GLOBAL BIZ

The Boom From The Bottom

Isolated from world trends, India's aspiring middle will help it grow through the credit storm.

By Jason Overdorf | NEWSWEEK
Published Feb 14, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Feb 23, 2009

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  • Posted By: arunabhdas @ 10/22/2009 2:15:39 AM

    India's middle class does outnumber the population of North America so there may be some truth to the premise in this story. - Arunabh Das

  • Posted By: FerdNewsweek @ 05/13/2009 12:33:22 PM

    porasjeedimetla talks about the "antiquated imperialist mindset" of Americans and Europeans. Is there no imperialism in India, Mr. Porasjeed? The imperialism of the politicians, the bureaucrats, the higher castes?
    And, Indians are not exploited?! Do you want to tell that to the hundreds of millions toiling for tuppance in India? What world are you living in Mr. porasjeedimetla?

  • Posted By: porasjeedimetla @ 04/02/2009 12:17:50 AM

    Americans are lazy while Indians are more creative and better able to handle more work under pressure. We are not exploited, just faster and not always complaining about work. Further, we have the most PHDs, the most young people who can create better IT software compared to any other country. As such, the world is going from service to knowledge industry and India is here to lead. Accenture and Northrop will diminish while Infosys and Wipro rise to the top. MSFT, IBM will move their leadership base to India as innovation from our millions of engineers produce the world's best software. India is returning to its rightful place in the world as the leader of the new century. Americans and Europeans must accept, adapt and change their antiquated imperialist mindset. India will shine here and forever.

  • Posted By: porasjeedimetla @ 04/02/2009 12:13:54 AM

    Americans are lazy while Indians are more creative and better able to handle more work under pressure. We are not exploited, just faster and not always complaining about work. Further, we have the most PHDs, the most young people who can create better IT software compared to any other country. As such, the world is going from service to knowledge industry and India is here to lead. Accenture and Northrop will diminish while Infosys and Wipro rise to the top. MSFT, IBM will move their leadership base to India and innovation will thrive. Americas and Europe's last days of imperialist glory are over and India will once again become the true leader of the world. India is building for the future unlike America where fast money and wasteful lifestyle is finally catching up. Our domestic market is steady while our IT service market continues to thrive as multinational corporations understand the edge they get with India. Other countries must accept, adapt and change as India will be the future of the world (its rightful position).

  • Posted By: arunabhdas @ 03/14/2009 11:47:06 PM

    The reason that India is not going to catch up with China is it doesn't have the clear, cohesive, single-minded focus that the Chinese government has. And that's the bottomline. - Arunabh Das

  • Posted By: arunabhdas @ 03/11/2009 10:12:41 PM

    Does Fareed Zakaria have an India bias because he's Indian? - Arunabh Das

  • Posted By: arunabhdas @ 03/11/2009 5:40:23 AM

    There really isn't too much data to support the projections for India's growth in the coming decade. We definitely need more reliable data. - Arunabh Das

  • Posted By: arunabhdas @ 03/04/2009 2:59:38 AM

    America is a nation of fat brainless pigs like Rush Limbaughs and crack-whores like Ann Coulter so ofcourse India has to do their tech-work for them. Get with the program people!! - Arunabh Das

  • Posted By: arunabhdas @ 03/04/2009 2:59:26 AM

    America is a nation of fat brainless pigs like Rush Limbaughs and crack-whores like Ann Coulter so ofcourse India has to do their tech-work for them. Get with the program people!! - Arunabh Das

  • Posted By: DisciplineIsFreedom @ 02/17/2009 8:38:46 PM

    "he nation's IT sector managed to grow some 20 percent in 2008, according to India's National Association of Software and Services Companies, and IT firms have already extended 100,000 job offers for 2009"

