The Next World Order
Since India Unbound I have been a big fan of Gurcharan Das. This article is not very different from things he has talked about before, but he puts the Mumbai terror attacks in an interesting perspective relative to China.
What are your thoughts on the question he poses in his article -
"Lee Kwan Yew, the former prime minister of Singapore, raised an important question: Why does the rest of the world view China’s rise as a threat but India’s as a wonderful success story?"
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So, did you agree with this piece of the article?
ReplyDelete"I have no satisfactory explanation for all this, but I think it may have something to do with India’s much-reviled caste system. Vaishyas, members of the merchant caste, who have learned over generations how to accumulate capital, give the nation a competitive advantage."
I got stuck on this point as well. Knee jerk reaction is no, but I think that's an emotional response that cant see any positive in the caste system. But I think there is a bit of truth in this statement. It is a lot easier to do something if you parents or your network has been doing the same thing.
ReplyDeleteFor example - why do we see Jain's cornering the diamond market? You could argue their background gives them a competitive advantage.
But I do think that as we move forward, this statement of his becomes less and less relevant.