First lets all worship the much maligned American Consumer ! After all most of the economic development in the rest of the world, especially China (and certainly the Indian IT bussness) has happened due to the voracious appetite of the American Consumer. So the world is in trouble. The American Consumer, encouraged by the manipulative financial wizards of Wall Street, has grown too fat and suddenly realized they have been consuming far far more than they can afford. They have to start shedding quite a few pounds and the financial world is in absolute panic. There is talk of depression. There is talk of the fall of the financial and banking systems of the world. I would like to invite those that know more about this to contribute. but let me kick this off first …
In any economy increase in paper wealth has to be matched by an increase in productivity. Or at least the increase in paper wealth must be distributed evenly across te economy, providing a boost in confidence, expenditure and most important – savings. What was happening in the US that a rise in glamorous debt instruments – with incredible complexities – encouraged the the US consumer to borrow against their savings (in most cases the value of their houses) – far beyond the real value of their savings. So the value of your saving (say your house) was measured not in real value, but in the amount of money you could borrow against it.
The debt instruments were created so that a larger and larger percentage of the increasing debt of the consumer was pocketed in cash by the creators of the debt instruments. And not pushed back in the ‘productive economy’ but back further into the ‘debt economy. And of course when a few people n Wall Street started to make billions of dollars a year, a frenzy took over, and every one saw this as an ever continuing bonanza. But at the center of it there was no matching productivity. It was illusory wealth – which the increasing consumer debt merely got transferred to National Debt as the US consumer consumed more and more, paying for it through debt instruments. So the Chinese bought more and more treasury bills thereby taking over the US debt. In effect they were buying the US economy !
So now that the bubble has burst, where does China stand if the US consumer stops consuming ? I have just been to California where recession seems to hit last. That is because the easy going lifestyle of the people encourages a “it is not happening to us” attitude. But it is. My friends who own restauraunts are feeling the pinch. Those that own high end boutiques are feeling the pinch. And Hollywood as usual in complete denial will soon have to come to terms with cost cutting as hedge fund financing dries up. I think personally it will be good for Hollywood to cut down drastically on overheads. Too much money never gets on the screen.
I think China is extremely vulnerable. I have in this blog argued before that true economic development is internal. The unbridled desire to export and to judge the nation by it’s export economy is extremely dangerous. True economic development lies in a robust internal economy. For example while the Indian Tourist Board moans about not enough tourists, I would argue that it is rise in domestic tourism that is an indicator of economic development.
So back to China – I am not sure what the percentage of exports to GDP is, (anyone enlighten me ?) but am sure it is pretty high and much higher than India. So an extreme recession in the US will have a knock on effect on China and in the IT sector in India too.
But thankfully the European economy is becoming robust. The EU as a whole is not almost as biig as the US economy. Europe is bound by old culture and tradition, which is both it’s block to entrepreneurial development , but at times likes this provides the bulwark to support the world economy.
The world’s economic leaders should look to :
a. To support the US economically. Financial aid to the US from China ? Yes, that is a reality and something that should be done ! No country in the world yet has reached the technology developement process that US has. It is the one sector that has delayed the recession in the US and it needs to be supported.
b. An Asian Economic Zone between China, India, Korea and Singapore. A kind of a Asian Common Market. t will stimulate the deamnd and supply and savings between the rising nations and reduce a dependance upon the failing US economy and ultimately the consumer.
c. Greater trade relations with the rising Europe. The inclusion of the educated and hungry East European populations into the EU is already providing a greate rentrepreneurial spirit there.
Please come in with your thoughts,
shekhar
Shekharrrrrrrrrrrr Remember what??????
Baki kaha gayaaaaaaaaaa???
Errm!
Dear Sir,
In the wake of the rapidly fluctuating markets, doesn’t Brad Pitt’s vision in ‘Fight Club’ slowly start to make sense? They’re all trying to get us… They want us to spend on credit, so that we can’t repay the whole thing and end up paying them interest. Doesn’t the consumer’s plight prove to be more indicative than ever of the swinging markets? They went bananas when the deal looked good and now they can’t pay. We’re all going deep into debt!
And then one day, some one will come and blow out all the major banks in the world and then we can all start life again … We do not have to hold on to anything in the past!
I know this will lead to a stage of complete anarchy, but this is so much better than everyone perishing for the world to start again… What do you think?