    I'm all for that growth among employees at Indian companies. It's when American companies are hiring their IT people in India while laying them off in the US that there is reason for outrage. I've worked as a project manager with international teams and I'm going to put this plainly no matter how offensive some may find it; Americans are simply the most creative, innovative, hard working and skilled workers you can find. Managing Indian IT people is liking trying to instruct a computer by speaking English to it instead of translating everything into ones and zeroes. They apply absolutely NO creativity whatsoever. Everything has to be spelled out. It takes them three times as long to do anything because anything you ask them to do will have to be redone at least twice before they realize you are asking them to do something new, not just a rehash of something they've done 100 times before, which is all they expect to have requested of them. Now that still works out economically for the CEOs and other bonus paid executives because you pay the Indians only 1/10th what Americans would be paid. So even having the billable hours tripled by incompetence is financially a cost savings at so much less per hour. It's only the poor project manager who has a migraine trying to deal with such a staff. Americans are the best, but no one wants to pay for quality anymore. IT has gone the way of Wal-Mart, where everything is cheap and plentiful, but nothing is of quality.

    • Posted By: comradeyap @ 02/17/2009 10:20:08 PM

      Got to go shopping with wife so a very short response. This is a very racist, opinion bbut not taking you to task for it. No people can said to be lazy or stupid or creative or smart as a racice or nationals. Are you saying that Americans are more intelligent than Indians as a people ? or Are you saying that because you are Americans you are by nationality better than the Indian ? Well to me there is absolutely not basis for touting that Americans as nationals (Americans ) are better suited to do a job thaan an Indian. This is an emotional allegation that is not supported by common sense.

      The truth is that Americans are no more competitive because efficiency is measured by COST PER UNIT OF PRODUCTION and it cost so very much to manufacture in the USA. Every time the issue of out sourcing is debated, the Americans and the west will pull out that tired allegation that American labour is quality and others are not. That is not meeting the challenge because QUALITY IS RELATIVE, but if the cheaper quality is acceptable then why have "more" superior quality ? I can drive a Hayoondai and it cost me nothing, but trie buying a BMW and when both are fun to drive for only two years of life, then why pay 5 times more for BMW ?

      • Posted By: DisciplineIsFreedom @ 02/20/2009 1:05:45 AM

        One absolutely can be said to have certain abilities based on the educational system that produced them, as well as the cultural environment and what that tends to foster. That isn't about race or anything inborn, but it is a fact of what you get at the end of 20 years of education. From the American educational model, those who get the best quality education come out with incredible creativity and ability and personal initiative to take risks, reach for more, try to stand out by creating something new, etc. This translates into a great IT worker. The Indian educational system seems to turn out grads who know all the syntax you could ever hope to know, but have no clue how to make something out of it no one has ever seen before to solve a need that was previously unidentified. Why do you think so many families from all around the world want to send their children to America for education? They know they can get them the best of American education and that their kids will have an advantage over the ones who were educated at home. This is why. Just because you don't like the sound of it, that doesn't make it any less true.

        So yes, the companies benefit by hiring less competent, less efficient, less creative workers. So long as they keep enough America-educated managers they can pull it off. The longer that manager was in America (the earlier in life they were introduced to the American way of thinking, which is always about glorifying the inventor and entrepreneur) the more effective they will probably be and managing their robot workforce. AND the more frustrated they will be.

        • Posted By: debasisg @ 02/22/2009 11:53:42 PM

          I am part Indian educated and part American. At lower levels, Indian education system is far superior. At the higher level both are competitive. American system gets the benefit of less pressure from a much better managed population volume. I am an American citizen and can see the uneducated outrage of most Americans when jobs are at stake. At the same time, Indian tech industry do well at many times by sheer volume and lower cost, not necessarily a better quality. There are good quality output available from either country. However, because of the volume of bodies pushed into IT from the Indian population, there are many not-so-great engineers have created a rather mis-conceived notion of generalization.

        • Posted By: debasisg @ 02/22/2009 11:52:56 PM

          I am part Indian educated and part American. At lower levels, Indian education system is far superior. At the higher level both are competitive. American system gets the benefit of less pressure from a much better managed population volume. I am an American citizen and can see the uneducated outrage of most Americans when jobs are at stake. At the same time, Indian tech industry do well at many times by sheer volume and lower cost, not necessarily a better quality. There are good quality output available from either country. However, because of the volume of bodies pushed into IT from the Indian population, there are many not-so-great engineers have created a rather mis-conceived notion of generalization.

