January 15, 2010

A billion+ Idiots, Not Just Three!

I went for this movie that everyone is talking about, 3 idiots ofcourse! and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Came back home and bingo! I got to read the latest talk C K Prahalad gave in Bombay, and I could see a clear parallel:-). The message both give Indians, is to aim for Excellence, rather than be Mainstream, in their different styles though.

The movie, apart from keeping us in splits, also gave us food for thought. Ah yes, its very easy to dismiss the present education system and censure it as it encourages students to rote-learn rather than understand concepts and parents do force their children to do what they want him/her to do... But, clearly, the message to take home is to excel in whichever field one chooses to pursue. Yes, its not an easy path and its probably very safe to follow the beaten track but the satisfaction of doing what one wants to do has no equals. Its a wonderful message for the youth.

And the talk CKP gave, as part of the Nani Palkhiwala Memorial lecture simply emphasized this point. He said that Indian policy makers must look towards to empowering and rewarding people with merit rather targetting policies for the masses...to build a new India. This will be very important in today's context where quality takes a back seat and populist measures targeting masses seem to be fashionable.

When people from such diverse backgrounds begin to speak the same language, I guess there is hope for India!

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