We are not Vishvguru (विश्वगुरु), need to understand our reality and act accordingly to improve our position.

This writeup is received on whatsapp however felt sharing with all dear friends. 

Veteran industrialist and Ex President of the Confederation of Indian Industry Mr Naushad Forbes’s recent book is so insightful. Amongst many things  in this book,  I feel like sharing below -

 Forbes is critique of our government’s belief we are ‘VISHWAGURU’. He believes this is the wrong attitude for a country like India. “If we think we are the best why bother to learn from anyone else? … What we do not need is the rhetoric and hubris of tall claims, which keeps us from learning.”

In fact, it’s acceptance of the gap between us and the developed countries that will propel progress. Citing Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as examples, he writes: “The will to develop came out of a sense of backwardness, a sense that one had to catch up.”

So, what is the remedy or antidote Forbes offers? “We must constantly remind ourselves that we are among the world’s poorest one-third of countries, of our abysmal record in child nutrition and stunting which has got worse since 2014, of the fact that Bangladesh overtook us in per capita GDP in 2020 (and) that China is five times richer than we are.”

Perhaps India’s proud politicians might disagree but I doubt its people will. The poor know they’re poor, the uneducated know they need to learn and what frightens the ill is the fact they can’t afford treatment. This is reality for the majority, no matter how hard we avert our eyes. We’re at the ‘shishya’ (student) stage of development and there’s an awful lot still to learn.