Thursday, October 17, 2013

While I Took a Sabbatical

The closest I had gotten to North India during the first 17 years of my life was to Tirupathi, a mere 150 km north of Chennai. My first trip to North India, rather East India was my trip to Calcutta for obvious reasons, close to my 17th birthday. Travelling is fun I thought. Exploring new places was exhilarating. Experimenting with unknown places was adventurous. Then came the biggest twist in my life – The Motorcycle Diaries. Being an Indian, it gives you the birthright to copy the onscreen actions in real life. Actions like tapping a cigarette from your palm and holding it with your lips or humming, “Tujhe dekha to yeh jaana saname”, with outstretched arms or “Arey saala” depicting the angry young man. But, my choice was different. I wanted to travel on a bike. Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara inspired me to explore places.
The movie got over. I came out of my room enthusiastic and told me best friend next door that I wanted to ride a bike to explore places. The best advice that was offered was to participate in Roadies. Arrghh! Someone understand me. I want to travel the world on my bike. Nothing against Roadies, but it was just a misnomer for a soap serial with biking as a small part, since the then Hero Honda wanted to promote their Karizma. Days passed, with that the years too.

Then happened Royal Enfield in my life. Perceptions changed, life turned on its head. Every weekend (mine used to be a Thursday), I explored a new place. With a bettering technology, Maps were reduced from big sheets to apps. Rising up early (it used to be the day continuing the night shift) had a new meaning. The dawn breaks, and you are already on the road with a cold breeze finding its way through the gaps in the helmet to caress your ears to give Goosebumps. Speed was never a deterrent and the roadside tea shops became your adda. Early in the morning, when you see the shy sun combating its way through the milky white clouds, you look into the horizon and the mind goes blank. You may be driving at 90kmph, but everything around you moves so slowly. The road ahead leads to oblivion and you don’t think about the past or the future, when the present is so pleasurable. It’s a new high and you are brought back to your senses by the potholes and the loud trucks.
During the journey things may not go your way and it calls for adjustments. Adjustments that you would hate to do, but have to do inorder to survive. The journey is long that you may either choose to give up or push yourself to get past the hurdle so that you get enjoy what lays ahead. Biking is no easy, but in the words of Mr. Venki Padmanabhan, CEO of Royal Enfield, “The Odyssey transforms a child into a boy, a boy into a man, a man into a sage and a sage into a child.” It teaches the essentials of life like endurance, sportsmanship and ownership.
You learn to endure tough situations like driving through barren land and surviving without water on a hot summer day. When the first drop of water touches the lips, you will value life. Tough situations like beating the bitter cold – when the hot chai enters your esophagus, you can trace it to your stomach. You bike with likeminded people with a zeal of sportsmanship. You may be competitors on speed to assess who reaches the next checkpoint first, but the sportsmanship of helping out a fellow biker takes priority over everything. Ownership of your bike, the most prized possession and also your life gives you a sense of belonging. At the end of it, it’s not the thrill, but the humaneness in you is rekindled when you bike to travel and explore places. You appreciate nature which is at its best behavior always.
Biking gave me a new identity. Although I am not even close to what I set to achieve, I appreciate the journey. Whenever I say that I am going to travel on a holiday, the first question is stumble upon is, “On your bike is it?” As a biker, it leaves you an everlasting good feeling about yourself, because at the end of everything, at the top, you will be that lonely biker wading your way through to achieve what you set out to.
“The first commandment for every good explorer is: An expedition has two points, the point of departure and the point of arrival. If your intention is to make the second theoretical point coincide with the actual point of arrival, don’t think about the means – because the journey is a virtual space that finishes when it finishes, and there are so many means as there are different ways of “finishing”. That is to say, the means are endless.” – Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Closer to Reality - Gwalior Fort

So, I reach the station, cross over the flyover, take the right before DD mall and wriggle through the narrow road to reach the entrance of Gujari Mahal - the rear entrance to Gwalior fort. Thank you Google Maps. It seemed like a perfect evening plan for a Sunday!
I asked the security guard at the base of Gujari Mahal where I could park the borrowed Activa. Prompt was the reply - I could take it up right into the fort.  It was steepest of many climbs and with a 110cc autogear scooter, I couldn’t expect the ride to be of much finesse. One of many times when I thoroughly missed my Thunderbird! I rode up, up, in the air to reach yet another entrance of the fort. That’s where I decided to park the bike and take a walk for the rest of the distance. The non-existent parking lot was almost empty with just one another bike. Sunday evening and I had the fort all to myself? Wah! Craning my neck in awkward angles to look through the narrow doorway, the BGM of Om Shanti Om started. Flurry images started passing through my mind! Who were these people in the grand kingdom setup? Real disturbing images of pseudo-reality. Cut back to reality, the narrow doorway was just an orifice when compared to the magnificent big door that separated the fort from the rest of the world. It was one of those grand doors which would need zillions of horsepower to operate on a daily basis. I stepped inside the fort only to find more motorcycles. And notorious that I was with my luck in such cases, there was a motorcyclist approaching me. There were only seconds left to avoid a clash. Thanks to my reflex, I could avoid a head –on collision; although I did expect him to crash into the grand door.  But agility, kraft (sorry, craft) and practice made him exit the fort through that orifice, almost effortlessly. The very same orifice which I struggled through. Gwalior never stopped to amaze me!