        • Posted By: debasisg @ 02/22/2009 11:51:59 PM

          I am part Indian educated and part American. At lower levels, Indian education system is far superior. At the higher level both are competitive. American system gets the benefit of less pressure from a much better managed population volume. I am an American citizen and can see the uneducated outrage of most Americans when jobs are at stake. At the same time, Indian tech industry do well at many times by sheer volume and lower cost, not necessarily a better quality. There are good quality output available from either country. However, because of the volume of bodies pushed into IT from the Indian population, there are many not-so-great engineers have created a rather mis-conceived notion of generalization.

        • Posted By: sumitisleo @ 02/20/2009 2:41:07 AM

          U arnt speaking.... its ur frustration with the state of USAs Economy speaking..

    • Posted By: IndianDP @ 02/17/2009 9:27:47 PM

      Your comments are self contradictory. You pay 1/10 salary and you get just 1/10 the quality. If you demand 100% quality then you are imposing slavery, from which we moved away, Im afraid.
      On a serious note, global economy in a global village is what we are witnessing now. These changes are inevitable; Bill Gates came out strongly in support of both outsourcing and hiring foreigners in senate hearings. We need to find right ways to fix the unemployment in the country than blaming outsiders. Do you honestly believe that American Businessman is doing all this without profit as his motivation? Profit leads to investment yes...Understand the heartache but one cant lose cool.

  • Posted By: comradeyap @ 02/20/2009 5:51:34 PM

    DisciplineIsFreedom, you still will have it as you would have it, even though what you say is racist and crap. The reason why many foreigners go to the USA to pursue studies is because Hollywood has so glamorized the USA & culture that, that proganda has stuck. It is all smoke and mirrors. The USA is not all that it is said to be. It is mere Hollwood fantasy.

    Why don't you compare the math and science that is anually RANKED by some poll, you will find that the top achievers in these polls demonstrate that the elite of these desciplines come from EAST ASIA, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing, etc.

    If you need proof, then know that California is using the Singapore method for teaching Math & Science. If I am wrong on this, point me out ! USA is great because Asia laged behind the west because we were a conquered people in terms of "colonialised" people. I used my own expression colonialized because we were not your colonies, we were merely occupied by the west AND NOW WE ARE FREE OF WESTERN DOMINATION BECAUSE OUR GREAT MAO TZE TUNG FOUND THE WAY TO OVERTHROW COLONIALISM. All Asia are now free from colonial domination because of our great Mao Tze Tung. The relevance of my mentioning the Freedom that Mao Tze Tubg had blessed our Asian peoples with in the context of this discussion is that from the time of independance of all our Asian new found freedom, WE AS ASIAN HAVE FOUND THE RESOURCES TO BLESS OUR PEOPLE WITH OUR OWN TRADITIONAL VALUES AND EXCELLENT EDUCATION WHICH IS THOUSANDS OF YEARS EVOLVING. Today's Hong Kong, Singapore New Delhi Beijing, Taipeh etc etc are evolved within our selves and is all ASIAN and we have proven in a very short time that our model is superior. The head start that the west enjoyed while we were hobbled by western colonialism is all our own and we ahve proven to be superior to yours as time will prove to be true.

    WHY IS THE USA THE BIGGEST BUBBLE TO BURST IF YOU ARE AS GOOD AS WHAT YOU HAVE PROPAGANDIZED THEM TO BE ? Why is China just a mere 20 years ago a suplicant and the USA are the ones who are Manor born ? Today China is already out of that *** that the USA find themselves in. Why are more and more Chinese buying 2nd homes in the USA these days; they even have "buying property in the usa tours these going out of china ! twenty years of creative development for China and we are ahead of the USA with a saving of US$2 trillion in the bank of USA treasury bonds. That my western friends is what has been achieved by China and it is the result of Chinese education and work ethics and strategic thinking. We Chinese think in terms of 100 years or 200 years; LONG TERM MAN !

    No Americans ONLY had a head start and with confronted by Asian values and our own creative thinking we WIN !

