I finally managed to get through the 463 pages of this well researched, extremely well documented and reasonably readable tome. Nandan Nilekani, the co-chairman of India’s Infosys Technologies Limited has prospered handsomely since the introduction of political reforms in the early 90s. His business rock star status means he is often asked to provide his explanation of the Indian economic miracle. Imagining India is the collective response, and he has answered the questions exhaustively to say the least. The only downside is he felt the need to squeeze his answer into just one volume.
The first 340 pages are a fairly dense history of virtually every aspect of Indian life including politics, education, health care, national infrastructure and, of course, business. While necessary to provide a context for where India is today and where it is going in the future, I almost wished the author had put this information in a separate book, which could be optionally read. It certainly paints a very complete picture of the period from India’s independence in 1947 to the current day.
For someone like me who was otherwise unfamiliar with India’s history, the most significant surprise is the wide diversity of cultures which make up the country. Naively, I had assumed a certain homogeneity for all parts of India. Nothing could be further from the truth. To describe India as one nation would be the same as describing Europe as one nation.
However, the most interesting part of the book started for me on page 341 through to the end, where the author talks about the status quo, and the things which will need to happen in the future if the boom is to continue. He makes what seem to be practical and workable suggestions. However, they do appear to be variations on the theme of deregulation and getting the suffocating Indian bureaucracy off the backs of the fundamentally entrepreneurial Indian people.
It’s interesting to note that in July of this year, Nilekani was appointed Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India. This is one of the subjects he spends quite a bit of time on in the book. Simply having one, universal identification system for each Indian – when there are nearly 1.2 billion of them – is a monumental task, and Nilekani sees it as a key enabler for further reforms and the continued rapid development of the economy. Unfortunately, his move into this position has necessitated the discontinuation of his blog. In the last post he states “In my new role, I can no longer comment on government policy.” Not only do we lose a useful point of access to this exceedingly bright mind, but one also hopes this is not the first step in Nilekani being subsumed by the bureaucracy, as opposed to being a useful and constructive critic of it. Time will tell.
Imagining India is a long and fairly difficult read, but well worth the time and effort to get a sense of a country which is going to have a huge impact in the future. (Also, for those interested in the subject, watching Charlie Rose’s fairly brief interview with Nilekani is well worth the time.)
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