And Shekhar! To know that nothing is in our hands….What will happen will happen…
That basically all this is happening not because of us humans but because of the ‘action’ of the primordial superforce of the big bang and ‘reaction’ of the available matter at myriad of hierarchical levels.
In other words, the same force which threw the universe from within the singularity, threw our sun from within its immediate parent system, threw the earth from within the sun has now thrown us species and human species from within the earth and is the main cause of all its further development. The force acts from within at all levels and all matter including us here at earth only reacts to it.
From within this ‘action’ of the force gives us patterns (what now-a-days is called intelligent design) based on four basic forces or interactions at each small to big spiral, from without matter or we react to it in terms of Darwinian theories.
Our socalled kundlini shakti within represents the same force which has become our lot and likewise acts from within us. It throws us into newer and newer circumstances and on the surface we only react to them. Which is in fact why we feel that the work happens through us and despite us rather than by us.
For more details you may read my book Self Designed Universe completely or give me a couple of hours of your precious time to initiate you into an entirely new way of seeing all this.
Sorry Shekhar, I reacted only to your previous single paragraph and did not know then that the emphasis will be so much on US recession vis-a-vis Chinese economy. I reacted only to the downfall of US economy and from there to the downfall of US in general.
Anyways, to make amendments: One of my sons just suggested why not allow Chindia to buy houses in US just as US is allowed to buy shares here? Could be a good idea and really in line with true globalisation lol. The rates of houses will again begin to rise…
I agree that nations should develop well grounded internal economics, it makes them less vulnerable. This is why the US grew to such econonomic prominence: 1.) farmers – growing its food base, 2.) The industrial revolution – the whole captitalistic complex, 3.) US educational system – which was designed actually to make everyone a “good” worker for the capitalist machine.
The US school system also enforces American values and social ideals. At least the public schools do.
A country has to have a huge middle class or else it doesn’t work.
You also have to look at a country’s history to see what will work there. I am not a fan of importing Western models elsewhere. For the most part, they don’t work, but more importantly, it’s arrogant. Countries need to have the freedom to do what they want, but, unfortunately, the US likes to play dirty on the International Economic front.
Dear Shekhar,
lets take a different spin on this subject.
The notion of a high standard of living as a measure of society’s affluence is an artificial construct. It does not take into account the invisible debt burden that had to be shouldered in order to create such high standard. America has obviously blazed the trail to the philosophy of the conspicuous consumption, to the concept of enjoying life now and to be paying later, to live above one’s means. This concept has been exported to many other countries, not in the least to those nations that are considered the awakening economic giants. The insidious lure of the credit card convenience has long reached the shores of many of those countries whose citizens had once prided themselves to buy only such products they can truly afford and buy them only when they can afford them. If people’s affluence were to be measured against their true networth the U.S. would be de facto a third world country. This does not take into account the rich and ultra rich, it describes the middle class. What is the consequence of all this consumer madness? People will become increasingly impoverished while at the same time the unpaid for Daimler Benz is standing in the garage of the unpaid for home. The collapse of such a system is pre-programmed, it can in essence not be stopped anymore, only delayed. Warning fires such as the subprime crisis are duly noted and yet their meaning is only poorly understood by the consumer. Such fires will be doused alright by sophisticated counter measures that economists had developed throughout the years of unabashed consumerism. The next wave of cheap credit will bring with it a renewed consumer tsunami. All will allegedly be well again and the lesson will remain unlearned. The next conflagration might be more difficult to contain but contained it will be. The strength of an economy is measured against their ability to deal with such crises but it will come at a price. Wealth will be redistributed and will be in the hands of steadily fewer people while the middle class increasingly loses its grip and is sliding into the vast region of the underclass. The day of course will come when governments will no longer be able to implement counter measures when finally the piper has to be paid.
The mighty America may in the end be mighty no more. Countries such as China, the European block and many others that have increasingly been financing the ever larger U.S. budget deficit will in essence own America, its industry and Wall Street.
This is the time when societies will become destabilized, when governments will have to take drastic measures none of which will find acceptance with an uncomprehending audience of U.S. citizens. Is this a page out of an H.G. Wells novel? I am afraid it is not.
