating patriotic people who are willing to stand for elections on their on with the active support of other like minded people and trying to influence the political process directly and
- Trying to create public opinion in favor of good policies,programs and their implementation by whatever way possible so that politicians and decision makers are kept on track
I hope my efforts and these activities will strengthen and complement each other and I hope I can begin to draw people from my networks and relationships into this initiative. To me, this was actually the final reason for going public. I realized that the time for leveraging the relationships and the network I had was slipping by…If I leave it for too long, these two parts of my life will begin to get in the way of each other and eventually the synergies will begin to diminish…This was what prompted the decision to “come out of the closet”
For too long we have been saying this is someone else’s problem..
For too long we have been trying not to think about it..
For too long have we been finding reasons not to do anything
For too long we have been pretending everything is fine.
It is not.
We need to wake up…
I am throwing down the gauntlet…
Please join me in this effort..
- Contribute
- Support
- Spread the word
- Contribute with your skills
- Contribute with your ideas
If you have read this far, you deserve a special thanks…You have given me hope, courage and strength to carry on..
This is no ordinary struggle.. We are dreaming the impossible…but we have truth on our side.
I am now looking to your support, encouragement and help in this endeavor…It is a mammoth task…but one has to begin somewhere…I have taken the first step today.
Will you join me…in changing India?
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat!
***
P.S. I would like to end this with the remaining part of Sanjeev’s comment:
In brief, I detest those who pretend to ’sacrifice’ themselves for the country. Such people are almost invariably knaves or fools. Who really believes that the Nehru dynasty ’sacrfices’ itself for India? After Nehru who was an honest person, the rest have been knaves who have infected the country badly with the virus of corruption and who partake in illegal activities each day of their life.
Similarly we don’t want rich people who have no idea of the problems faced by the common man to allegedly ’sacrifice’ for us. Such people (e.g. erstwhile aristocrats and ‘Rajas’) are largely fools whom we can do without.
…The point being - by ignoring the financial costs of contesting elections, we have created a monopoly in the parliament for knaves and fools. No sensible or non-corrupt people are to be found (there are still a few, luckily for us). This is not the way to run any society.
***
P.P.S. I am grateful to Varnam for spreading the word.
Next in the series: Some sensible and some wild ideas. Please read Step One and Changing India - Step 2
Related Posts
What is stopping you from joining active politics? (and Part II)
Fixing the “system” - getting down to the nuts and bolts
Lets come together to build a *new* and proud India
Coming Out of the Closet – Who is B Shantanu?
October 31st, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Personal, Politics and Governance in India |
38 comments
*** CAUTION: LONG POST ***
My name is Shantanu Bhagwat. Some of you who are reading this know me…Most of you do not.
I am a partner in a venture capital firm in London. I have spent more than seven years at this firm…working with some very smart people, investing in a few fascinating ideas and meeting some truly talented people …
Prior to Amadeus, I worked briefly at another great firm…Monitor Co. Some of you may know of Monitor as Michael Porter’s firm. Others may have heard of Monitor’s blue-chip connections.
And before Monitor, I was part of India’s “charmed circle” - the civil services – as a diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service…During the time that I was in the IFS, were the several years I spent in Japan. That was also where my daughter was born. Japan will always have a special place in my heart.
But this post is not about Japan. It is about India.
Compared to a vast majority of my fellow citizens, I have had a privileged existence – at least for the past many many years…And I was also extremely fortunate to have the opportunities to realise my potential…
Many of our fellow citizens are denied this opportunity. For them, the doors to a better, brighter future are shut…for them, the joy of achievement is something that they may never experience.
For them, each day is a monumental struggle, each moment a study in despair, frustration and hopelessness…
It does not have to be like that.
I belong to a very rich and blessed country…Yet my fellow Indians are destitute and miserable.
Have you ever paused to think why? Have you ever paused to think what can you do about it? Have you ever paused to think how can this be changed?
Until a few years ago, whenever I had thoughts like these, I used to talk to a few friends, make a few phone calls, find something worthwhile that someone was doing and make a charitable contribution…
I could then sleep peacefully at night – believing that I had done my bit for my country…Isn’t charity very uplifting and ennobling?
Gradually it dawned on me that charity will not solve this problem – it cannot. I realised that the roots of our poor development, the suffering of millions, the pain and the despair that the vast majority face everyday were elsewhere.
*** Identifying the roots of the problem ***
It was becoming clearer to me that India’s *fundamental problem* was poor governance and bad policies… and there was only one way to change that…Fortunately that way did not require a bloody revolution.
One of the “blessings” of being an Indian is to belong to a democracy, to a system where change can be brought about by popular will – and does not have to be forced down the barrel of a gun…
But living amidst freedom, amidst a free society, entails responsibilities and duties…somewhere along the way, we – the healthy, educated and fortunate citizens of India - began to take the “fruits” of freedom (free speech, individual liberties, rule of law) for granted and forgot the responsibilities that these entailed…
Responsibility to think about our policies, responsibility to participate in the political process, responsibility to act…
For this, I do not blame the vast majority of our population whose life is a daily struggle for survival and basic dignity…You cannot think of policy on an empty stomach…and you cannot feel patriotic as you walk miles to get a “haandi” of “drinkable” water…
But what about you and me? You and me who are most likely reading this sitting somewhere comfortable, with our stomachs full, with enough bread on the table, enough food in the refrigerator, enough water to have a bath twice a day if you want?
