It seems to me that I live in different Indias each day.Let me explain a bit..
On the one hand, we have the political India, with its 'cash-for-votes' scandal, the entry of Chiranjeevi in AP politics, the totally inefficient handling of the latest J&K crises, and so on.Some of these events are moving along predictable lines, whilst the others are getting scarier by the day.
The other India that I/We inhabit is the India of malls, IT jobs, and blogger-novelists like Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan. Meenakshi blogs about her (mostly) single life in Mumbai and Delhi, with liberal doses of sexuality, drinks, smoking(not all of it nicotine) thrown in.And she is supposedly a rage in Indian blogosphere. I have also been reading other women bloggers of late, women who are professionals (again, mostly IT) by day and bloggers by night.Most of them don't talk about the events that rock 'political' India.
The third India I inhabit is the real world where I live with my family, commute to work, do my shopping, watch cricket on TV, and attend marriages and other functions. The people I interact on a daily basis mostly seem to talk about (a) Inflation (b) Increase in house loan interests (c) How XYZ made a lot of money in real estate, and how I/We missed the bus and (d) various car models available in the market.Okay, we also talk about the obscene amounts being charged by schools.
There is yet another India that I try to inhabit atleast for an hour each day.And that is the world of Startups.I read sundry blogs about startups, exchange an email or two with friends who are either about to launch a startup, or seriously considering doing one.The themes in this India are about the difficulty of hiring resources, the role of VCs Vs the role of entrepreneurs, and the lack of an 'eco system' in India.
So, where do I really live?When there are so many conversations happening in these different Indias, how do I reconcile my optimism for startup scene in India, with the pathetic political scenario? How do I relate to Meenakshi's success when I see that she and her ilk do not write or care about the 'real' India?
And amid all of this chaos, I end up reading Sramana Mitra, whose ideas for India 2020 range from Adi Shakti to NCTV.While some ideas are really worth exploring, at least half of the ideas pre-suppose an Indian market simply ready to embrace any western concept of building a business.
Ok..end of ramble. All I want to say is that there is a need for a coherent response to so many events and themes that are shaping today's India.And the media is doing a bad job of reflecting the society. Meanwhile, the country is looking to the business men like Ambani brothers, Mittal and Ratan Tata to solve their problems, and not to their elected representatives.
On the one hand, we have the political India, with its 'cash-for-votes' scandal, the entry of Chiranjeevi in AP politics, the totally inefficient handling of the latest J&K crises, and so on.Some of these events are moving along predictable lines, whilst the others are getting scarier by the day.
The other India that I/We inhabit is the India of malls, IT jobs, and blogger-novelists like Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan. Meenakshi blogs about her (mostly) single life in Mumbai and Delhi, with liberal doses of sexuality, drinks, smoking(not all of it nicotine) thrown in.And she is supposedly a rage in Indian blogosphere. I have also been reading other women bloggers of late, women who are professionals (again, mostly IT) by day and bloggers by night.Most of them don't talk about the events that rock 'political' India.
The third India I inhabit is the real world where I live with my family, commute to work, do my shopping, watch cricket on TV, and attend marriages and other functions. The people I interact on a daily basis mostly seem to talk about (a) Inflation (b) Increase in house loan interests (c) How XYZ made a lot of money in real estate, and how I/We missed the bus and (d) various car models available in the market.Okay, we also talk about the obscene amounts being charged by schools.
There is yet another India that I try to inhabit atleast for an hour each day.And that is the world of Startups.I read sundry blogs about startups, exchange an email or two with friends who are either about to launch a startup, or seriously considering doing one.The themes in this India are about the difficulty of hiring resources, the role of VCs Vs the role of entrepreneurs, and the lack of an 'eco system' in India.
So, where do I really live?When there are so many conversations happening in these different Indias, how do I reconcile my optimism for startup scene in India, with the pathetic political scenario? How do I relate to Meenakshi's success when I see that she and her ilk do not write or care about the 'real' India?
And amid all of this chaos, I end up reading Sramana Mitra, whose ideas for India 2020 range from Adi Shakti to NCTV.While some ideas are really worth exploring, at least half of the ideas pre-suppose an Indian market simply ready to embrace any western concept of building a business.
Ok..end of ramble. All I want to say is that there is a need for a coherent response to so many events and themes that are shaping today's India.And the media is doing a bad job of reflecting the society. Meanwhile, the country is looking to the business men like Ambani brothers, Mittal and Ratan Tata to solve their problems, and not to their elected representatives.
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