Kind regards,
Horst
Dear Shekhar,
Thanks for the wonderful post and I agree on all points, but the US economy is not really in turmoil. Yes the subprime credit crisis has affected a few banks but the US economy goes far beyond Wall Street and the bad results of a few financial companies. Almost all of the people in the rich list in the US got richer last year some by by over 30%, their net worth is directly tied to their company’s stock price in most cases so they have definitely gone up. Most of the recession is in the minds of the people and propagated through the media – people still have jobs, retail sales were just marginally down this holiday season and life is as usual. People who have spent far beyond their means or owned a house far beyond they can pay the mortgage for are in trouble but they ought to pay for mismanaging their finances.
Hollywood has always done well in recession as people have always looked forward to films to relieve them from their worries and 10 dollars in not that expensive, so have industries like alcohol and tobacco. As such the overheads in making the film that lead to the bloating of ‘negative cost’ definitely need to be reduced, but anyone who understands the studio accounting for production, distribution and marketing knows that all this eventually helps the studio as the expenses are all internal and even if the film does not make money the studio does and they have to pay much less to profit participants. This can only change if Independents can come up with some massive hits and propose a new sustainable business model.
The idea of the Asian Economic Zone almost like the EU is amazing and should definitely be executed as soon as possible as that can help insure the viability and sustainability of growth in the Asian region.
So is the improvement of relationships with Europe which is increasingly looking to work with Asia for mutual benefit. Indian companies have already started acquiring or pacting with lots of European companies – the air traffic has also increased a lot to Europe and the cultural boundaries are also shrinking.
I personally believe the recession or slowed growth as I call it will last for maybe a year, a new govt will come in the US, and the engine of the world will continue to lead although with some new power equations.
I agree that America may have lost some sheen but that is more because the rest of the world wants America to lose that super power status – it is not happening as much, but it is getting reported a lot more, and all will be fine in a year or so.
This is what Bart van Ark, chief economist of the Conference Board, the non-profit organization that monitors and researches the world economy for the benefit of humanity, had to say in an interview 2 day back:
“Despite all the negative news that may be reaching us about the U.S. economy today, I would argue that the potential to get out of this and ride on the back of this high productivity growth can still be strong,” Bart van Ark, 47, a Dutch national and the first non-American at the helm of the economic team in the 92-year-old research entity, told Reuters in a recent interview.
Investments in technology that boost worker productivity over the last decade should allow the U.S. economy to maintain its global lead once it emerges from the current slowdown, the Conference Board’s newly appointed chief economist said.
Best Regards,
Himanshu
Dear Shekhar,
Wonderful post! It’s amazing that you have such sound grip on complexities of world economy. Yes, you are right that , compared to India, China’s percentage of exports to GDP is much higher, especially if we consider official exchange rate rather than Purchasing power parity rate. China’s GDP is around US $3.2 trillion (official exchange rate) and it’s exports are whopping US$ 1.2 trillion, thus making it’s exports to be more than 1/3rd of it’s GDP.
Compare it with India, whose GDP is US $ 1.09 trillion and exports US $ 140.8 Billion. As you can see, our exports are no more than 1/7th of our GDP.*
Regards
Dev
Source : CIA World factbook
Shekhar,
I have never been involved in chat with a film celebrity but am pleasantly surprised to have found your website (albeit accidentally!) and am pleased to spend a few minutes. Even though am in my mid 30’s(and perhaps half your age!), I have also had the fortune to enjoy the same beautiful open skies in the night, asking the same questions, inviting to unleash her.
As regards your topic, I had heard that you are a Chartered Accountant by education so your grip on this is not entirely surprising to me. Moreover, you are an enlightened person. However, the dual benefit of the Dollar and the possible uses of it to purchase US Assets is a wonderfully crafted economic strategy. If the Fed keeps printing money, Technology Innovation keeps apace(I guess US creates about 50% of world’s Innovations), US businesses continue to invest and earn money abroad and the Consumerism does not die, it will continue to keep a lion’s share of the world economy. None of which seems to be coming under pressure in the next couple decades.
