The history of IT

..in India

Imagining India
by Nandan Nilekani

After hearing of this interview, I finally managed to sit down with the book. Slowly, but surely, I made my way through it. And what a ride it was! Nilekani wonderfully recounts the growth of the IT sector in Indian from the 60s through the 21st century when India has emerged as a leading market in Asia-Pac.

What makes it even more fascinating is the fact that it is an India all of us have lived through- names likes Sam Pitroda and Nayan Chanda- the shift of a country from an industrial economy to being an IT force to reckon with. It talks of the middle class making a difference to a nation and its paradigm shift. It talks of the brain power that has fueled the economy into meteoric heights. The history, while factual and sometimes dry, is interesting and relevant to the times we live in. It helps us understand the evolution of globalization and open trade at a time in India that had just come out of emergency, thanks to Indira Gandhi. The story of the people and the factors that influenced this revolution needs to be told and who better than by someone who was and is at the core of this emerging nation?

An excerpt

"India has always had its share of Cassandras, pessimists who point to the country's deep divides, the feudal nature of our politics and our slowness in reforms to suggest that the country's success remains improbable, difficult to sustain. But I still think that after a long and convoluted path, after many a stumble and wrong turn, a different kind of moment seems to be upon us. For the first time, there is a sense of hope across the country, which I believe is universal.

As I traveled around India, I realized that this feeling, this intense belief in the future, has not yet infiltrated our governments, and our ministers still talk about the people as masses to be taken care of, as one would ten an ailing patient, rather than as fellow citizens to empower. For this to be mirrored in our political institutions it requires us to imagine an India that rests not on the struggles of our past but on the promise and challenges of the future.

India, rediscovered, has proved to be young, impatient, vital, awake- a country that may finally be coming close to its early promise."

Demographic dividend

Sometime around July-August in the late 90s ,as they do every year, engineering colleges in Bangalore were churning out new graduates, fresh with hope and enthusiasm to venture out into the world of endless possibilities and boundless ambition. Campus interviews and job fairs were to be on the agenda for the next few months where classmates clustered around each other, comparing notes and debating testing methods and interviewing strategies.

If you were a fresh engineering graduate around this time, one of the much hyped tests had to have been the one at Infosys, where all of Bangalore wanted to work. Everyone had heard about the tech industry miracle called Infosys, its work ethics, the founder Narayana Murthy and his co-founders. The roadside chaatwala knew all about Sudha Murthy and how this couple began on meagre means to establish this global technological revolution which went on to be the first Indian company to be listed in Nasdaq in 1999. A few of my classmates did very well at Infosys and the rest of us were just proud of this fact. The tests in order to make it through was rumoured to be as tough as any Engineering semester exam could have been or even worse. And there were multiple rounds of tests and interviews, a grueling saga, bound to test the nerves of even a man of steel. But it was all worth it, after all, who has not heard of the Infosys campus in Bangalore. Let me quote one article from BBC which goes

"It is a self-contained city for its 20,000 workers, and contains shops, restaurants, a health club, a basketball court and even a golf course."

I happened to watch this interview with Nandan Nilekani on Jon Stewart recently. What humility and what a simpleton! Its no wonder these stalwarts were able to project India into the global limelight. We need such stellar powers to show the rest of the world what can be done with vision, perseverance and diligence. And now he says our population(1 billion plus) is an asset, NOT a liability. What a message sirjee!