I climbed the steep road to the Museum, got a ticket and ventured in. Frankly speaking, there was nothing interesting in there. The museum usher learnt that I had parked my bike outside the grand entrance doorway. He gave me looks that I deciphered to be - “What do you take this place to be that you left your bike outside for the world to see?? Bring it in you moron!” . He had won the non-existent argument. I climbed down and with a few beggars help,..ta da! I brought my bike inside and headed for the fort. Without much ado, I parked my bike at a makeshift parking lot and entered Tomar palace. Explored! Clicked random pictures! Took unknown stairs! And found myself in dungeons with no light only to hear bats squeaking. Scary enough! Took unknown stairs again, with little light from the mobile; this time to hear someone moaning at the end of the tunnel. Oops! Wrong tunnel. A couple in search of some privacy landed in the dungeon only to be disturbed by the sound of footsteps and the light from my mobile. Sorry guys, no voyeuristic intentions meant. Please continue! Retraced my steps a little, and then there was light! There was an end to the tunnel.. Phew, that was close!
I came out of the Tomar palace to find my way into a library of Mahals – Karan Palace, Jahangir Mahal and Shah Jahan Mahal.  Was it under renovation or was it that badly maintained, one should ask. Again the disturbing images of Jahangir and Shah Jahan approaching me passed me through. The ticket vendor brought me back to reality. After paying ten bucks, I was let inside a bigger than usual gate. Once in, no one stopped me ever, no frisking, no checking of bags – you are just out in the open of wild architectural wonders. Then it dawned on me – No one cares! I went to the West end. The sun was blazing down even at 4 in the evening. I figured that the east side should be wonderful then. I roamed around and finally found myself a spot overseeing the entire Gwalior city. When you have found that one spot of perfect light for quiet and tranquility, there was only one thing to do – read. So I took out my book and spent close to half an hour reading. At around 5, I roamed around and found the best place to spend the evening. The top of East Tower of Jahangir Mahal, atop the minaret. Wow! View of entire Gwalior was breath taking. I must accede that the kings had taste. They definitely knew how to live and it must have been a life worth dying for! What a way to spend your evening.  To stare into the horizon and feel nothing; every evening! All philosophical concepts of how to keep oneself at zero entropy state came to mind. There is nothing that I could think of than take in the view and beauty of it. Listening to Vellai Pookal by ARR took me to an altogether different plane of bliss, melancholy and solitude!  I forgot where I was, who I was.


The sun started to set at around 6:30. It probably was time to leave. Things were starting to get a little spookier too. I kept hearing thuds and taps in rhythm. When I walked out, there was no one else to be seen. Five minutes later, I reached the entrance and found the gate locked. What the….. ! I called the security guard and he asks me if I had fallen asleep. I said I was ‘all philo and forgot about myself’ which made him suspicious. He started walking towards me, when I muttered, “yes boss, I had fallen asleep. Now please help me out?” He asked me to go inside and search for labourers who may have the key to the locked gate. I nodded, darting in again. Inside looked spookier with twilight setting in. I heard someone call my name. Who in the fort could know my name! When I turned back, obviously there was no one. I searched for the labourers, but no luck. It took a few moments to sink in – I was screwed!
Jahangir spoke first. Followed by Shah Jahan. Then it was someone who had died here having got locked out too. They all asked me to stay back, promising interesting narrations of their lives.  Then on, I wasted no moment; I ran. I ran as if there was no end to the race. I caught the steel gate and wringed myself to it. I shouted, but there was no one to hear my plea. The gate was 10 feet high. Mustering courage and strength, I began climbing. I slipped. So I tried again. And fell on the ground, yet again. Feeling more determined, I took a few sips of water and a bar of Cadbury Perk (Not only SRK, even I can do it). This time I got atop the gate. I bid adieu to the voices of Jahangir and Shah Jahan and I jumped. Phew!

I walked to the makeshift parking lot and checked the bike. Gwalior continues to amaze me - the rear view mirrors were stolen!  I met the security guard en route the grand doorway. He lectured me on how robbery takes place in the fort and asked me not to venture out crazily like this. I thanked him and found my way out of the orifice. Vrooooooom I went; to the next place where you would find hot Madu girls of Gwalior – The Pani Puri stall!!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Incredible India Shining for Bharat Nirman