Determining whether China’s export share in GDP is 1/3rd or 1/6th may be quite difficult, except relying the reported figures on its face value. Not reporting everything officially ofcourse places China in a unique situation(but thats a separate discussion). I do not think that China is in a position to match printing of US Dollars, not at present at least, so to think that China could finance US may remain to be a distorted reality for some time.
harb, certainly Indians can by houses in the US – and from what I hear, many are. It makes complete sense. For what you pay for a matchbox sixe apartment in Mumbai, you will soon be able to buy a house with a swimming pool in Beverly Hills. shekhar
Wohoooo Kya side Kick maara hai Shekhar aapne fir, Looool (loool>>>Laffing out loudddddd)
harb, certainly Indians can by houses in the US – and from what I hear, many are. It makes complete sense. For what you pay for a matchbox sixe apartment in Mumbai, you will soon be able to buy a house with a swimming pool in Beverly Hills. shekhar
10. Posted by shekhar on March 22, 2008
I really feel nice i am educating myself here Shekhar,Thank You.
Hugzzzz
zzz
zz
Hello Shekhar,
To motivate the Chinese government to help America manage its economic crisis with an infusion of money by buying a large chunk of T-Notes is at first glance a plausible undertaking. China only holds a relatively paltry $ 330 billion in T-bills (3.5 % of the total U.S. national debt) but the fact that all their dollar denominated assets are a combined $ 1 trillion might give them pause. On one hand they have a great deal riding on their export business to the U.S. and thus need a strong U.S. economy but on the other hand there is the fear of a sagging U.S. dollar and with it a diminution of such assets. These are the things they need to balance before they think about increasing their dollar denominated investments by buying more treasury bills.
I believe you have been right on the mark with your assessment of America’s voracious appetite for consumerism and what ails the U.S. economy but I respectfully disagree with some of the opinions voiced in the responses to your blog.
I have always preferred people with a positive outlook over those who see doom at the first sign of trouble but I have a somewhat tough time to see the validity of their proclamation about the glass being half full when in fact it looks rather empty. To breezily give the recession or rather the temporary slowdown one year, period and then see the U.S. economic machine hum again after it got through its short phase of stutter, no questions asked, because it always has done so in the past can a little be equated with the sigh of relieve of a sailor “thank god the storm is over, the sun is coming out” while being in the eye of a hurricane. It equally troubles me to hear that most of the recession is in the minds of the people who obviously must have allowed themselves to be brainwashed by a news hungry media. It is of course an important question whether we move in circles where the concept of economic hardship may only be understood with the same degree of emotional turmoil that a badly told joke at a boring party might elicit or whether we have had access to circles where economic survival is a harsh daily reality.
Are we really only talking about a few banks affected by the subprime crises or are we rather just seeing the tip of the iceberg? To bring this whole madness into sharp statistical relief, here are some of the worrisome numbers: America’s total debt which includes the national debt of $ 9.2 trillion is $ 53 trillion which translates into
$ 175,000.00 per man, woman and child or
$ 700,000.00 per family of four. 80 % of today’s debt has been created since 1990. This was at a time when the S & L disaster had unfolded, when the whole financial world should have screamed S T O P. After a few years of frugality the run on easy money had picked up again. It is safe to say that in probably less than 10 years most of the almost 400 % increase in total U.S. debt had been perpetrated.
Do we acquiescently want to live in a world in which the rich get richer and the middle class gets leaner and the underclass is bulging out of its seams and just accept it as collateral damage in our rush towards an out-of-control capitalism, a free for all to be the richest in the land and aid and abet politicians in their complicity in driving once sound and fundamentally strong economies into their eventual ruin?
I cannot possibly think that all is well when $ 3 trillion are in the hands of less than 200 people, many of whom are from the U.S. Since I am not one of the rich my social conscience does not need to stir but can we really afford to let our societies be so terribly distorted by these inequities and not cry out in indignation?
Best regards.
Horst
Hi Shekhar,
Heard U r making Mr India 2 ?
Is it true ?
Sunil
NAVIN!!!!
LOL I know, sowwy…..
Beter late than never huh…..shmile….
Psst I lost shekhars website, so when i searched in google i saw a message from you in shekhars site, lol I would not have known otherwise!!!
Smile and Holi tho chali gayiiiii
Ab kya wish Karu???????
