This blogpost is in reply to Anurag Kumar's blog 'Capitalim' http://lucknowmylucknow.blogspot.com/2010/04/capitalism.html. My earlier post was perceived to be a personal attack by Anurag Ji, but I hope this version gets his approval.

I agree in contemporary India money has become paramount, but what is wrong with that? Since time immemorial India has been subjected to paucity's of all kind. Scarcity of resources, scarcity of governance, scarcity of simple things that make life more comfortable, scarcity of free trade, scarcity of opportunities to do well without the help of any kind of government interference, scarcity of ideas that push the humans beyond the limits that they were taught exist. I mean scarcity of everything & anything in the society.

This thinking has made us Indians forever intellectually malnourished. Our thinking process has been arrested & very rarely will you come across an Indian who breaks free & pursues his beliefs to attain successful heights in India. Happens all the time for Indians going abroad to pursue their dreams because India would never have allowed their intellectual prowess to bear fruit because of decadent, barbaric & defeatist/protectionist social/educational norms.

You must bear in mind that India is a very young precocious democracy. It took more than two centuries for Great Britain & USA to evolve. Their plight during the early days of their new found freedom was far worse than what India has witnessed till date. The progress made by India after 1947 is astounding, but we don’t see that because the overpopulation & retrograde government policies eclipse it. We were following a socialistic form of economic democracy till 1991. NAM, Cold War, protectionist politics were responsible for that. Other reasons were also responsible but I don’t want to dwell into those at the moment.

A person/ company who made a lot of money & who is in a position to smother competition by might of their monetary accomplishments should be discarded? I don’t think so. Barring a handful few ‘Old business Houses’ who became super rich during the British Raj because of their ability to accommodate & facilitate the sinister British agenda against the indigenous forces, most of the contemporary individuals/companies doing well have done so due to their merit & no doubt with some connivance with the government (land acquisition et al). But then the States who accommodated these successful firms desperately needed the investment. I agree, right now money is might, but have patience, things will change for the better. Days when money is not paramount are not very far off. I can assure you of that.

The point you mentioned about gun running, pimping, etc is valid. I don’t approve of money ill gotten. But then that is for the other arms of government (revenue, tax, etc) to handle. I am not going to discuss the ‘Tax Net ‘issue here. Later may be. Believe you me, Free market, Open competition, Profit Motive are not a part of bad terminology. They could be life saviours for India. If in some movie a university student becomes a nude model to pay her tuition fee, how does that make capitalism deplorable? Just goes to show that there is no ‘Free Lunch’ in rest of the world other than India. In India, due to the reservation demon, free lunches are galore & the ‘grub consumed’ is not even worth writing home about. The university student could have chosen a tougher path to earn the tuition fee, but then that was her choice & India had not role to play in that.

Now about the friendly neighborhood karyana store. I have read quite a number of studies published in regard to MNC’s like Wal-Mart et al affecting the livelihood of these ever smiling service providers & all the studies have proved that the corner karyana store will not be affected at all. One can see all the so called big stores of Indian origin in our markets. I don’t think that they have had any impact on the karyana store that offers ‘home delivery’ to the local residents. Atta, dal, sauce, eggs, bread etc are just a phone call away & you might agree with me, in the days of paucity of time, the local karyana store will always score over the MNC mall any day.

Journalism that is based on expedience rather than moral grounds is a source of agony for all aware, concerned Indians. Since I am not from that stream, I will restrict my comments to a certain extent. All I have to say is that in an evolving, vibrant, brash, callous, insensitive society such as ours’, the corruption that ails all other arms of the society will definitely percolate down to the main stream media too. Content is bound to change. In these days of deadlines, extreme job pressure, who in his/her right mind would be interested in an interview that involves a graveyard worker? Majority of the journalists are employees with some media house & you would have to agree with me that one cannot run a media house (News paper/TV Channel) on a charitable basis. Everybody has to feed their family. So, profit oriented media coverage is but natural. Of course the journalists are not at a liberty to report anything they want. They are bound by some guidelines by their employers. If they don’t like that then leave they should leave their job. You can’t have your cake & eat it too. Only thing is that blatant ‘cash for news’ has to be condemned and nipped in the bud. It might have short term gains for some parts of the society, but in the long run this kind of corruption will not augur well for the Nation.

About the sudden explosion of sex on our breakfast & dining tables. Well what do u expect? In a country of Kamasutra, sex engravings in Indian Hindu Temples, etc, why be a hypocrite? I agree the sex sleaze on display in MSM is not what ancient India was all about, but the contemporary Indian society is evolving & you must keep in mind that it is easier to emulate shallow, easier & sexually promiscuous behavior. This kind of behavior is far more easier to adhere to than the other more socially responsible options. Socially correct behaviour is rather more difficult to follow, you will agree to this. We are one of the most over populated Nations in the world & find discussion on sex despicable. But this too shall pass.