This article has been inspired (partially copied) from David Aaker’s “Nation Branding – What works?” People who know Aaker needs no introduction. He is probably the best in the business of brands. For people who don’t know Aaker, don’t even try to find out. You are better off without management education.
India is a country that has been highly misinterpreted and misconceived in the past, present and the way things look like, the misconception trend will continue in the future also. Pre-colonization, we contributed roughly 25% of the world’s GDP. After 190 years of British Raj, we were contributing approximately 8% and currently at 3%. What has happened in those three centuries that our market share (of course it is kind of a market share) has dropped from 25% to 3%. It’s like what a Kodak or a Fiat Padmini has managed to do. So, India has been subjected to more of a management problem than political, economic or social ones. We have poor trade secret ethics and we sell everything too cheap. We sold cotton cheaply during the British Raj, we sold our freedom fighters pretty cheap and finally after independence we started selling our human capital as well. In other words, by having a License Raj and restricting opportunities prior to 1991, we sold the best of our people to the outside world where they became successful and the word “brain-drain” was introduced. We concentrated more on our selling that we forgot to hold back what was needed for ourselves.
Our biggest strength has been always been our people. And our biggest weakness has always been, too many people. When asked in an interview about your weakness, we smartly maneuver the answer that we end up convincing the interviewer that my biggest strength is also my biggest weakness, as if the interviewer is a noob. We should also do that – dress up our weakness and portray it as our strength. Fortunately, truly in our case, our strength and weakness has been the same (I hope you are convinced – our biggest weakness is actually a strength :P) H. G. Wells once said, “Advertising is legalized lying.” Every organization advertises or promotes itself. And so do nations. David Aaker gives a four pronged strategy to do the same.
1. Hosting global events:
We are a pioneer in that, aren’t we? We host those global events through which we can make money. For say, there was the CWG in Delhi and we made a lot of money and the same case with ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. The previous edition of the same that we hosted in 1987 and guess who the sponsors were? Reliance. So, by hosting global events we promote our country by being caught in all possible scams, spams and spasms.
So, when and where can we host Olympics? If we start working towards our “where”, the “when” will take care of itself. Since our major metropolitans have maxed out, we must look at a place which has rich cultural history, represent India on the whole and has been completely ignored until the recent past. No better place than Wasseypur. After Sardar Khan, Ramadhir Singh, Faizal Khan and their clans have settled their scores, Wasseypur unanimously becomes the perfect choice to host the Olympics in a safe and sound manner. The only gunshots that will be heard are that of the Olympic event “Shooting”.
2. Events created and owned by industries:
All software related global events are held or atleast tried to be held in our country. But, apart from that, we can create Knowledge Forums like DDDKF (Dynasty Democracy Duplicity Knowledge Forum) or KFC (Knowledge Forum for Corruption) or say KFCCI (Knowledge Forum for Control of Corruption in India) which can be duly organized by BCCI (Board for Control of Corruption in India).
We can also focus on promoting arts and give a fillip to our Jaipur Literary Festival and make it to the top of the newscharts by inviting legends like Salman Rushdie and then acting to unwelcome him. More art forms in the neglected part of North-East India can be given some focus before China claims it to be theirs.
How can someone forget Bollywood or Indian Cinema on the whole? We are the pioneers in sending entries like Barfi, Jeans, etc. as nominations to Academy Awards (Oscar) for the Best Foreign Language Film and also enjoy meaningful movies like Tees Maar Khan and Student of the Year. Next time when we send our nomination, we should send the movie Teen Sau (300, dubbed in Hindi) and baffle the Hollywood on our smartness. Why don’t we stage our own Aascars Award and invite foreign films to file their nominations for the Best Firang Movie Aascars Award. Stumped!
4. Identification and leverage of country symbols:
Australian Cricket team comes to India and loses a test series and its captain takes his wife to Taj Mahal. Totally unrelated, yet you get the point right. Taj Mahal, the symbol of love, is the symbol of India outside India. Named like (Mu)Barack Obama, (Mum)Taj Mahal would have too big a brand name to be promoted. Like Taj, we have zillion other structures which promote peace, tranquility, arts, natural miracles, etc. that needs promoting. To reduce the traffic at Agra, why don’t we promote the poor man’s equivalent of Taj Mahal known as Bibi ka Maqbara built in Aurangabad by Aurangzeb. Now, how many of you knew about that before wiki-ing about it.
We have temples, mosques, churches, gurudwaras, tombs, bridges, dams, historical war locations and the list is endless. The only thing we don’t have is structures denoting Ancient Aliens invasion. Wait, didn’t India exist even before the Aliens came down!
4. Encourage and leverage corporate brands:
This we have done fairly well. Tata, Birla, Reliance, Bharti, Infosys, et al. have created a positive image about India. We are not only a land of elephants and snake charmers but also of software engineers and back-office customer care executives. We are also the businessmen who are recognized today on a global level, thanks to the brain drain. The biggest competitor to the private sector business houses today is the government. They are always there for all the possible wrong reasons hogging the limelight. As the cliché goes, any kind of publicity is publicity.


So, when we can’t do anything on our own, we seek foreign help. So, can we bring in a Business Consultant from Italy to run it for us?? Or we already did!!!

What are you smoking, dear leader?