Happy Diwaliiiiiii lol
Dear Horst,
I like your comments but you are being too much of a realist and using a lot more logic then is at play in international relations. Also I don’t think you love the US as much for all it has done for the world. US leads not just in terms of wealth – it has the most power in terms of trade, innovation, politics and most importantly militarily, and logic doesn’t work in such circumstances. Sure US has a lot of debt but almost all countries dare not ask the US to repay that coz they risk angering the lion and have much more to lose than the debt. So the world has to work with the US diplomatically and continue on with the status quo(even their dues will get paid over time but at America’s terms) else sanctions will be put on them and they will lose a lot. It is almost their responsibility to serve the US and listen to its commands – the combination of innovation(with worker productivity) and military power is deadly and that’s why the US has been able to organize the world’s resources to their benefit. And based on the quality of the people I know in America and the great managers they have, the world couldn’t have asked for a better master – infact the world would be in crisis if a big strong communist country would have been the master of the world (we may not even have this blog and free speech) and luckily we have the big North American lion to protect us all. If those power equations would not have existed, I can guarantee that no country would have been able to give a student 40000 dollars a year as scholarship (like they gave me) to study, because they would never have as much funds per capita – so some polarization is required for glory just like focus is required for success.
There is this wonderful quote on capitalism and socialism by Sir Winston Churchill –
The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
I think you are making a socialist argument here but capitalism is the only system based on freedom and desire(in line with nature of man) and creates wealth for a lot of people, and if we stop it the whole world will probably become like Mongolia.
And about the richest folks, they have done wonderful things for the world (they are like America themselves and have used the same fundamentals of the US to get there) – Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are now serving the society and would never have been able to do so without capitalism and I only wish then well.
Here is Winston Churchill’s oft-quoted formulation, “Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried.” He could have said the same about capitalism. It may not be pretty, but it has turned out to be the least bad way of settling society’s accounts.
If you have a chance you should read this article from which I took the above quote, that was printed in Forbes in 2003, titled “IN PRAISE OF INEQUALITY”
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2003/0317/098_print.html
Regards,
Himanshu
WONDERFUL ARTICLE IN TODAY’S VARIETY – People definitely trust that moviegoing experience is here to stay – even at $35 – I’ll go for sure!
FILMGOERS GET A TASTE OF GOOD LIFE
Luxury exhib chain plans $35 film tickets
By MARC GRASERA
Recession may be looming, but a group of investors thinks Americans are ready to pony up $35 for a movie ticket.
Village Roadshow Ltd., Act III, Lambert Entertainment and the Retirement Systems of Alabama pension fund have partnered to bring the luxury cinema circuit Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas to the U.S.
The partners will spend $200 million to build 50 theaters nationwide over the next five years, with the first two venues set to open in South Barrington, a suburb of Chicago, and the Seattle suburb of Redmond in October. Others are planned for Fairview, Texas, near Dallas-Fort Worth, and Scottsdale, Ariz.
Each complex will sport theaters featuring 40 reclining armchair seats with footrests, digital projection and the capability to screen 2-D and 3-D movies, as well as a lounge and bar serving cocktails and appetizers, a concierge service and valet parking.
But the circuit will especially push its culinary offerings — made-to-order meals like sushi and other theater-friendly foods from on-site chefs (a service button at each seat calls a waiter). Moviegoers will have to pay extra for any food they order, however.
The Burbank-based company’s hoping to attract 10 million “upscale and affluent” consumers per year to its theaters that will be housed in high-end shopping centers and malls. Each complex will typically house eight screens.
“It’s a new way to go to the movies,” said Graham Burke, managing director and CEO of Village Roadshow Ltd. “It’s like what Mercedes is to a Toyota or like flying first class in an airplane.”
Village Roadshow founded the Gold Class Cinemas chain in Australia in 1997. It has since expanded to other countries, including Singapore and Greece.
Company execs said bringing the chain to the U.S. is a “natural extension” of the brand.
“The demand for luxury moviegoing in the U.S. is very strong, and by working with our partners, we are delivering on that demand in a way never before experienced by the American consumer,” said Kirk Senior, CEO of Village Roadshow Gold Class Cinemas.
In addition to its initial complexes in Illinois, Washington, Texas and Arizona, company also plans to build in California, Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania and New York.
Gold Class Cinemas won’t be the first luxury theater circuit in the U.S. Regal Entertainment, Cinemark, National Amusements and Sundance Cinemas offer similar services, including high-end food and concierges, at much cheaper prices of around $12-$18 per ticket.
Idea is that plushing up the current moviegoing experience will encourage auds that typically stay home to watch movies via their pricey home theaters to venture out again. But it’s also a way for exhibs to make more money: Concession sales are kept by theater chains, while a little more than half of each ticket sold is split with the studios. Selling sushi and a glass of wine will command higher prices than popcorn and soda.
