Comments on: Desperately Seeking India’s Google

By: shiva

shiva — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 14:50:59 +0000

You wonder why Nehru choked the emerging university network in the ’50s. After all these were the institutions that produced Bose, Saha, and Raman. even then the network took some time to die – another 20 years. By 1970 it was almost entirely dead.

By: RJ

RJ — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 06:13:05 +0000

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200612151030.htm
has Lord Parekh,Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Westminster saying something similar.

By: Mobiles in India: The next future? at Broadband Blog

Mobiles in India: The next future? at Broadband Blog — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 15:24:45 +0000

[...] nclude, I’d like to quote from a write up that appears in The San Jose Mercury News:(link from Atanu’s write up) “In the next five years in India, no [...]

By: Apun Ka Desh

Apun Ka Desh — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 08:03:39 +0000

Ideas by themselves are good. But not good to create successful profitable businesses. For creating that the business environment should be conducive for entrepreneurs. Which clearly is not in India.

Consider this:
- It takes 10 years on an average to close a business in India.
- To shut down any business which has more than 100 employees you need government permission. And when you go for permission its anybody’s guess what happens.
- If you drive a car through a slightly less modern area (yes even in Bangalore) and happen to get into a accident (doesn’t matter who’s fault) – expect to be beaten up by the locals – why? because you are driving a car.
- Chief Minister of the most populous state in India has provided armed police guards to students fighting elections in universities. This against the supreme court order of political parties to have nothing to do with student elections.

By: SloganMurugan

SloganMurugan — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 04:27:38 +0000

Why would a mostly illiterate nation need google?

By: Sudipta Chatterjee

Sudipta Chatterjee — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 03:03:09 +0000

Actually, one big step to start with would be to increase the salaries of the profs in the already existing universities — so as to attract the talent that will nurture the next generation. People never want to go back to acads and teaching because the pay is not even half as much as a person in the industry with the same experience will get.

By: Manoj

Manoj — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 23:14:37 +0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/business/worldbusiness/30college.html

This article tell the story of quality of Indian educational system. To sum up in one line

“Rich in obedience, Poor in Creativity”

By: Guru Gulab Khatri

Guru Gulab Khatri — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:10:58 +0000

In the short run i am not hopeful in the long run i’ll be dead.
The number of times i have seen buffoonery in India is mind boggling.
from TN sheshan waving a rolex on TV saying SAI BABA produced it….
to sonia ji agar pradhanmantri nahin banegi to ham mar jayenge on the social front.
On the economic and political front I have seen businessmen students argue that aspirin could be produced cheaper in India.
A quick check on the web shows that the cost is about the same.
Add to the taboos in doing just about any thing fun or saying anything that is truth.
like pointing out dharma and din arent same.

I have had a math graduate in india tell me
that 100cc motorcylce means 1 horse power and 50cc means 0.5 horsepower.

Just think about it, Bill Gates had the confidence that if he failed starting msft he could go back to school and do something else.
Every educational program that i have seen in india uses age as an admission factor.
So a Bill Gates or a Steve Jobs type person after having failed in a business cant do much in india.

For that matter consider the fact that these people can convince venture capitalists to put money in their idea.(although Gates did it much later stage for MSFT)
Think about it no one knows about their
grooming and pedigree cause they didn’t have any degree yet…
Their business plan mattered more than the fact if they had an MBA or not or even an undergraduate degree.

The change in mindset of people is needed.
I am not sure if the 3 groups that can help are doing so…(1) media, (2) artists
and (3) perhaps politicians.

By: mm

mm — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 18:33:11 +0000

while I agree that the conditions in India are no frikkin way (this is a “family” blog I presume) close to california , are you not discounting the rather sizable chunk of indians returning home after studying in said reputable universities (wink wink). So while the hype machine keeps churning out …. hype (what else) the possiblity of india giving birth to the next goog/yahoo is not that improbable.