I am treading onto untested waters now. I have absolutely no knowledge about the functioning of the film industry. This is the age of awareness. The eyes won’t see what the mind does not know. So, the mega advertisements. On the other hand, have you ever wondered how much employment these advertisement blitzkriegs generate? That is showbiz for you, the more people involved, the better. There is definitely a niche for non-mainstream cinema. If someone makes that kind of cinema that is good enough to appeal to that targeted population, so be it, best of luck to them. It is your own free will to not watch Hindi cinema, but I can assure you a great number do really enjoy these forms of visual entertainment & I am amongst them too!

Again I am treading on unknown waters. I have to agree with you that MSM has degenerated into some kind of a genetic mutation that is beyond repair. But then one must understand that the MSM deliver what the general population wants to devour. If the people like sex & sleaze on TV, so be it. Contemporary MSM is profit driven hence whatever will spiral their ratings skywards will be broad casted. Like they say, the people get the government they deserve. So I say, people get the MSM they deserve, because MSM will never pursue issues that the general public is not craving for. In these unfortunate contemporary times, if serials, sex, scandals etc are the need of the hour, MSM will deliver these only. In another period of time when the evolved democracy is hungry for relevant socio-political issues, MSM will deliver that. It is just a matter of demand & supplies my friend. Don’t forget MSM is part of the society & it will strive to fulfill the needs of the society in its current avatar.

Companies like Bharti Airtel, Idea, Reliance Telecom came up on their own (People like A Raja not discounted). If their advertisements on MSM generate business, then what is wrong in that? And why should not MSM profit from that fact?

About the ‘Reality TV Shows’. Again I beg to bring to your notice that I am totally ignorant about their modus operandi. But these reality TV shows are popular all over the world. Why blame the people if they sms @ Rs 6/min just so that their fantasy man/woman wins a contest? Again all the money being spent is contributing to the GDP of the Nation. Money in circulation is always more profitable than money in the bank!

Now to the MBA part. If students want to pursue the course, who is there to stop them & why should anybody stop them? If someone is contributing to generating money in a Nation, should he be branded as a person with criminal intent? I don’t think so. A choice of career is totally relative. Democracy in India at least gives us the privilege to choose a career that suits us both mentally & physically.

I am aghast that your line of thought opposes both the parents to be working! Whom do you suppose should stay at home & bring up children in the ‘traditional’ manner? Father or Mother? Don’t tell me the mother should stay home to bring up the kids, because that will prove that you are biased & are in a favour of tradition taking precedence over the well being of the average Indian family. Majority of Indian households would not be the same economically if one of the parents were not working. Demands of the current times demand that both work & it is actually healthy for the whole family. I also don’t agree with your idea that all children are ignored by parents in pursuit of their worldly goals. Both me & my wife are working & I can assure you that my children are probably one of the most happiest kids in India.

Club culture in India is the legacy of the British Raj. If clubs are used in a positive & a restrained manner, they can prove to be quite handy. I don’t approve of clubs being second homes for some, but they do have their own positives if they are used in a judicious manner. In fact many sports clubs are a boon to our country, producing many a champion to enhance India’s glory in the international arena. Golf Clubs are the prime example.

What do you mean by an advanced society? You mean advanced in materialistic things or advanced intellectually or socially? I agree environmental pollution et al are the result of rapid unplanned industrialization/ over population in the world. But what do you expect? Should we shut shop? Close all industrial units, manufacturing units etc so that environment can be saved? No, that is not the solution of the problem that lies elsewhere in the first place. We cannot arrest industrialization/advancement just so that the environment is being affected. What we need to do is to find different sources of energy that feed our industrialization & energy demands so that we can make rapid progress & also not tax Mother Earth at the same time. Just because progress has a negative aspect, we cannot abandon that path, instead we have to be even more resilient & steadfast to find new ways to produce energy that is easy/cheap to produce & also keeps the environment clean.

Why is that God, Religion & Philosophy have failed to end India’s woes of widespread hunger, illiteracy, intolerance, superstition etc? Do you think these will prove to be a force enough to counter all the ills facing India? Or do you think rapid progress, efficient government scheme delivery systems et al will be able to overcome them? Why do you want India to be scarcity galore? Why do you want India to be found wanting in all aspects just so that capitalism can be defeated? Capitalism is not bad, its execution may be. India needs a lot more capitalism right now to take it forward. For once, let merit prevail, let market forces prevail, let the demand & supplies curve play out its full course, let us get out of the vicious cycle of scarcity in every field, let the nouveau rich Indians splurge & live out their dream. For once let the Indians earn more & spend more, let the money be circulated, let there be generation of employment, let there be competition & let the cash rich Indians exploit that competition to acquire the finest there is. Why not? For long we have been shackled by the Nehruvian Socialism, let us enjoy the spoils while the party lasts.