  • Posted By: ndrock @ 02/17/2009 12:48:30 PM

    This whole article is bull ***. All our American jobs went to India where labor cheap, cheap, cheap. Try talking to an American when you want to order, or have a problem with an order, or any other thing to do with business. All the calls are sent to India and all the jobs went with them. Doesn't matter if it is a call center or any other job. That is what is killing our economy. Those people will work for pennies a day, and that is what we will not work for. WE don't want to become another 3rd world country but that is what we are headed into. Leave ti to the liberals to close all our factories.

    • Posted By: DisciplineIsFreedom @ 02/20/2009 1:09:32 AM

      The liberals? Are you living in a bubble? It is the conservative CEOs that make the decisions to send American jobs out to the lowest bidder with no sense of patriotism. Their patriotism is all flag pins and slogans. When it comes to their wallets, they vote self-interest all the way. When you think "liberals" in terms of jobs, I think you'd be a little more in step with reality if you thought "unions" "five day work week" "two weeks vacation (as opposed to none)" and so on. Those are all things you probably take for granted that liberals won for you as an American worker, despite strong resistance from your cohorts on the right.

  • Posted By: Prerna @ 02/20/2009 12:54:45 AM

    someone said india is trying to emulate US? sounds terribly wrong...people who are living since years in US should better refrain from commenting about Indian strategy to grow....

  • Posted By: sundersunil @ 02/19/2009 4:05:03 PM

    Being from India and settling in USA, It is very hard to see some of the jobs going to china, India and other countries and the question to everyone is how does the US prosper along with India or can one country prosper when other declines and it is easy said than be done.

  • Posted By: sundersunil @ 02/19/2009 4:00:30 PM

    I came from India and settled in USA. One thing I want to make it clear is that USA is the country where any person from any part of the world can come to fullfil ones goals and USA is the country for innovation and creativity. Most of the poeple from all over the world would like to come to USA to have a good life. India is still an asprining demorcracy and there many roadblocks for an average person to achieve one's dreams. However, India is trying to emulate USA and the country with more than billion people is slowly changing and it will take time to be like US.

  • Posted By: sundersunil @ 02/19/2009 3:58:40 PM

    I came from India and settled in USA. One thing I want to make it clear is that USA is the country where any person from any part of the world can come to fullfil ones goals and USA is the country for innovation and creativity. Most of the poeple from all over the world would like to come to USA to have a good life. India is still an asprining demorcracy and there many roadblocks for an average person to achieve one's dreams. However, India is trying to emulate USA and the country with more than billion people is slowly changing and it will take time to be like US.

  • Posted By: Maharaja @ 02/17/2009 4:39:07 PM

    To bmd12345, I didn't say India was a perfect country but neither is the US. Yes there are societal evils like the caste system etc but what about racism here. Obama getting elected was such a big deal here and Hillary running was huge - what people fail to realize is that even tiny Islamic countries like Bangladesh have had female presidents/prime ministers. So to all the people who talk about 3rd world countries treating women badly or the rich elite "dissing" the poor people, look in the mirror before you speak. You've probably never visited the south side of Chicago or East LA or Post Katrina New Orleans - you would've seen how some Americans live and their standard of living. After you've done that, let's talk about values as a society. And talking about taking advantage of the poor, I have two words for you - Bernie Madoff. So stop living in your bubble and open your eyes to the rest of the world.

    • Posted By: DEndley @ 02/18/2009 4:35:07 PM

      MAHARAJA, good meaty replies to BMD12345. Alas, he does not seem like he's got the brains to comprehend your arguments.

      • Posted By: Prerna @ 02/19/2009 1:46:46 AM

        Firstly I must say, I am happy to see this fact being highlighted in this article. Yes, I agree that unlike China, India has not relied as much on exports, which is what is helping us in bad times. We are a country who is seen more as a market instead of a manufacturer. Our growth engine is driven by workforce: be it in IT or on farms. Also, hopefully the elections will favor Congress, which seems more likely so far, thus growth will not be hampered, as suggested, due to goverment change.

        Thus the stroy is likely to remain positive for India!

