|
Book Review
The two rising Asian giants
|
Account using on-the-ground stories of how China and India are embracing the world on their own terms
|
S. Ramachander
BILLIONS OF ENTREPRENEURS — How China and India are Reshaping their Futures and Yours: Tarun Khanna; Harvard Business School Press & Penguin-Viking , 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 595.
Tarun Khanna of the Harvard Business School represents the talent that India successfully managed to export over the first 30 years of socialism to the West. Though few have tried to return to their native land, some have tried to make a contribution to students and their fields of specialisation, back home. Huge gaps in prospects and compensation and the stranglehold of politics will sadly make sure the exchange goes not much further than that unless it is backed by some private sector initiatives as has been the case in the computer related technologies. Yet, there are many extraordinary achievements, which ought to make one feel proud of what is possible through a vision relentlessly pursued without official patronage.
Motivation
The motivation for the book is rather unusual. Now based in Boston, and an academic who has a deep interest in both China and India, he was dismayed by the absurd level of misinformation, clichs, and gaps in basic understanding amongst the best of campuses, of the real situation in these countries. And contrasting stereotypes of two countries occupy more media and space now than ever as suddenly two large and poor struggling countries 10,000 miles away are a cause for consternation - and somehow connected with everything from job losses in the IT sector to the price of rice. Some schools have started teaching children a good deal more about these countries, which are expected to be among the top four economic powers in the next generation.
Vast sweep
Few even in India would know that in the mid-18th century, they indeed accounted for more than half the global economic product and India was more globalised in 1750 than ever since!
To deal with the tremendous potential and the undeniable prosperity of both in one volume, and side by side, is an unusual task; it takes the natural flair for story telling and anecdotage that a Harvard professor would be used to - given the predilection for 25 page case studies. The sweep is vast, from education, caste-based reservation, media freedom, attitudes to foreigners, openness to change, degree of transparency, and corruption to the quality of leadership. Naturally the progress or otherwise of economic reforms holds inevitable spotlight.
The best aspect of each is that the comparison is not in obvious favour of either country or system and plenty of historical background is given. All of it, one must add, is couched in the narrative style of a travelogue and is no way pedantic.
The description of the banking system starts, for instance, with personal tales of what it was like updating a passbook or drawing cash in a nationalised bank, in the middle of the morning, in the 1970s India, when young Tarun was a student, son of a typical salaried middle class professional, eager to work his way through the best of Indian science colleges to a high quality degree and better his life. The contrast with the post-1990 system is staggering, as indeed the scale and growth of banks such as ICICI and HDFC; yet the tale is tempered with amorality that preceded the disastrous Harshad Mehta scam. There follows a fascinating story of the idea of a technology-driven National Stock Exchange (NSE), conceived and delivered by bold leaders and unconventional young people. It is always heartening case histories of many institutions built by people who just refused to wear the argument "Oh, nothing will happen in India, especially if it is linked to government!" The work of S.S. Nadkarni, N.Vaghul, H.T. Parekh and several others counters this pessimism with facts, as does the lesserknown contribution of Ravi Narain, who was educated at Cambridge and Wharton and outside the Indian conventional banking system, to whom the NSE project was assigned, with few restrictions.
Foreign enterprise
Several other chapters deal with the health systems and the encouragement shown to foreign enterprise, as well as the exercise in rural re-engineering, in all of which Deng's emergence in 1978 China has produced significantly better, visible results. There will inevitably be the mutterings that that society achieved much due to curtailment of individual freedom and absence of democracy, yet the focus and the drive are still imitable under any system, as also the emphasis on local initiative, through Town and Village Enterprises and the Household Responsibility system.
The book takes a detour into the long history of religious, political and cultural links between the two countries and how it still augurs well for a great new future. Despite its easy readability, it can be faulted for generalisation of history and economics. Business and government policy-makers will find it interesting but not lacking in depth. For the original audience it was intended for, it is an excellent background reading. To the average Indian reader, it has much fascinating detail not easily available on China.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
|