What about you and me who are fortunate but shy away from thinking about the unfortunate?
What about you and me whose stomachs are full but who salve their conscience by donating to charity?
What about you and me whose response to misery has so coarsened that looking away from a beggar is no longer a conscious activity but a reflex action?
What about you and me who only feel patriotic on 15th August and possibly 26th January?
What about us?
Why don’t we think about what is wrong with our policies? our governance?
What can possibly cause starvation deaths in a country that produces enough food for its billion-plus population?
What can possibly cause farmers to attempt suicide and sell their daughters for a few dollars?
How can it be water is actually “sold” in Cherrapunji – which receives the highest rainfall anywehe in the country?
How can it be that we can launch satellites in space but cannot ensure a basic dignity of life to the millions who are our poor?
*** The way forward ***
These questions began to trouble me…and have been haunting me for the past few years.
Alongside, there were other issues…many issues that made me feel angry, helpless, frustrated and dejected…
During the last few months, it felt that this cycle of anger, frustration, despair and deep desire to do something radically different was being repeated ever few days…
Reading the news every morning used to make the stomach turn or cause my blood pressure to rise…Every discussion about India came to be tinged with bitterness, anger and rage…until I stopped discussing “politics” with friends completely.
My only solace was my semi-anonymous blog and a few internet groups where I found kindred souls..
Then something happened…
Almost unconsciously, I felt the change…
I still remember the triggers…The first was probably the shameful perversion of democracy on the floor of the house on 22nd July. In response to my post on this subject, Sanjeev Sabhlok challenged everyone to either rise and do something about it or shut up.
That shook me to the core….it hurt ..but it probably hurt even more because it was true…
How long can we wail and beat our chests about the rot, the decay in the system? How long can we continue to cry about the despair and the frustration it generates? How long will we contend ourselves with post-dinner discussions and wake up the next morning pretending (or worse, forgetting) that everything was really OK?
The second trigger were the blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad…Ironically, I had been to both these cities just a few days before…But strangely it did not feel like I had cheated death…
I tried to remember when was the last time I had felt really close, very close to being scared…
Regular readers of my blog (and friends) noticed the change in me…one even said, they could feel my anger by reading the posts on the blasts.
I was glad that my feelings had found an outlet…but this was not enough…clearly a lot more needed to be done…
Somewhere down the line, sometime in the last few weeks, these feelings turned into something positive – a positive determination to do something…a positive determination to bring about change…a positive determination that we will succeed.
Other events and things happening around me, helped make the decision…I watched with awe and fascination as the Obama campaign changed the paradigm of fund-raising in the US by reaching out at the grassroots… I began to read about interesting experiments that were happening around “crowd-funding”.
I realised that I had to think differently – almost like an entrepreneur - here…what I had was an idea and a grand vision that could change the world…now I needed to make that happen…
I tried to distil down all the years of insight, experience, things I had learnt sitting on the other side of the table.
I began to think how could a group of committed and passionate people break the mould?
How could we change the paradigm of popular politics, of vote-banks, electoral compromises and sub-serving of national interest? How could we take this powerful idea - an idea of changing India – and actually make it work?
Success in this “venture” may not make any of us super-rich but it will put India on a vastly different growth trajectory…I realised that if we did succeed, we will have a chance to make the 21st century, India’s century and help India reclaim her rightful place of pride in the community of nations…
…and even if we failed, it will not be for want of trying…
But this is not about the risks of failure…it is not about failure at all…This is about determination…a determination to change the way things are…a determination to create opportunities for our fellow citizens…a determination to try and do our best so that millions may live better…
This is about determination to “Change India”…and it is about hope…
Hope that many will support us…Hope that we are not alone…Hope that the time has come…Hope that when the going gets tough, we will not loose heart or courage…Hope that even in darkness, we will be able to carry the light in our souls…
And it is about belief…Belief and faith in ourselves…and the strength of our convictions.
For me, this is a defining moment, there is now no turning back.
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Next: “Changing India: One Step at a Time”
October 30th, 2008
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Corruption in India, Miscellaneous, Personal, Politics and Governance in India |
32 comments
Before you accuse me of being a narcissist, blame Varnam! 
He tagged me a few weeks ago which prompted this post. Here are eight little known facts about me:
- First “ambition” was to become a train driver.
- First “job” that “paid” was as a Radio Announcer.
- I once tried to grow mushrooms (in Madhya Pradesh!).
- Back in 1989, I bought a one-way rail ticket to Gauhati and boarded the train with only Rs 150/- in my pocket…What happened next is a long story (- for another time).
- A childhood ambition was to see each and every state of India before I turned 25. By the age of 29, I had done all of them except Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram - they are still on my list of places to see (most of these states, I saw on my own, travelling alone; Travel remains a big passion).
- At various times, I have studied (and forgotten), Hindi, English, Bengali, Sanskrit, French and Japanese
- I once stayed at the Vivekananda Kendra in Kanyakumari. http://www.vkendra.org/
- And I’m stealing this one from Varnam: I (too) had an e-mail address in 1993.
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In turn, I am tagging (in no particular order) Varahamihira, Vivekajyoti, PrudentIndian, Nita, RealityCheck, Offstumped, Apollo and Gyani.
August 6th, 2007
Posted by
B Shantanu |
Personal |
7 comments