  • Posted By: vsomareddy @ 02/19/2009 1:04:40 AM

    Reminds me of a recent radio interview with a man from Gandhian era (I do not remember his name).

    1) Our economy should be village centric rather than city centric as it is right now - The moment people start migrating from villages to cities that will be the death of true India
    2) Place greatest emphasis on organic farming and grow only what we need and how much we need ??? so no insecticides, we do not grow commercial crops; we do not inject ourselves and our children with pesticides and fertilizers.
    3) Place greatest emphasis on self reliance ??? what are the advantages of being self sufficient? We are not so much dependent on world economy; we don???t export a lot or we don???t import a lot, we are just self sustained.
    4) Place Great emphasis on ???Gramodyog??? ??? Advantages :No automation, no fancy machines, no need for huge power production.
    5) So what are the disadvantages of such simple living: we do not get to drink coke, pepsi; we do not get to wear Nike; we will not have any need for such a huge revolution in internet and communication ??? so no cell phones, no surfing of the net, no hifi software jobs, no jeans, no bikes, no fancy cars, its going to be a very simple rural, rustic life. At this juncture I tend to think, did we really wanted all these comforts from the western world?

    Now, what are the advantages of such simple self sustained, village centric life? ??? Answer: No matter what happens to world economy we still lead normal life which is free of tensions, traffic, crime, pollution, communal tensions, terrorism and all the menace that modern life has brought in.

    But, I am afraid we have come too far today and it would take turning the country upside down to go back and start afresh from 1947.

  • Posted By: vsomareddy @ 02/19/2009 1:02:58 AM

    Reminds me of a recent radio interview with a man from Gandhian era (I do not remember his name).

    1) Our economy should be village centric rather than city centric as it is right now - The moment people start migrating from villages to cities that will be the death of true India
    2) Place greatest emphasis on organic farming and grow only what we need and how much we need ??? so no insecticides, we do not grow commercial crops; we do not inject ourselves and our children with pesticides and fertilizers.
    3) Place greatest emphasis on self reliance ??? what are the advantages of being self sufficient? We are not so much dependent on world economy; we don???t export a lot or we don???t import a lot, we are just self sustained.
    4) Place Great emphasis on ???Gramodyog??? ??? Advantages :No automation, no fancy machines, no need for huge power production.
    5) So what are the disadvantages of such simple living: we do not get to drink coke, pepsi; we do not get to wear Nike; we will not have any need for such a huge revolution in internet and communication ??? so no cell phones, no surfing of the net, no hifi software jobs, no jeans, no bikes, no fancy cars, its going to be a very simple rural, rustic life. At this juncture I tend to think, did we really wanted all these comforts from the western world?

    Now, what are the advantages of such simple self sustained, village centric life? ??? Answer: No matter what happens to world economy we still lead normal life which is free of tensions, traffic, crime, pollution, communal tensions, terrorism and all the menace that modern life has brought in.

    But, I am afraid we have come too far today and it would take turning the country upside down to go back and start afresh from 1947.

  • Posted By: NAPAK @ 02/18/2009 1:31:30 AM

    DisciplineIsFreedom
    Do not show off your intelligence here ,please do not generalise your experience for all ,If you think US work force is more creative and Intelligent then Please try to get Admission in IIT or any regional INDIAN colleges. you will come to know how compititive this breeds are?
    My experience is exactly opposite to yours. It doesn't mean that Whole US workforce is dumb?

    • Posted By: bmd12345 @ 02/18/2009 2:57:36 PM

      booksmart does not equate intelligence. Have these IIT grads build a simple IC from scratch and then blow your horn.

      • Posted By: hellomichigan @ 02/18/2009 4:04:47 PM

        Well ,I don't need to BLOW my horn ,Research INTEL Scientiest list first ,Microsoft top 10 Scientiest and you will know.I am sure once you do your reasearch your HORN will silent for a long time

        • Posted By: hellomichigan @ 02/18/2009 4:10:04 PM

          you are right ,booksmart doesnt equate intelligence ,but India didnt had any infrastructure before ,breed from new generation will be booksmart and practical for sure ,In my generation we had only bookish knowldge before first JOB

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