Singur Nano story - Was Bengal ready for it?

This blog is written and owned by Saurabh Gupta
Nano (Lakhtakia) has remained in the news channels, summits and discussion forums worldwide for various reasons; be it the cheapest car tag, car for poor tag, India's technology showcase tag, Tata's promise to poor tag or the dispute over the farmer's land.

This story brings in the foreground the other side of the emerging Brand India, where some States are not ready for the change or atleast the political leaders are not ready for the change. It's the beauty of democracy which gives us the right to get the public cooperation and turn around things, and India is a living example of this concept. I would also like to bring up that if we really want things to move as planned by the government then we should move to the concept of Communism like China, but do we really want that? I would vote for 'No' as we cherish Freedom - freedom of words, thoughts, ideas and we believe in the same. I am sure that Tatas would have done great job for the future of Bengal, no doubt about it but is it only Future that we should invest in? I want to quote an example out here to give a lateral picture of what I am thinking - I always used to curse people who steal National property but never thought why they do the same. Some do it for fun and I still curse them, but there are some who are hungry and hunger comes before National identity; they steal because they are struggling with their Present. They laugh at these speeches because they are not sure about their Present and leaders are busy planning for Future. The leaders are putting money for Future but are they fulfilling the dreams of the Present? I don't know the answer to this question because all of this is politically driven but I think its a good mathematical problem as to what proportion of the national funds should be used for Future and what for Present?

Let's discuss Singur plant story, Tatas are finally planning to move out of Bengal and Singur plant is shut. Somewhere over the net, I read that its a black day for Bengal and India, and I will say Yes & I might support No too. Ratan Tata said it right that if Bengal doesn't need them then they will go away and they stood by their words. It's the decision taken by the State of Bengal to not support Tatas and they will see impact of the same in coming years, but who knows they might be happy with it. Mamata might get people's support and become CM, people would feel happier with no industrialization in the State and Tatas would get a better deal in other State. So, in the end everyone might feel happy, except the current CM who wanted the change but didn't check whether the time is right or not. You can't bring a change until the time is right. Among all of this chaos ,what will happen to the youth of Bengal. What about their Future? No issues, people move to other places if there are gaps in the system. IITians used to move to US in 80s & 90s for the same reason. People from all over the country come to Maharashtra for the same reason. We might see the Bengal government after 15 years cribbing about brain drain problem. But what should a good leader do in between all this bullshit?
Some weeks back I was given a brain teaser, when this whole Singur issue was connected to Indian partition issue in 1947. Jinnah's role was assumed to be played by Ratan Tata who is interested in Nano project only, Nehru's role was assumed to be played by Mamata Banerjee who is interested in West Bengal only, Nano plant was assumed to be Pakistan which either stays with Bengal or go away (with Ratan Tata), West Bengal now was assumed to be India and Mahatma Gandhi's role was assumed to be played by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. I didn't know that answer then as I wasn't sure whether moving out of Bengal (or parallely having a separate country) was a better solution or not, but in the end its about safety of our people and in democracy people come first. So, Bengal people decided against Singur and Tatas are out. People call 14th August 1947 as a black day for India and we are still fighting because of that one decision. Gandhi in 1947 was looking for peaceful lands which didn't turn out as planned. Same might exist over here too, but living in the same land and fighting is not the solution. I don't know whether it is right or not but I am sure that there exists many dimensions to this whole story.

Will this have impact on India shining story?

Root cause of Brain Drain

This blog is written and owned by Saurabh Gupta
I have always questioned the idea of working for other countries, and have been thinking about 'Brain Drain' issue for quite sometime now. Giving it a deeper thought, I figured out that it is not an issue, it is an Escape; Escape from a system which claims to be clean and clear but is hollow from inside, which claims to be promoting Youth and Future India but is actually hindering the growth of very basic quality of leadership among them. I realized that most of the people don't care about whom they are working for or why they are working for them. They work for a peaceful and happy life where they can live with Self-respect and enjoy a free life. If you look at the present scenario, people are not crazy about America, they are crazy about the quality of life there. American economy (for example) doesn't ask its citizens to work for their companies only or live in the country; they just provide a clean, independant and accountable system where a common man can sit, relax and enjoy. They preach Freedom, Liberty and Independence and even though we preach the same, we just ignore to provide the freedom of self-respect to a common man. Common man can't defend himself if a powerful man goes against him, his family or his life.

If looking closely to the problem of corruption at the lowest level, in US, there is a system of tipping and people who earn less are tipped and hence they don't need to ask for bribes. Why can't we look for similar solutions? Why are we always asked for bribes? Why only licenses issued easily to powerful people and a common man has to fight it out? Why are we supposed to pay bribes for each and every government work? Issue is Accountabilty, Issue is ill use of power, Isue is Bol Bacchan Amitabh Bacchan... Leaders say tonnes of things but the very basic problem of ill treatment of common man is not targeted by anyone.

If you look at the issue of Brain Drain closely, it is not that people are betrayers of the country if they work for foreign companies or go to foreign countries to work. They want to live with self-respect and they don't want to see all this mess lying here. Law of the land is to protect yourself and your Family and provide them a good quality of life. Law and Order in India is forcing all those who can ESCAPE, to escape from the system. If you have lived in this country, you must have seen lines of people around MLAs, MPs, Ministers and if you want to lead a good quality of life, you ought to know these people.

Here arises the problem.. In good colleges like IITs and IIMs, students are taught to be the best in whichever field they enter but when they enter the world, they see the power lingering around the politicians and messy Law and Order situation. It is the loop hole in our economy which is forcing this talent to leave the country and American politicians are smart enough to attract this talent.

Seeing all this situation in the country, the reflex action is to escape, escape to a place where common man can dream, live and has a accountability if something wrong is done. Practically speaking, there is no such place but some places are better if Law and Order situation is compared.

Some scenarios commonly seen which force me to think to escape; you are going with your sister and you hear a comment or you hear abusive words. You are robbed on a street and you go to police station for help, but you are blamed for everything. Your son is missing and you are a common man. You are asked for money for a driving license even if you satisfy all the criterias. If you think about these situations closely, not everyone would like to go and fight, but every powerful man will say; Dare someone say or do this thing to me. This country is great for Powerful leaders, Politicians, Collectors, SPs, renowned Doctors but no one cares about the common man. Even if I am at a good post, I can't see a common man treated like that and so my reflex action is to go for a free land or to do something to change law and order situation of this land.

Brain Drain situation is there because those who can, just escape. I think 75% population, if given chance will escape this system, not for money but for a better life. And, the remaining 25% are those people who have power and need common man to show that power. I am not saying that corruption is there in India only, all I am saying is that in this country common man is ill-treated.

We all think about the ways to solve the problems existing in the country. I have always believed that generating employment, opening new sectors and streamlining the system can solve the problems. For most of these is required to retain the brains of this country to remain in the country and work for it. To tell you the truth, seeing the current Law and Order situation in India, sometimes I feel like living in a developed country. If you want to retain the Youth then you ought to give them respect and make leaders out of them and not coward, scary followers of this frustrating system. All that is needed is accountabilty if something wrong is done anywhere in the system.