Here I am at office at 4 PM; two days more and I will have wrapped up what can be called a Corporate expedition a.k.a my International assignment here at the US of A. My mind is focusing and working on 10 things in 10 minutes, when I get this email. Nandan Nilekani addresses Yale students, anybody can attend.
I decide I am going to divert focus. Am I glad I did?
It's interesting, of all the years I have been in Bangalore I never once was audience to the Infosys Managing Director (erstwhile/current). However, here due to the virtue of working near New Haven, I get to hear somebody whom I would like to describe with this parallel that my colleague presented. 'There are three kinds of people in life - buddhi vaadi, buddhi jeevi and buddhi nishTha. buddhi vaadis seem to know it all when they talk but forget the conversation once the tea party is over. buddhi jeevis acquire some traits but spend their lives within the boundaries of the knowledge already acquired. buddhi nishThas decide their paths and walk on them'. Nandan's intellectually stimulating discourse today convinced me he knows what he is talking and more....
After a glorious introduction of self by Mr. Nayan Chanda (Director of Publications, Yale Center for Study of Globalization) Nandan immediately delved into the topic - Emerging India.
I was to write a lot more about the session immediately after the talk,...such was the impact. I even made a lot of notes for this blog; but ...as always....laziness+distraction+++ 3 weeks later I'm coming back to the blog draft.
Will suffice to say, from my memories of that evening:
Mr.Nilakeni presented a complete and comprehensive sales pitch of Emerging India. From multi dimensional comparisons of China and India to realistically predicting trends of youth force utilisation in India with statistics, Nandan basically convinced me that he is one of the most prolific and clear thinking techno-leaders India has. I wish I had heard Mr. Narayan Murthy speak about these topics. I was lucky that I was near Yale, because being in Bangalore, I do not know if I would have got this opportunity.
Sales pitch or not, that aside, Nandan still had many valid points of how India is undergoing a radical change in many sectors, Telecom and Biotech being the popular examples. He had his figures at the tip of his mind much like an economist. He was also facing a tough audience that day, which did not mind demanding an answer for the outsourcing boom.
The lighter moment of the evening was of course when this gentleman came up to the microphone and said 'Sir, I work for your main competitor, and I have a question'. Nandan shot back 'Who's that!?'...the guy din't realise why the audience is having it's laugh and proceeded to say 'TCS sir! TCS you must know Tata consultancy services'...he din't get it :-)
Nandan made me stand proud upright amidst the crowd there, and not just for patriotic reasons, but for also reasons which will convince the world soon that India is no longer a culture-rich infra-poor third world country but a force to watch out for!
Amen to that...
ps: 23rd Sep - Bought Thomas Friedman's 'World is flat' about Globalisation. Let's see what he talks about..
