Do not get bogged down !

Yesterday was a day of sharp contrasts to say the least. On one hand, the media all over talked about the Mittal - Arcelor deal, and the coming of age of Indian Businessmen, on the other hand, the evening was different, when I read about the things people were doing to stay abreast in the global village.
"Global Village" is a interesting word. The interesting part lies in the use of the word village along with global, its a contrast again, but well thats the story right now. Why "Village"? Because, like in a village everyone knows everyone else, there are no secrets hidden, there is transperancy, at the same time intimacy and much more. The world is increasingly becoming like this. But there is a challenge. Unlike in a village where people usually understand the language or speak the common language, in the global scenario the equations change. You have to think what other people think, you have to talk what the other person talks. You cannot go on babbling when there is a disconnect with the person you are talking to.
Now, what makes me write this post is that the very idea of we as Indians pictured in the global scenario. How are we placed ? The Mittal Arcelor deal is a landmark deal for enthusiatic Indian Businesses Supporters or for that matter Indian Businessmen as well. According to Mittal, Indians have a distinct advantage over others because there is a cultural diversity in India, so people know how to adjust, other than that Indians are naturally hard working, sincere and dedicated, so hold a better chance of winning the race. But the truth is we have a "closed box" attitude. If not for the Mittals, Ambanis and Tatas and some limited few we would have had a difficult time achieving even self sustenance. We were fortunate enough that under the British rule we were able to keep pace with the world by learning English. We also came across the rich culture and knowledge of various countries and their cultures and thus were able to adapt, in most instances forgetting our past and imbibing the new and drastic.
But at this point, when the world looks at India, for vast English speaking pool and cheap labour, I want to sound the siren. India is going to have a tough time ahead. Not because its not good enough or cannot be good enough but because it is changing too slowly with times. Let me put forth my points.
Inspite of a great cultural diversity we are suffering from casteism and its related effects. Inspite of living in a cosmopolitan environment, multi-cultural, multi - lingual atmosphere, we are increasingly looking for people of our caste, language, religion, etc. We want to talk with different people, to a certain extent even work but beyond that we are apprehensive. Its a uniform disease across India and breaks through all classes and castes. The global scenario demands to be more forthcoming, more open attitudes and behaviours and our limited thinking attitude could spell trouble for us. So the advantage of cultural diversity is lost as of now.
Other problem lies with the unwillingness to learn new things. We are so overexposed to the American and British Culture that we are not keen to know what are the things that are going on elsewhere. Even if we are aware we are not making an effort to learn. I was reading a Time article yesterday, which talked about the keen desire of people of various countries to learn Mandarin (Chinese Language). They understand that in the future there is going to be a challenge, where one has to rely on the Chinese and this requires a study of their language to buck up and stay with them, if not ahead of them. At the same time, we are complacent like never before. We are like Hanuman, of unlimited potential and capability but have to be reminded repeatedly. However, we have to be smart and shrewd like Hanuman himself, if we were to think of surviving in the longer run. We have to learn about new cultures, we have to learn new languages, we have to understand what the world thinks and we have to act accordingly. Only then can we dream of a POTENT INDIA !!

The challenges are there but my advice is DO NOT GET BOGGED DOWN !!