There are an estimated 300 high-end multiplexes operating in the U.S.
If the recession is stressing out some businesses, exhibitors aren’t sweating just yet. Entertainment has long been shown to be recession-proof. And that’s exactly the attitude Village Roadshow is taking.
“This is a top-end experience,” Burke said. “People want to get away from their blues. I don’t think the recession will affect it one iota.”
Best Regards,
Himanshu
Firstly, I pity middle class American Consumer.
Secondly, I believe the people of any country are as good or bad as their leader. How can I worship Bush? Though, I like Americans
China is extremely vulnerable because it is in itself. You are right, now I hear French is banning olympics. China would offer money to US LOL. Its actually a funny thought as on one side US economy needs economic upliftment as it (dollar rate) Indian economy and US cannot do business with China as it (US leaders) are egoistic. Its a matter of concern but behind all these aforesaid is the war that happend for oil.
I have a feeling that
1. War games needs to be stopped
2. Common currency for Asian countries
3. Percentage of waiver of loans to Americans
Dear Himanshu,
I don’t believe we are that far apart in our assessment of capitalism as being the vastly preferable philosophy in any society. It is no coincidence that all countries that avail themselves of the capitalistic concept have well functioning democracies but none of the socialist societies do.
You must not forget Forbes unabashedly is the high priest and mouthpiece of capitalism, therefore “In praise of inequality” is a logical commitment to the concept that the strong must not be held back in their rush to financial glory for it induces the weaker ones to follow suit. Don’t we all wish we would have come up with such a clever and certainly very true observation about socialism extolling the virtue of the equal sharing of miseries as Sir Winston has done? Make no mistake: I love America, I have lived here for almost 40 years and I have seen and experienced the generosity of America across the entire social strata. How could I have forgotten the underlying humanity of the Marshall plan. I am a great admirer of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, they are light years ahead in their display of social conscience and vision of a capitalism with a human face but infinitely more could be done by many of the other financial giants. It is no coincidence that Western Europe as an entity has a considerably lower Gini coefficient than the U.S. for their capitalism makes a nod towards an attempt at greater equality without compromising personal liberty. Their middle class, I dare say, has a strength that is based on a healthier debt/equity ratio. They also have better health care systems.
Having said all this I fervently believe that much can be improved and that in a close and loving relationship praise should also be tempered by critique. This is how I see my relationship to this country that I so much prefer over virtually any other country to live in. I believe that the lion should soften its roar lest it will be increasingly taken for a master who has somewhat lost its way. It should be us, you, I and like-minded ones to sound the alarm so that some day the world will not just fear and even hate this country but will go back to the days when respect and yes, affection was the dominant emotion the word America elicited.
Stay well.
Horst
Allah ke naam se mujeh bhi aid de do baba!!
A
R
E
H
Ye kya keh gayi…lol
Meeeewwww
Shekhar hiyaaaa
tadaaaaaaaa
Dear Horst,
Thanks for your enlightning posts.
Regards
Dev
Dear Shekhar,
Hope you are having a wonderful time in New York directing Anthony’s film. I am so looking forward to watching “New York, I love you” which would become a memorable film about 21st century New York in changing times.
Horst,
Thanks a lot for my message and it is great to hear that we are on the same page. I deeply love America as well as India (where I spent the first 23 yrs of my life) and have great respect for all other emerging economies i.e. wherever capitalism is becoming more and more organized. That is the only way their overall GDP as well as per capita income is going to grow. All countries will have to innovate, change, and generate new and different kinds of jobs to stay competitive and the US has generally managed to stay ahead of the curve.
Also, I believe the innovation as well as the needs of the future will propel the US to have stronger and better relations with India, China and Russia, so the world will become far more collaborative than competitive for the mutual benefit of all the strong nations and we’ll not be looking at the US as the sole leader of the world, even though it’ll still be ahead of others. This shift in power along with good decisions of generosity and goodwill by the US government can definitely have a profound effect on the world and bring the sentiment of respect and affection back to the word ‘AMERICA’.