In the world conclave 2030, the head of the world asked, “How many of you countries are corrupt?” Almost every country’s representative raised their hand. Atleast they were being truthful. Sensing that the times have changed, he rephrased his question, “How many of you countries are not corrupt?” None. He beamed a sigh of relief and asked “How are the whistleblowers doing? Where are they gonna find shelter when all of you are corrupt? If you are not going to feed the world with problems, the world will retaliate with problems. The have-nots will fight for wanting to have what they haven’t had, as if it is their birth right. The ones requiring the have-nots support to sustain their government, will promise them glories that they won’t be able to fulfill. If the promises are fulfilled, the have-nots become the haves and then there will be equality…. But, no justice to the haves. Instigating the haves against us is the last thing that we want. My dear friends, don’t create equality without justice. That is more harmful than inequality with injustice as in this case at least inequality and injustice have company for each other. If you are not able to control, create chaos. Remember, the big bang was a chaos. Once it all settles down, there will be peace only to be shaken by another chaos created by another of you my friend.”
“By making each and every one of us corrupt, is the only way out. All of us being corrupt is the only way to bring about equality and justice. Then will raise the problem of who is more corrupt? Inform them like a slow poison, that the punishment for committing a murder is the same as committing ten or a thousand. Provide them with the just society they have been asking for. Let them fight for topping the charts of corrupt survival. Let the society create inequality within itself on the lines of being highly and lowly corrupt. Without inequality there is no progress. When there is no progress, the human race will degrade.”

There was pindrop silence as if everyone were waiting for his final order. He paused for a moment, looked up with outstretched hands and then murmered into the mic, “Let there be chaos.”

Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Terminal

The burning hot chai-in-matka on Platform no. 2 of Jharsuguda Railway station was soothing to the esophagus on this cold January evening. Unusually, there seemed to be more people on the platform than in the whole of Jharsuguda, all rearing to have a go at any train that would wade its way through the platform. I only hoped they were not waiting for mine. As luck would have it, my train Azad Hind Express from Pune was dot on time. But, the three of us were flabbergasted to find our seats occupied. As one can expect such abnormalities to happen in Odisha, we should not have been as shell-shocked as we were. It is way of life there. Survival of the fittest is bred since the time they are born and all they do is fight for rights which were rightfully theirs while exploited by others. I am no Maoisht (MB ishtyle) in voicing my opinion, but just one of those spineless citizens who adjusted himself to the presented hostility to move ahead. There were three of us – Mukundh, Monica and Tippu called the MMT trio who booked their tickets through MMT (makemytrip.com) as we shared the same traumatic experiences with rest of the Internet-enabled Indians in booking railways tickets. So, come what may, we would have to take the train to reach Calcutta the next day morning. In Azad Hind express, there was no Azadi to express anything. We got a small portion of our seats to ourselves and sat down dreading an awful night ahead.
One of the few things that I like about fellow Indians is their urgency to portray their machismo. The lady of the trio got her berth all to herself thanks to the growling from fellow passengers that they must atleast let a girl sleep comfortably although they tampered with the sleeping pattern of others. Somehow we reach Howrah. The truss balanced bridge, once known to be of Cantilever in design is the first thing that you see when you step out of Howrah station. And, of course the Yellow Ambassadors if you are not color blind. Although I am a pseudo-Bengali having spent four years in the second biggest city of Paschim Bengal, I have never been to Dum-Dum airport to take a flight for myself. I have been there to drop those filthy rich Muscatian friends (Yeah Sangeet, it’s you) or the diseased friends who needed immediate medical attention down south. So, here I was, to talk to the Bihari/Jharkhandi/UP cab drivers in broken Bengali, negotiate a rate and reach Dum-Dum as early as possible. If I was given an alternative, I would have optimized the route by taking a ferry to Babughat, strolled through the High Court lanes where you find more number of typists sitting on the platform than the cha-dukkans and reached Esplanade Metro Station. From Esplanade, I would have taken a Metro to Dum-Dum and then taken a shared cab to Airport entrance (and walked a kilometer to reach). The whole exercise in 2006 would have cost me Rs. 32.50, with the Rs. 2.50 for the matka chai. But, here I have to guide the MMT trio to Dum-Dum with as less dissonance as possible.
Our flight to Chennai was at 1140 hours and the sun had just risen at 0520 hours. Quite some time to kill. With the “kotho lagbe” and “taratari chalon”, we reached Dum-Dum at 0600 hours. Quite early for a 1140 flight! We thought of settling down at the Departure section, but found no place. Wading our way through the airport, we reached a virgin section of the airport where there were empty seats. To add to our joy, there were empty power sockets too. We had the over-priced breakfast, over-priced chai, but when it came to water, we were as chindi as possible by filling our empty Rail Neer water bottles. For some weird reasons, there were no announcements made. Hustle-bustle of crowds started. Very few were had chosen to sit; predominantly it was the floating crowd making much of the noise. It was getting very boring, when finally we decided to watch a movie. I had a copy of Kamal Haasan’s comedy riot, Panchathanthiram. We laughed and laughed and laughed. There is a not-so-common belief that too much laughter makes Karma bite us in the ass, but who cares about the pitfalls when the going is good. Finally, when the movie reached its half-way mark, we took a break to check on why there were no announcements made.
It was 1115 and yet, there were no announcements. Weird right? We repacked and, deciphering the undecipherable signs in the airport, we reached the Jet Airways desk. We showed our tickets and got a smirk from the other side of the counter. The smirk turned into a grin and then a smile. I smiled back. With her fake accent, the Jet Airways attendant told me that the flight was closed for boarding. I couldn’t get any clue of the technicalities. And when I told her that, she put it in lay man terms saying that we have missed our flight. With all guns blazing, I asked her a simple question, “How can I miss my flight when I am 20 minutes before departure?” The IRCTC guy in me crash opened my chest to come out with this logic. Things can get really embarrassing if you don’t read the fine print on the tickets. Like they say at the end of a Mutual Fund ad, “Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risk. Please read the offer document carefully before investing.” It holds true. “Report to the check-in counter minimum 50 minutes before the Departure time. Boarding closes 15 minutes prior to departure.” Adding insult to injury, the person sitting in the next Jet counter told us, “I saw you guys sitting in Arrival. I thought that you were waiting to receive someone.”
Ah. Now it dawned on us. We were watching the movie sitting in the Arrival area oblivious to our surrounding. And that was why there were no announcements. But, I still contend the logic of having heard no announcements of even those flights arriving in as well. Nevertheless, Jet agreed to pay to full refund as the flight was overbooked as they didn’t lose any revenue. We later booked an evening SpiceJet flight, for double of Jet’s price. Since our flight was in the evening, we continued with the movie, this time from Departure. With Panchathanthiram done, we went on to watch another movie - Tom Hanks’s starrer “The Terminal”. Frankly there was not much of a difference between the second movie and what we went through!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Once Upon a Time - India

