October - 1999 - issue > Cover

In India, people keep the insides of their houses immaculately clean, but the streets are strewn with garbage. It may seem like a small observation, but I think it says a lot about the Indian frame of mind. Though very attentive to their personal welfare, Indians often lack a sense of ownership toward their country. Indians have demonstrated that they have what it takes to excel -- just look at the long list of Silicon Valley startups fueled by Indian minds, who have succeeded in some of the world's most sophisticated fields and competitive markets. What they haven't done enough, however, is repaid their debt to their homeland. Even after having proven themselves to be first-rate individuals, Indians are running a third-rate country.
The effects of this self-centeredness are manifest in the condition of India's higher education system. Unlike American alumni associations, which track the progress of their grads, and when the time is right, expect students to fulfill their obligations with cash, Indian institutions rarely see returns for the top-notch -- and dirt cheap -- education they provide. Grads from institutes like Harvard and Stanford send billions to their alma maters every year -- this is in addition, remember, to the hefty tuition fees they paid while attending the school. In this age where the idea of gurudakshana is more American than Indian, a lack of a sense of obligation is a primary cause of India's ailing national health.

Three steps must be taken immediately to remedy the situation. First, Indians must be made to realize that their third-rate country is composed of first-rate individuals. The tragedy in this state of affairs must hit home. Secondly, proper channels must be established for successful Indians living abroad to fund their respective institutions. And most importantly, the idea of entrepreneurship must be emphasized in India. Capitalism, not socialism, will be India's saving grace. And it is a situation that well suites Indians: From the panwallas in India to Silicon Valley's movers and shakers, Indians have consistently demonstrated a capacity for ingenuity, industry and vision. We need to encourage entrepreneurship of all types and get the government out of business. Wealth is created in a nation through the enterprise of its people. The government cannot create wealth. It can only destroy wealth - slowly, if we're lucky, but at a rapid rate, most likely. The creation of wealth within India is a necessary prerequisite for progress.
Many of those who have given up on Indian progress cite the corruption and inadequacy of the Indian government as their reason for despair. This is a cop-out because India's potential lies not in its government, but in its people. India is a vibrant democracy, a creation of the Indian genius. In order to utilize the mechanisms of the Indian democracy, however, the competent and honest elite must step forward, offer their leadership, and throw out the corrupt.
The tried-and-true concept of entrepreneurship encourages the individual to create wealth for himself first, and then help change the environment around him. If the honest, the competent, and the intelligent choose not to serve in a democracy, then the people have no choice but to be led by dishonest, the incompetent, and the foolish. If people who have made their money choose not to serve, then the people who need to make money will surely serve. We need to create a culture of social obligation, a noblesse oblige, where prosperous Indians, having achieved their success in life, cycle back to help the community and the nation.

I'll be honest. Having prospered in one of the world's most advanced regions, I have sometimes been made to feel ashamed of my origin. Though many non-Indians around me acknowledged my personal success, they saw my country as a poor and backward nation. I was considered an anomaly as an Indian - not the rule, but the exception. The successful Indians in this country are often thought of as different from their brethren back home: they can't be the same people who created the mess in India. The truth is that Indians are some of the hardest working, brightest and most creative people in the world. If they just realize this, and accept their obligation to their mother country, progress and prosperity are sure to follow.