Free India is under colonial rule
Sixty long years it has been, since India gained her Independence from Colonialist rule, how much longer is it going to take her to break free from the Neo-Colonialists? The older generation of colonialists plundered India of all its wealth, dictated terms and retarded development. The new generation, however, is more sophisticated and hence does not retard development, but lets us develop, albeit in a way that is most advantageous to them. These colonialists are none other than the Multi-National Corporations, who look at India as nothing but a cheap destination to outsource their processes, due to the extremely low cost of living and abundant availability of cheap and skilled manpower.
Fifty years since the Indian Industrial Revolution set in; India has still to make her mark in the world of industry, business and finance. There are very few large Indian corporations and conglomerates who command respect in the eyes of the World. What interests the World is not our achievement, but the lack of it, which is what, gives their companies ample opportunity to set up cheap and highly lucrative operations here. This has given rise to various new concepts, such as “being Bangalored”.
There is no shortage of enterprising individuals in India. Still, there is this gaping lack of commercial development. The reasons for this are manifold. Among them, however are two important reasons, viz., the lack of adequate capital and the difficulty in setting-up an enterprise. The bureaucratic hurdles involved in the various stages of set-up is a major dissuading factor even to the most enthusiastic of entrepreneurs, making them literally “run out” of the country in desperation, looking for alternate places to get their footing! They almost always expand into India later, but then, they are not in any sense Indian companies.
Researches, time and again by various experts have found that family-run enterprises are usually the most stable to economic perturbations. Such holdings, sadly, do not have any future in India. Being Indians, we have had the privilege of seeing many a business empire coming down crumbling due to family feuds. In India, that is the rule rather than the exception. Very few such enterprises have survived the test of time. Why does that remind me of the “Divide-and-Rule-Policy”?
It is time for India to break free from the chains of neo-colonialism and soar high without restraint. We entrepreneurs have unlimited potential. It is unto us entrepreneurs to realize this and hence, assure India of her rightful place among the countries of the world, not as the “Jewel of the British Crown” as it used to be, but as the “Crown” itself!
