I have been conducting a secret little survey on my own since quite some time. My target segment is the circle of my friends and colleagues. Obviously this segment represents average intellect, middle aged, middle class population of our country. Objective is to find out our “top of the mind” answers to the questions –
1> As an Indian, what are you proud of?
2> Which brand/product represents India in the globe?
Let us analyze them one by one –
What are we proud of? –
In most of the cases, the answer has come from ancient era – oldest civilization, expertise in old form of science & medicine, invention of Zero, oldest religion etc. In some cases, it has been some thing what we happen to be a part of – largest democracy, diversified culture and language. In few cases it has come from more recent time frame – fast growing economy, science and technology hub etc. Very few have referred to Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray and C V Raman.
If we consider the ancient glory as a measure of present national Pride then, Iraq and Pakistan should have been top of the list. The second set of reasons is happen to be by chance and we also know the problems associated with those. And for next set, conviction is too shallow. The current economic engine is running on only one USP – low cost labour – and we all know it is only matter of time before some other country emerges cheaper than ours. Little probing of the people in the last bracket revealed that they do not have much idea about these famous personalities and their work.
The bottom line is, the current generation is seriously lacking anything from the recent past to be inspired about. Here I use the word “recent” in a broader sense. In the time line of history, a period encompassing few generations can be considered as recent.
We, as a nation do not have any memorable and significant achievements in recent past which all of us would be proud to be associated with. We have not won any battle, nothing significant in the field of sports. There is no invention or scientific development what we can remember, neither there is anything in art and literature.
I know that there is some significant moments of glory but hardly any of them could touch the heart of the mass. Almost all of them are limited to a small section of population. Here problems are two folds – there are not many incidents and as a nation, we pay very little attention to those.
This issue is little more serious than it appears to be – it is one of the main reasons for our attitude towards our own country and its heritage. High level of corruption, no respect for national heritage, flag & anthem, alarming inefficiencies and umpteen numbers of social and political conflicts are some of effects. National pride is one thing that unites a nation beyond all differences and creates a unique strength for propelling to higher levels. We, as a nation, lack this. If you have any doubt, a soul search is solicited.
What are global Indian brands? –
The popular answers are –
Bollywood, Chicken curry, Yoga, Magic (rope trick and “Fakirs” included), Indian Music, Indian Spices (& Basmati rice), Indian elephant etc.
If you notice, all these are very generic and vague most of the times. Foreigners only have some hazy ideas about all these, nothing really concrete. All of these are not branded. At times philosophical and spiritual I believe.
I would recommend the readers to ask this question to any one from western (and eastern too) countries. You will see the difference on your own.
I asked this question to my Irish colleague. I thought he would be a softer target to try the question compared to Germans, Englishmen and Americans. He replied without any hesitation “Guinness” – a truly Irish brand – across the globe.
1> As an Indian, what are you proud of?
2> Which brand/product represents India in the globe?
Let us analyze them one by one –
What are we proud of? –
In most of the cases, the answer has come from ancient era – oldest civilization, expertise in old form of science & medicine, invention of Zero, oldest religion etc. In some cases, it has been some thing what we happen to be a part of – largest democracy, diversified culture and language. In few cases it has come from more recent time frame – fast growing economy, science and technology hub etc. Very few have referred to Rabindranath Tagore, Satyajit Ray and C V Raman.
If we consider the ancient glory as a measure of present national Pride then, Iraq and Pakistan should have been top of the list. The second set of reasons is happen to be by chance and we also know the problems associated with those. And for next set, conviction is too shallow. The current economic engine is running on only one USP – low cost labour – and we all know it is only matter of time before some other country emerges cheaper than ours. Little probing of the people in the last bracket revealed that they do not have much idea about these famous personalities and their work.
The bottom line is, the current generation is seriously lacking anything from the recent past to be inspired about. Here I use the word “recent” in a broader sense. In the time line of history, a period encompassing few generations can be considered as recent.
We, as a nation do not have any memorable and significant achievements in recent past which all of us would be proud to be associated with. We have not won any battle, nothing significant in the field of sports. There is no invention or scientific development what we can remember, neither there is anything in art and literature.
I know that there is some significant moments of glory but hardly any of them could touch the heart of the mass. Almost all of them are limited to a small section of population. Here problems are two folds – there are not many incidents and as a nation, we pay very little attention to those.
This issue is little more serious than it appears to be – it is one of the main reasons for our attitude towards our own country and its heritage. High level of corruption, no respect for national heritage, flag & anthem, alarming inefficiencies and umpteen numbers of social and political conflicts are some of effects. National pride is one thing that unites a nation beyond all differences and creates a unique strength for propelling to higher levels. We, as a nation, lack this. If you have any doubt, a soul search is solicited.
What are global Indian brands? –
The popular answers are –
Bollywood, Chicken curry, Yoga, Magic (rope trick and “Fakirs” included), Indian Music, Indian Spices (& Basmati rice), Indian elephant etc.
If you notice, all these are very generic and vague most of the times. Foreigners only have some hazy ideas about all these, nothing really concrete. All of these are not branded. At times philosophical and spiritual I believe.
I would recommend the readers to ask this question to any one from western (and eastern too) countries. You will see the difference on your own.
I asked this question to my Irish colleague. I thought he would be a softer target to try the question compared to Germans, Englishmen and Americans. He replied without any hesitation “Guinness” – a truly Irish brand – across the globe.
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