This work was submitted as an assignment for the credit completion of the course "Indian Financial and Business Models" at Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay.

Introduction

India is a melting pot of culture, peoples and various societies. The definition of India various from person to person and perspective to perspective. Having caught in the dichotomies present in this tolerant country, India is neither what it is made out to be nor what it is thought to be. The realms of reality are beyond comprehension of an ordinary mind. It involves some deep soul digging as well as facts and inferences put out by leading scholars of the outside world.
For far too long India has been ridiculed as a country where any financial, business and management model would fail because of its belief in karma, rebirth and caste[1]. But seldom is written or known about how these three factors and many more additional ones were the ones that made India the greatest nation of all times from 1 AD to 1700 AD. History is as good as it is reported and the modern Indian academic, sociological and economic thinking[1] was misguided by proponents of outside world who failed to understand the Indian way of working.
[1]In 1983, Paul Bairoch, a Belgian economist, came out with his study of the world economy and his findings astounded the West. He said that in 1750 India’s share of world GDP was 24.5%, China’s 33%, but the combined share of Britain and the US was just 2%.
India’s share, Bairoch found, fell to 20% in 1800; to 18% in 1830; and finally crashed to 1.7% in 1900, while China’s crashed to 6.2% from 33%. In these 150 years, the combined share of Britain and the US rose to from 2% to over 41%. Bairoch shook the West by saying that in middle 19th century, the West had a lower standard of living than Asians (Indians and Chinese). The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD], constituted a Development Institute Studies under Angus Maddisson, a great economic historian, to conduct a comprehensive research into economic history and the ulterior motive was to prove Bairoch wrong.
Angus Maddisson postulated, ‘If Bairoch is right, then much more of the backwardness of the third world presumably has to be explained by colonial exploitation’ and ‘much less of Europe’s advantage can be due to scientific precocity, centuries of slow accumulation, and organisational and financial superiority’. After two decades of hard work, Maddision published his studies titled ‘World Economic History - A Millennial Perspective in 2001’.
His study confirmed Bairoch’s study of 150 years and more, as Maddisson studied the entire 2000 years economic history. Maddisson showed that India was the leading economic power of the world from the 1st year of the first millennium till 1700 - with 32% share of world’s GDP in the first 1000 years and 28% to 24% in the second millennium till 1700.
China was second to India except in 1600 when China temporarily overtook India. India again overtook China in 1700. The global economic play was in the hands of India and China till 1830. Maddison confirmed that India fell only due to colonial exploitation. Now the Maddisson study, endorsed by OECD, is the most authentic economic history of the world.[1]
Such has been the neglect on India’s prowess. But the sad state of affairs is that everything that India ever achieved has to be validated by someone from outside. As Gandhiji said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Angus Maddison’s Research and Findings

Angus Maddison’s works have assumed significance because for the first time that certain vital economic data for different countries and the world were provided. The GDP figures of the world and different countries/regions during 1 AD reveals clearly the predominance of the Indian economy. Indian economy denotes the economy of the undivided India as existed during 1 AD.

Table 1: World GDP (1 AD)
(million 1990 international $)
Year
1 AD
Total Western Europe
11,115
Eastern Europe
1,900
Former USSR
1,560
Total Western offshoots
468
Total Latin America
2,240
Japan
1,200
China
26,820
India
33,750
Other Asia
16,470
Total Asia (excluding Japan)
77,040
Africa
7,013
World
1,02,536
Source: Maddison, Angus, The World Economy – A Millennial Perspective, 1st Indian Edition, Overseas Press (India) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 2003, p.261.

