THE big news of the week is the nomination of Indian-American Ajay Banga by the President of the United States of America to be the next head of the World Bank. A moment of celebration then. Never mind whether it is in the realm of science, music, art, academics, management or governments, the Indian or someone with a link to India (even a tenuous one), is making it big globally.
In sheer number terms this should not be a surprise at all. India has 1.4 billion people (and represents 17.5% of the global population), so it is only natural that Indians who have left the country will shine wherever they are. Sheer jingoism and number logic apart, there are real reasons why the Indian does well when he, she or they go overseas. I am going to try and isolate these reasons objectively, without letting India-love cloud my judgement. Some of these will seem hard and judgmental, but so be it.
For the purpose of this exploration I am calling these successes all across to be successes of good "managers". At the end of the day, everyone in every realm (whether it is art or business) is a manager for a start. In this exercise of isolating reasons for the Indian manager's success overseas, I have a total of 18 points to make. I will end up making only five for the moment. The top five as I see them to be:
The suppressed Indian
Suppression is my big theme. Suppression has been a big common element in Indian life. This "S" word has ruled over us for a long time. It is only now that we see it loosening a bit.
This story is from the February 28, 2023 edition of The Morning Standard.
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This story is from the February 28, 2023 edition of The Morning Standard.
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