Best Regards,
Himanshu
There are some moments in life where you take pride in being something. Different people have their different pride moments as they are affected by different things in their personal life. Similarly my heart swells with pride when I see India or Indians making their presence felt all around the world as they did in ancient times. In ancient times people from every civilization on earth wanted to come to India to see her wisdom and wealth by their own eyes. As such wonderful stories by travelers who visited India were really hard to believe to majority of the population of other countries. From Pythagoras to Socrates from Fah-E-Yang to Al-Biruni from Christ to Umar Khayyam from Buddha to Guru Nanak India inspired every aspect of the life in ancient world. Proudly having the seat of the world’s Guru. You just have to go through the writings of all these people to understand how India has influenced their work. I am boastful for ancient India’s achievement and its justified since Indians gave a lot to this world in every aspect of its life.
Everything good started to change as invaders from all around the world lured by India’s famed wealth set their eyes on her. It started with Alexander and ended with British. Alexander had a very little success in India and his soldiers after hearing frightening details about Magadh’s (Ancient Bihar) army didn’t wanted to proceed further. Every small province of India except TakshShila (Taxila) gave Alexander and his soldier a very tough fight. It was the major cause for Alexander not to proceed further in India. His dream of conquering the whole world became a shattered in India. While returning back from India he murdered and looted different small Indian cities but got severely wounded by Malavs in India. Please go thorough this link to understand what I am saying http://yangtze.cs.uiuc.edu/~jamali/sindh/story/node7.html.
Well Alexander was not the only general whose dreams got shattered by bravery of the Indians. Islamic invaders who conquered mighty Persia and larger part of the Europe with in matter of years had to fight for approximately 500 years to gain control of Delhi. First Islamic attack was on Sindh by Muhammad Bin Kasim in 710 CE and control on Delhi was finally established in 1193 CE by Kutubuddin Aibak after murder of Muhammad Ghori. The muslim control on India was never complete as much of the southern India never came in control of any muslim king. Muslims became part and parcel of India in later years. Islam lost its militant and jehadi touch as it came in contact with Vedanta. That’s why islam wasn’t able to penetrate majority of China and other south east Asia. It was cooled down by superior philosophy of Vedanta. Mugals are as much Indian as any other Indian king. Except Aurangzeb all the mugal rulers weren’t that much fanatics. Whatever Mugals earned in India they kept it here, as it was their land. Off course they also destroyed temples and built mosques over them but that was medieval time and so I am ok with that. Some of the finest architectures in India were constructed by Mugals. Looting of India was first started by Nadir Shah of Iran. After him came the British and these British are actually responsible for all the poverty you see in India today.
Since it was not their land they looted money from here and sent it back to London. They destroyed all indigenous businesses. British used India as just raw material producing destination for their industrial revolution. They dumped their goods here. They forced Indians to buy the British goods. India became depended on British for everything. It was actually like the clouds were being created on the banks of Indus and Ganga and they were giving rains on the banks of river Thames in London. Moreover they tried to destroy Indian culture. They created biased literature and made Indians feel inferior on their heritage. It was moral and cultural destruction of India for which I blame the British.
It’s a well known fact that till 18th century CE India’s contribution in world’s GDP was more or less same as of USA today. Till the finding of the diamonds in Africa, India was the only source of diamonds in the world. I have many reasons to believe that 200 years under British were the darkest in Indian history. India saw the famines and was unable to feed her children. In those testing times some Indians stood up to shake the soul of the nation. The likes of Ramkrishna Paramhamsa, Vivekananda, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Maharshi Aurbindo, Jamshed Ji Tata are just few names. They started taking part in rebuilding the damaged castle of mother India.
Jamshed Ji Tata started first textile mill in India in 1868. He wanted to create a steel mill in India but wasn’t given the necessary technology by the British. He took help from a US based Company and built India’s first steel mill in 1904 in Jamshedpur. I take here some liberty to say that Tatas are the finest example of the migrant success stories. Tatas are the Zoroastrians who had to flee Persia when muslim’s attacked and conquered their land. India gave them shelter. Till this day these Zoroastrians are following the code which their ancestors set with Hindu King Jadav Rana of Gujarat. These Indian Zoroastrians have made very large contribution in progress of modern India. From Jamshedji to Ratan Tata they are making every Indian’s heart swell with pride.