Table 1 shows the total GDP of the world at $102.5 billion. India was the largest contributor to the global GDP at that time with $33.75 billion. China was following India with $26.82 billion. Africa’s contribution was $7.01 billion, while that of Japan was $1.2 billion.[2]

Table 2: Percentage Share of countries/regions in World GDP (1 AD)
Year
1 AD
Total Western Europe
10.8
Eastern Europe
1.9
Former USSR
1.5
Total Western offshoots
0.5
Total Latin America
2.2
Japan
1.2
China
26.2
India
32.9
Other Asia
16.1
Total Asia (excluding Japan)
75.1
Africa
6.8
World
100
Source: Maddison, Angus, The World Economy – A Millennial Perspective, 1st Indian Edition, Overseas Press (India) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 2003, p.263.

Table 2 illustrates the predominant position of India in the international economy during the 1 AD. It shows that India’s share of the world was 32.9%. It means that India alone was contributing almost one-third of the global GDP, while all the countries in the rest of the world we jointly contributing the remaining two-thirds. China’s contribution during that period was 26.2%. India and China together were contributing 59.1% to the global economy. While the other countries in Asia were contributing 16.1%, Japan’s share was 1.2%. The total contribution of Asia including Japan was an astonishing 76.3%. While the total Western Europe was contributing 10.8%, Africa’s contribution was 6.8%. It is significant to note that India’s GDP was slightly more than three times of the GDP of the total Western Europe. No country or even geographical region was anywhere nearer to India, except China. Even when compared with China, India’s GDP was more than 125%.[3]

Table 3: GDP of India and other countries/regions (1 AD to 1700)
(million 1990 international $)
Country
0
1000
1500
1600
1700
Austria

1414
2093
2483
Belguim

1225
1561
2288
Denmark

443
569
727
Finland

136
215
255
France

10912
15559
21180
Germany

8112
12432
13410
Italy

11550
14410
14630
Netherlands

716
2052
4009
Norway

192
304
450
Sweden

382
626
1231
Switzerland

482
880
1253
U.K.

2815
6007
10709
12 Countries Total

38379
56708
72625
Portugal

632
850
1708
Spain


4744
7416
7893
Others

590
981
1169
Total Western Europe
11115
10165
44345
65955
83395
Eastern Europe
1900
2600
6237
8743
10647
Former USSR
1560
2840
8475
11447
16222
United States

800
600
527
Other Western Offshoots

320
320
300
Total Western Offshoots
468
784
1120
920
827
Mexico

3188
1134
2558
Other Latin America

4100
2623
3813
Total Latin America
2240
4560
7288
3757
6371
Japan
1200
3188
7700
9620
15390
China
26820
26550
61800
96000
82800
India
33750
33750
60500
74250
90750
Total Asian Countries
16470
18630
31301
36725
40567
Total Asia (Excluding Japan)
77040
78930
153601
206975
214117
Africa
7013
13723
18400
22000
24400
World
102536
116790
247116
329417
371369
Source: Maddison, Angus, The World Economy – A Millennial Perspective, 1st Indian Edition, Overseas Press (India) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 2003, p.261.

Table 3 shows that while the GDP of India had remained the same in terms of dollar values for thousand years since 1 AD, there was a small decline in the case of China as well as the total Western Europe. Only the share of Africa had increased notably during this period. During 1500, while the GDP of India had increased to $60.5 billion, the GDP of China touched $61.8 billion. There are two notable developments in this period. One is for the first time in the previous two thousand years, India’s position as the number one economy was overtaken by another country, namely China. The other one is that for the first time in history, the UK and the US enter the GDP map of the world along with many other western countries. At that time, while the GDP of the UK was $2.81 billion, that of the US was $800 million. The data for the next two hundred years reveal that in 1700, India again becomes the number one country in terms of economic performance in the world. So the contemporary economic figures clearly reveal that India had remained as the premier economic power almost till 1700, with declines during 1500 and 1600.[4]

Table 4: GDP Share of India and Other Countries/regions (1 AD to 1700)
Country
0
1000
1500
1600
1700
Austria

0.6
0.6
0.7
Belguim

0.5
0.5
0.6
Denmark

0.2
0.2
0.2
Finland

0.1
0.1
0.1
France

4.4
4.7
5.7
Germany

3.3
3.8
3.6
Italy

4.7
4.4
3.9
Netherlands

0.3
0.6
1.1
Norway

0.1
0.1
0.1
Sweden

0.2
0.2
0.3
Switzerland

0.2
0.3
0.3
U.K.

