Ideas that have arrived
Ideas that have arrived
In the first part of his book, Nandan traces how India has reached a point at which it seems to be poised for rapid economic growth, brought about by the evolution of several ideas and by sheer serendipity. He believes there are six core ideas that have propelled this growth, making India the flavor of the decade and potentially, of the 21st century.
Video: Nandan discusses the first part of his book
Click on the links below to learn more about each idea, and to share your thoughts with us:
- India’s demographic dividend
- The changing role of the entrepreneur
- The adoption of english
- The changing role of technology
- Globalization
- The deepening of our democracy
November 21st, 2008 at 12:53 pm
The video on the homepage is excellent. I share the views of Mr. Nandan Nilekani on subjects such as Globalisation, Business Today, Entrepreneurship, Democracy & Role of Technology for India’s Future progress.
Santosh S
Navi Mumbai INDIA
November 23rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
i was watching the program of Mr. Nandan Nilekani on IMAGINING INDIA on NDTV it was really good .His thoughts were good .
November 25th, 2008 at 10:14 am
After watching the NDTV program on Imagining India, I am impressed by the optimist in Nandan. Though I am a skeptic and differ with him on the India as I see her today, I do appreciate his effort to start a discussion on India and its future and hope it will start a debate on the India we like to eulogize and the India we see in reality. I am eagerly waiting to read the book.
November 29th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Dear Mr Nilekani,
I have not read the total contents of the book.Iam realy interested in an idea of how to uplift common man ,who realy in need of change as all of us are eager to change for better ,either of
prospority or wealthy.if we realy want to our country inline with progressive nation,we have to
change from bottom, as it is of immense impossible
task in front of our so called Nethas of self indulgence.can we have an IDEA of changing needy/common people for better upliftment—-again a big big Bullish politics.
December 4th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
The Ideas which he expressed on each topics should be followed for the upliftment of our country.
December 7th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
soory sir, i do not understand any of your ideas.
we live in indian democracy where corruption is the most fundamental part of our indian society wihout that we cannot imagine india to become a powerful nation
January 5th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Imagining India or wishing it away?
In his new book Imagining India, Nandan Nilekani documents his thought-process on the reasons for urban India’s serendipitous success, but unfortunately and wrongly imagines it to be the success of India at large.
The book also attempts to document some ideas for improving the circumstances of not just urban India, but of the whole of India. While we highly appreciate the author’s efforts in meticulously researching and codifying India’s (read “urban India’s”) status quo today, we give the book a thumbs-down in terms of providing ideas or thoughts which can lead India in the 21st century. That sort of thought-leadership material is completely absent in the book.
In the light of the fact that urban India is getting increasingly divorced from rural India and even speaks a different language (of which divorce the author is an advocate even if unawares), and the fact that the author does not display understanding of the ground realities of rural India or for that matter the role of mother-tongue in education, the book fails to give any sort of solution for the “whole of India”. This utterly restricted view of India makes one question if the author really wishes away India at large and originally wanted the book to be titled Imagining English Language Call Centers in India.
Fairly accurate first part but disappointingly restrictive in idea of India
As already mentioned, the retrospective analysis of urban India’s post-independence success is fresh, fairly accurate and bold - as long as it’s not confused with the success of India as a whole - which confusion the book is full of. Anyone concerned with India as a whole tends to be disappointed with the lack of insight into what must be done in order to ensure that the serendipitous urban success reaches far and wide, and more importantly, in order that it sustains.
In the first part of the book, called “Ideas that have arrived”, Nandan documents six things - or rather the “evolution” in the way we think about them - which have in his mind propelled India’s growth in the recent past (in reality, it’s only the growth of urban India). They are: population, entrepreneurship, english, technology, globalization and democracy. In short, Nandan believes that we’ve started considering population as an asset instead of a liability; entrepreneurs as respectable members of the society instead of hostile; english as the language of “social and economic mobility” instead of as the language of oppression; technology as an enabler of growth instead of as a threat to labor; globalization as aiding India instead of harming; and democracy as something which has matured instead of something India wasn’t ready for.
We believe this analysis is fairly accurate if not complete, except for the fact that none of this applies to more than a tenth of India’s population (barring perhaps the infatuation with English in which non-urban India blindly but understandably imitates the urban).
Other three parts lack leadership material
The other three parts of the book lack the fresh analytical juice to be found in the first. In them, Nandan lets down those who might have looked up to him as an influential thinker whose thoughts and ideas for the future have the power to transform India; he merely documents what went on, what’s going on, and a bit of what can be almost mathematically derived from the foregoing two if we let the engine run by itself with folded hands - what may happen. Clearly, that’s not thought-leader material.
