India — on Energy, Gumilev and Dogs Sleeping on the Street
Natural energy influence is stronger in India than in Europe. You stand under Jarul trees lane leading to Lodhi Garden’s Glass House and you feel the inflow of energy with your skin.
I am a follower of the Russian historian Gumiev’s passionarity theory — in certain geographies due to unknown reasons an energy wave rises up, sustains and goes down with time with a life span of a cycle of dozens of years. India is definitely on the energy (passionate) rise wave now and it will last for some time. Actually, it’s my key argument for raising capital for our VC in Europe, which currently suffers from lack of passion. Education, language and regulatory incentives (or lack of them) are secondary issues.
Now the issue is how to channel this inflow of energy from inside to outside. So you can turn this flow into good, productive actions and avoid internal destruction.
I have recently seen a poll on what graduates in BRICS countries prefer to do after graduation. In India almost 100% want to be entrepreneurs and run their own business. In my native Russia — less than 20%. The perception within IIIT and IIM graduates is that if you do no raise $ several million for your strartup within five years after graduation, you are a loser. That’s the biggest India asset and a natural social lift, other countries spend billions to simulate such a mood.
We have recently visited Dhaka in Bangladesh, and went to a couple of tech colleges. I am already used to Indian tech colleges — it’s so wild and powerful, it can be used for healing people suffering from depression. Before one story is finished, another idea is pushed at you, and all students expect your quick appreciation. Actually this speed (lack of habit to plan and execute on long-term basis and be patient — European ora et labora) can eventually kill Indian startups space, but that’s another story. Coming back to Dhaka: we went to tech colleges there as well and were shocked — they looked like graveyards, comparing to Bharat. The task to manage the energy is difficult, but to simulate it is almost undoable.
Modi’s drive for development despite all communal differences is a right approach in my view. Another option would be to get stuck in everyday petty political battles: a lose-lose game. I also buy the thesis that only through economic development the country can solve its big problems, because I do not see other options to manage the country like India on the energy rise.
Two more observations:
Yes, old market areas in Indian cities are complete mess, very difficult to navigate even on foot (although I admire that). But on my first day at Old Delhi’s Daryaganj I saw several dogs sleeping on the pedestrian passage (sort of) amidst the ordinary hassle of the day. I was so surprised that I had to bend down to check whether they are pretending to sleep in some sort of a trick. No, they were snoring, confident that nobody would kick them while they were helpless. I have not seen that anywhere else in the world. Also, only in India I see people always smiling genuinely in return when you meet with their eyes in the crowd. Positive energy.
Then I read about communal riots and how quickly the mob goes mad and resorts to unbelievable autrocities — these very smiling faces on the streets. That’s for me to understand. A challenging country to manage, a great place to be now.