1.1
1.8
2.9
12 Countries Total

15.5
17.2
19.5
Portugal

0.3
0.3
0.5
Spain


1.9
2.1
2.2
Others

0.2
0.3
0.3
Total Western Europe
10.8
8.7
17.9
19.9
22.5
Eastern Europe
1.9
2.2
2.5
2.7
2.9
Former USSR
1.5
2.4
3.4
3.5
4.4
United States

0.3
0.2
0.1
Other Western Offshoots

0.1
0.1
0.1
Total Western Offshoots
0.5
0.7
0.5
0.3
0.2
Mexico

1.3
0.3
0.7
Other Latin America

1.7
0.8
1
Total Latin America
2.2
3.9
2.9
1.1
1.7
Japan
1.2
2.7
3.1
2.9
4.1
China
26.2
22.7
25
29.2
22.3
India
32.9
28.9
24.5
22.6
24.4
Total Asian Countries
16.1
16
12.7
11.2
10.9
Total Asia (Excluding Japan)
75.1
67.6
62.1
62.9
57.6
Africa
6.8
11.8
7.4
6.7
6.6
World
100
100
100
100
100
Source: Maddison, Angus, The World Economy – A Millennial Perspective, 1st Indian Edition, Overseas Press (India) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 2003, p.263.

Table 4 shows the share of global GDP for different countries for the first 1700 years in the previous 2000 years of world history. The position of India as the topmost economic power had continued uninterrupted, for the longest period during the last two millennia, till 1500. Even during 1500, China’s GDP was only more than 0.5% of India’s GDP. Such a high performance testifies that of the previous twenty centuries, without any competition from any other nation in the world. But, there is a real decline in 1600 and thereafter India regained her position as the top economic power in 1700, leading China by a margin of 2.1%. So it could be said that for about 80% of the time in history of previous two millennia, India was the premier economy. This is an excellent and unparalled performance in the history of the world.
During 1 AD to 1700, while the share of India in global GDP had declined from 32.9% to 24.4%, the share of China had declined from 26.2% to 22.3%. As a result, in the same period, the share of Asia had declined from 75.1% to 57.6%. But at the same time the share of the total Western Europe had increased during the above period from 10.8% to 22.5%. While the share of Africa had slightly decreased during the above period from 6.8% to 6.6%, Japan had increased its share from 1.2% to 4.1%. The share of increase for the total Western Europe is more from 1000 onwards. In fact, it was only this region that had gained the most during 1000 to 1700. The share of UK had shown an increase of 264% in just two centuries, between 1500 and 1700, with its actual share moving from 1.1% to 2.9%. This is a high increase for a country that first appeared in the global GDP map only in 1500. It is interesting to note that the share of the US had declined from 0.3% to 0.1% during 1500 to 1700. The share of India was the highest in the world in 1700, followed by China. There was an important development in economic history during this period. For the first time in history, the share of the total Western Europe was more than the share of China.[5]

Table 5: GDP of different countries (1700 – 1950)
(million 1990 International $)
Year
1700
1820
1870
1913
1950
Austria
2483
4104
8419
23451
25702
Belgium
2288
4529
13746
32347
47190
Denmark
727
1470
3782
11670
29654
Finland
255
913
1999
6389
17051
France
21180
38434
72100
144489
220492
Germany
13410
26349
71429
237332
265354
Italy
14630
22535
41814
95487
164957
Netherlands
4009
4288
9952
24955
60642
Norway
450
1071
2485
6119
17838
Sweden
1231
3098
6927
17403
47269
Switzerland
1253
2342
5867
16483
42545
UK
10709
36232
100179
224618
347850
12 Countries Total
72625
145366
338699
840743
1286544
Portugal
1708
3175
4338
7467
17615
Spain
7893
12975
22295
45686
66792
Others
1169
2206
4891
12478
30600
Total Western Europe
83395
163722
370223
906374
1401551
Eastern Europe
10647
23146
45448
121559
185023
Former USSR
16222
37716
83646
232351
510243
USA
527
12548
98374
517383
1455916
Other Western Offshoots
300
941
13781
68249
179574
Total Western Offshoots
827
13489
112155
585632
1635490
Mexico
2558
5000
6214
25921
67368
Other Latin America
3813
9120
21683
95760
356188
Total Latin America
6379
14120
27897
121681
423556
Japan
15390
20739
25393
71653
160966
China
82800
228600
189740
241344
239903
India
90750
111417
134882
204241
222222
Other Asian Countries
40567
50486
72173
146999
362578
Total Asia (excluding Japan)
214117
390503
396795
592584
824703
Africa
24400
31010
40172
72948
194569
World
371369
694442
1101369
2704782
5336101
Source: Maddison, Angus, The World Economy – A Millennial Perspective, 1st Indian Edition, Overseas Press (India) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 2003, p.261.