The book has some factual mistakes too, which stem from the author’s distance from ground realities and inexperience in extra-corporate matters. While the author feels that Hindi Imposition is a thing of the past, we know and you know that that’s far from reality. We invite the author to have a look at some of our blog-posts both in English and Kannada on this matter and ascertain for himself how rampant Hindi Imposition is even to this date.
Slighting the role of India’s languages is unscientific
The author’s slighting of the power of India’s languages and their role in education, and the implicit and unscientific assumption that English has what it takes to pull the whole of India out of misery is a glaring, unforgivable mistake which is central to the book’s thesis. We expected the author to have been more scientific than that. Also, instead of dry documentation of how English was regarded as a language of oppression and has now become the language of “economic and social mobility” (the very concept of social mobility due to a foreign language stinks of British oppression), what one expects from a leader is answers to difficult questions with respect to English.
Leaders in India must dare to ask these questions: What should English be tomorrow? How should we plan the role of English in India tomorrow? How do we see to it that we neither loose quick BPO bucks, nor regard with neglect the latent talent of the majority of Indians to whom English is a foreign language? How can we build a system which taps the inherent talent in India’s children instead of imposing a system which neglects everything they are from day one at school, but at the same time make sure we don’t loose easy money from the Infosyses of India? In asking - let alone answering - these and other difficult questions, Nandan Nilekani completely disappoints the reader.
January 5th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I havent read the book yet., but very keen on knowing what Nandan Nilekani is saying about the role of education and english. Definitely, our future is not dependant on english.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:11 am
A good book indeed. At par on the thought process with Abdul Kalam’s works.
February 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 am
At par on the thought process with Abdul Kalam’s works. A very interesting read.
February 21st, 2009 at 10:28 am
Mr. Nilekani, I just started reading your book, and I have not been able to put it down! It’s a great book, and the pages are filled with a lot of knowledge and wisdom. I am about half way through, and you have done a phenomenal job of scripting our history and explaining to the audience what we are and why we are that way and the path that we took.
It’s very inspiring and full of optimism and I wish a leader like you can take a more active role in governance and issues that can impact everyone. I live and work in the US, and am planning to pack my bags and head back home soon, and you have only reinforced my belief in the opportunities and possibilities of our country.
I think this book is a must read for every young aspiring Indian who wants to succeed in a new India. I also just read your column in IBN blogs, and agree with you fully, so please continue to pen your thoughts and continue to motivate the young population of India. Great work sir!
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:03 am
Dear Mr. Nilekani,
My wife gifted me your book saying ‘you think like him’.
As a simple middle class citizen, I endorse your vision since it is imperative for India to do well.
Serendipity makes sense since are naturally resilient, surviving on our own strength.
I see this recession as an excellent opportunity to evolve a self reliant, vibrant economy that presents abundant opportunities for Indians.
There is a practical way for us to prosper, by unconditionally enabling every Indian urban, rural & remote, something that I have worked on for many years.
A technology revolution at grassroots, to spawn an IT enabled Service Oriented Society that creates sustainable employment across several sectors.
We will prosper as a nation only when our people, lots & lots of them prosper.
I wonder if there is a way getting this simple plan across to you sir.
Will read your book starting today with the hope of having an opportunity to action your vision.
Regards,
Mark Rao
Pune
July 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Hat’s off to the person who thought of putting every Indian on the scanner along with his data on the card, choosing you to lead the process is like Icing to the Cake!
It is the need of the hour! It is not easy to run this vast nation with more than 2 billion people. The need of the hour is also to bring reforms in the Police section, if possible arrange lessons from 911 Call Centers, besides technology this is one thing we must take from the US. If we are able to follow them, India will lead the world. Just imagine reducing the response time to 5 mins. and everything connected from Fire Dept. to Police to Municipal Corporation to Power Works. Every Police Man armed with an I-Phone along with his other gadgets to click a picture and getting the finger prints scanned of any suspicious person, verified from our huge data base.
I am sure what you have started is going to take us a long way, what I have mentioned here is just a few suggestions you can add on your path.
Best of Luck!
Regards!
Sumeet (Delhi)
July 8th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Now is your chance to do what you have visioned for India - UID Project.
All the best.
Ravi
July 27th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Nandan, I am a civil engineer running a consultancy firm,since i have closely observed ur role in infosys & BATF ( Bangalore ),u have a tremendous clarity in planning,executing a new visionary Ideas.I am reading ur book Ima….g India.u have made every kannadiga proud to say Nilakani is our man with a vision of Sir M.V. I am sure u will lead INDIA forward to a greater hieghts. I have one question for u.How to balance English & my mother tongue Kannada which brings our hearts together ? ALL THE BEST IN UR NEW ASSIGNMENT …PREM