As in the beginning of this blog I told you that I am feeling proud today as Tata has acquired most British brands of all i.e. Jaguar and Land Rover. Tata has already acquired British Tetly tea and see the poetic justice in taking over of the remnants of the famed British Steel by Tata a few months back. This same British Steel has denied Jamshedji Tata the know how to make steel and now after a 100 years this same company is serving under the Grandson of Jamshedji Tata. The global change in mindset towards India was started by Indian IT companies where the whole world got first hand experience of India computing brain. Well after all we Indians are the ones who gave this world the number system and it was really fitting for us to make best use of the thing which we all young Indians strive for in their life i.e. education. Than came the big takeover of Arcelor by Lakshmi Nivas Mittal and suddenly the whole world started seeing the same India and Indians in new light. This same shock continued when India clocked 9 % GDP growth rate for past 5 years, launched satellites for other countries and recently by creating a Nano revolution. I owe my some of the proudest moments to Ratan Tata and he has become a hero for me. My heart wants to put him in the same league of Swami Dayanand and Vivekanand but it would be really foolish for me to do so as their’s area of work is totally different. Now Ratan Tata ji should aim his sight on British Telecom, Vodafone and few other British Financial Institutions. All other Indian business tycoons should come forward for this cause of buying the British Businesses as most of these businesses are built by blood and sweat of we ordinary Indians. It’s poetic justice in every sense.
The Tata group is setting nice examples for whole corporate India to emulate. This group is well known for not paying bribes to corrupt Indian officials. Even though the total turn over of the Tata group is over 70 billion USD none of its clan features in richest person on earth. You want to know why? Its because all of the Tata group companies now 100 of them till now are owned in majority by Charitable trust set up by Jamshedji Tata. These trusts invest heavily in development of India through educational institutions, scientific research centers and hospitals. They give hope to millions of Indians to believe that golden age of India is coming soon. “We all consider ourselves capitalist socialists,” said R Gopalakrishnan, a director of Tata Sons. “I find it very energizing to be able to go to work to earn profits by being more efficient and decent about the way of doing business. For all that sins that I must be doing to think that 30-40% of the profit is going back to help other people. That’s why we do the job.”
Such a clean corporate thinking, doing ethical business and still gaining profit is what Tatas showing to all of us Indians. I am fortunate that I am living in the time of India’s revival to get back its ancient past. I am seeing that transformation with my eyes to pass it on to next generation. India’s time has come now. God has again given us opportunity to lead the world. We must not miss the chance. We all Indians must strive hard to get back what actually belonged to us. I can feel that day is not far. Till than I will continue to celebrate the success of Indians. Come join the party with me. Say proudly I am an InDiAn…
http://himalayanswastika.blogspot.com
Hemant
Thanks ShekharJi, for publishing my comment.. I have updated my blog address which is
http://himalayan-swastika.blogspot.com
Come visit me over there you may enjoy reading some of my writings..
Thanks Once Again
Hemant Dubey
India will use its secret weapon against the Chinese, and the Western World.. slowly but surely to create its own space in the global capitalist system.
That secret is not the i.t wizards and silicon valley folks, who no doubt will help india rise.. but thats not a secret… everyone knows indians are good at that.
The marwadi’s.. I read about these folks. Ruthlessly efficient, innovative financial magicians of india, if given access to the free world, will surely shake up the globe one day.
Lakshmi Mittal is only the beginning.
What if the asian countries of china, japan, india and korea had a common currency.
like the euro..
an asian dollar
???
I have no background in film making, other than the fact that I love films. My current work doesn’t invlove films but rather I come from a strictly corporate research background.
I just happened to read about your next venture titled ‘Paani’ and thought it was very interesting. I am in India for the next 6 months and would love to be part of any work that would seem right for me, it could be the most menial of jobs but I would love to be involved. Let me know, if not, good luck all the same, I will definitely watch the film when it is released.
What you suggest we Indians should do to handle corruption and a sick political setup. We all curse politicians but what I feel is that that they represent US. If they are corrupt – so are we. I have strong doubts that India will be a superpower…more than half of our country sleeps without dinner. When food grains are being enjoyed by RATS in Punjab – rajasthan mother is cooking a CHAPATI of grass for her kids.
LAW is another sickening thing in India. It is made to break and if you are pwerful and rich…you can play with it.
I wish that we could have some other option that CONGREASS and BJP. Both are sick and cheap in my opinion.
Hello,
Re.: POSTING #18 by Horst Vollmann.
Could anybody arrange it, that he gets in contact with me. I´m an old friend of Horst and Astrid of the time when both still were living in Cologne and Munich, Germany, about 40 years ago. My adress is mnoethen@cablemail.de
Love to you all
Manfred