My last blog was on the 1st of January 2007 and i said i would try writing an entry everyday like diary but as usual new year resolutions remain new year resolutions :-)
However this new year has been pretty much eventful that i have toured a lot of places (mostly on account of work. Yet to reach the self financing status!!!) and have almost lived like a gypsy. You can call me a Quasi-gypsy. Places i visited this year - Delhi (i have lost count how many times), Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Salem (hometown), Karaikudi (Native place), Coimbatore (nearest operational airport to my hometown), Mumbai (where i stay), Ahmedabad, Pipavav and Kolkota.
Some things that i noticed in common - (a) There is so much energy in people to do so much business given the current economic buoyancy (b) Real Estate as a result has once again caught on (c) Movie halls are brimming with huge crowds even though no movie has really ran that well all this year (d) Inflation on ground seems to be much more than whats reported (e) Politics, elections and the aftermath remain as eventful as ever (f) Industries are capacity constrained and we are operating at more than 100% levels, as usual to the utter amazement of all across the globe (g) the short sighted and slow planning of infrastructure which is under strain from day one.
The real reson for this growth i feel is as below. India being an agrarian economy (65-70% of the population supposedly still depends upon agriculture for livelihood) availability of water through the year plays a quintessential role. Thanks to the highly bureaucratic nature of working we still depend upon our Rain God - Varuna (i think!) - year on year to bless us with sufficient rainfall. Thanks to Him, we have seen a continued good bout of rainfall across most parts of the country in the last three-four years. This i feel is the real reason for the sustained 8+% growth in the economy during this period. The multiplier effect of this has been there for all to see.
But whats been interesting when i visited most of the places is that how this has affected the Indian populace or rather the Inclusive growth the current UPA government is talking about.
(a) all the educated bunch of youngstars are more than happy to be coders which pay them handsomely. This group by any imagination forms only around 0.1% of the population.
(b) The second rung which has just managed to speak a little english has enthusistically agreed to be call centre executives (again at a handsome salary). This crowd again forms only of another 0.2% of the population.
(c) The bottom of the pyramid however is hardly employable in any of the service sector. The manufacturing jobs are more mechanised these days and they dont want people either. Construction, agriculture and trading seem to be the mass employment providers.
Also there seem to be two underlying problems with regards to this employment situation in India - a big chunk is difficult to be employed and the other minor group (major by absolute number) is under employed. What we need is for this underemployed group to become entrepreneurial and generate employment for this bottom of the pyramid.
It pains me to see such wonderful minds acting as coders who work like dogs for 20% of the time they are employed and spend the rest 80% on the bench waiting for their billion dollar companies to get them newer projects. This crowd is 'oblivious to the fact' is what i seem to get and the basic reason for this is the handsome package that they get upfront which over a longer term hardly moves up. This does not perturb them either as they seem to end with an onsite employment for an average of two-three months a year which pays them 4-5x the domestic salary. However as people continue to work in these places they seem to be stuck to this industry as no one else wants them and they get frustrated doing the same monotonous jobs.
Why i really hate this is because irrespective of the engineering stream - Civil, Mechanical, IT, Textiles, Instrumentation, EEE, ECE they are employed in this sector while these industries which actually need this crowd does not get enough of them. This constrains the infrastructure building in the economy.
My personal opinion - employ Science/Arts students to work as coders. let the engineers do what they are suppposed to do. But the Laws of capital/Money have their own ways and that dictates economics. we got to accept this fact and see how we can improve.
that brings me to the end of this post and i feel i need to improve on a few things - A gassing arnd factor acquired during the glorified MBA that i got. I got to write to the point and not bore the reader (which largely is me and myself).