During this period of 250 years, many significant changes had taken place in the world economy. The western countries became economically powerful. By 1820, China replaced India as the largest contributor to the global economy. Asia had to lose its long held supremacy as the economic powerhouse of the world. By 1913, the US became the largest contributor to the global economy.[6]

Table 6: Share of different countries in World GDP (1700 – 1950)
(percent of world total)
Year
1700
1820
1870
1913
1950
Austria
0.7
0.6
0.8
0.9
0.5
Belgium
0.6
0.7
1.2
1.2
0.9
Denmark
0.2
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.6
Finland
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.3
France
5.7
5.5
6.5
5.3
4.1
Germany
3.6
3.8
6.5
8.8
5.0
Italy
3.9
3.2
3.8
3.5
3.1
Netherlands
1.1
0.6
0.9
0.9
1.1
Norway
0.1
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.3
Sweden
0.3
0.4
0.6
0.6
0.9
Switzerland
0.3
0.3
0.5
0.6
0.8
UK
2.9
5.2
9.1
8.3
6.5
12 Countries Total
19.5
20.9
30.7
31.1
24.1
Portugal
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.3
Spain
2.2
1.9
2.0
1.7
1.3
Others
0.3
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
Total Western Europe
22.5
23.6
33.6
33.5
26.3
Eastern Europe
2.9
3.3
4.1
4.5
3.5
Former USSR
4.4
5.4
7.6
8.6
9.6
USA
0.1
1.8
8.9
19.1
27.3
Other Western Offshoots
0.1
0.1
1.3
2.5
3.4
Total Western Offshoots
0.2
1.9
10.2
21.7
30.6
Mexico
0.7
0.7
0.6
1.0
1.3
Other Latin America
1.0
1.3
2.0
3.5
6.7
Total Latin America
1.7
2.0
2.5
4.5
7.9
Japan
4.1
3.0
2.3
2.6
3.0
China
22.3
32.9
17.2
8.9
4.5
India
24.4
16.0
12.2
7.6
4.2
Other Asian Countries
10.9
7.3
6.6
5.4
6.8
Total Asia (excluding Japan)
57.6
56.2
36.0
21.9
15.5
Africa
6.6
4.5
3.6
2.7
3.6
World
100
100
100
100
100
Source: Maddison, Angus, The World Economy – A Millennial Perspective, 1st Indian Edition, Overseas Press (India) Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 2003, p.263.

Table 6 shows that since 1700, the contribution of India to the global GDP had been continuously falling. As a result, within a period of just 120 years between 1700 and 1820, more than one-third of India’s economy was wiped out. By 1820, India’s GDP had declined to around 66% of what it was in 1700. India that remained the leader, far ahead of the others as an economic superpower since the ancient times, had to lose her long held premier status in 1820. Thereafter, the decline was steady, and in the next 130 years, nearly 75% of her economic worth of 1820 was again wiped out. In just 250 years about 83% of India’s economy was completely ruined. By 1950, India’s share of GDP became nearly one sixth of what it was in 1700. Even though China took over the position of India as the largest contributor in 1820, its share had also declined very fast. As a result, China’s contribution to the global GDP was 4.5% in 1950, just 0.3% more than that of India. The share of Asia declined to 15.5% from 57.6% in 250 years. By 1913, Asia had lost her status as the largest contributor of the world economy to the total Western Europe.[7]
The contribution of the UK to the world economy in 1870 was 319% of what it was in 1700. Thereafter, the share of UK declined to 6.5% in 1950. The share of total Western Europe had increased from 22.5% to 26.3% during this period of 250 years. The US had emerged as the largest contributor in 1913 with a share of 19.1% and its contribution reached 27.3% in 1950. The biggest gainer during this period of 250 years was the US. The share of Africa had declined from 6.6% to 3.6% during the period. It is important to note that while the shares of traditional powers led by India and China had drastically declined, the shares of the Western nations led by Europe and later US had increased manifold.[7]
Playing a big hand in destroying the Indian economy, the British exercised their policies by leeching on India for resources. Maddison notes that the policy of the East India Company regarding taxes. “The main objectives of the company were to enrich its officials and finance its exports from the tax revenues of the province instead of shipping bullion to India.”[8] He also informs that the taxes collected from India were used to expand the British Empire. “The hard core of the Empire was India, with three quarters of its population. Indian taxation financed a large army under British control, which could be deployed to serve British objectives elsewhere in Asia, the Middle East and eventually in Europe.”[9]

Conclusion

Before one is oblivious to these pieces of research and findings, India will remain as a third world country trying to achieve unrealistic goals. But as Indians, when one goes through Paul Bairoch’s and Angus Maddison’s research there is big paradigm shift in the way Indians see themselves. A lot of pride is restored and seeing India as a future economic giant is never going to be an impossible task. Indians can say to themselves that, “Been there, done that and it is only a matter of time before we pick ourselves up and work for the glory of the nation”. The slave mentality goes through a fillip and Indians are the new masters of the world. With a strong cultural setup where human relations are more important than anything else in the world, the day is not far when the indigenous economic model backed by the sociocultural setup is discussed and followed. That will lead Indians to glory and India will once again become the most prosperous nation in the world.

Reference

      1. Gurumurthy S., 'Boss, read the true history before speaking', The New Indian Express, 6th April 2013.
     2. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 8.
     3. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 9.
     4. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 31.
     5. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 32-33.
     6. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 37.
     7. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 38-39.
     8. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 44.
     9. Kanagasabapathi P, Indian Models of Economy, Business and Management, 3rd Edition, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2012, p. 46.
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