"Play on our Strengths"

The greatest physicist of the past century won the Noble for Photoelectric effect. It simply states that every element has a stable state and this stable state can be different for different atoms. If the atom is excited by external means, the atom moves into another state but only momentarily. They return to the stable state almost immediately.

Similarly every community has its own characteristics. These characteristics have been developed over past few thousand years as a result of interaction with natural environment, historical events and for small part character of original community. Hence we have "the straight" German, Tight Upper lipped British, Hard working East Asian, Economiser Jews etc. Similar I would like to attribute Indians as the Rebellious Free-Thinker.

In 2-3 thousand years of history India has never united. It was always a amalgamation of different thoughts and practices. Different people with different cultures were welcomed. Their identity was neither dissolved into common pool, nor were they kept separated from the community as a whole. And even then we had a common thread of culture running among all of us.

India was the only country in the world where "monotheistic" religion was never developed. May be thats because of our rebellious attitude. Majority of us do not want some person like Pope from Vatican or Mulla from Jamma Mashjid to be sermonising us on what to do and what not to. We had 100 different flavours of Hinduism based on some common foundation.

And may "pluralistic" attitude which might have caused us not to progress beyond a point. The Western definition of progress meant mass production, and mass production meant big investment. This also meant that 99% people follow the 1% of the leader. This was the east Asian economies grew as they have the culture of "dumb follower" of the leadership.

But times are changing. The cost of implementing new ideas is dramatically reducing day by day. We have knowledge revolution ahead of us. Here the mass production wont hold sway. Here the winner will be one with a good IDEA. And this should be the to our strengths.

May India become a super power soon.

Amen.