This morning I heard in one of the news channels that the latest census in US reveals every seventh person in their country is poor. There was not much detail given in the news story except that White House is worried. This coupled with the noises Mr Obama is making about outsourcing taking away American livelihood, and more recently, chiding students to be enamoured to take on ChIndia challenge, point to one core issue – there is a rising paranoia in the developed economies, especially America.
America, supposedly reached a pinnacle in economic terms - way ahead of population heavy India and China and, of course remained unchallenged for long. It was like the story of rabbit and tortoise; in this case rabbit and tortoises. As the tortoises come closer to finishing line, the rabbit is getting restless and instead of focusing on using its conserved energy for better use, it is busy raising alarm and creating an atmosphere of undue concern. The world has changed, and naturally the world order would change too, sooner or later.
Rhetoric against India or contempt for Bangalore is not going to solve the issues Mr Obama is juggling with. If his country is facing poverty, obviously a novel phenomenon for a hitherto rich economy, the reasons are to found within not without. Making entry for Indian technocrats expensive will not ease these burdens at all. World is a small place today and geographical boundaries do not matter much beyond political hegemony. Indians have not snatched American bread, they have merely ensured they have more rotis on their plate. Outsourcing is a business tool, devised to save not only money but also to free better talent from less crucial task and employing them for greater good of organizations. Indian IT companies have risen from being mere body shops to value partners, helping outsourcing organizations in doing better business and bringing forth worthwhile innovations. Its much more than tax holidays and operating profits.
If outsourcing of call center jobs is deepening creases on Mr Obama’s forehead, the fact that Americans consume almost everything made outside America should keep him awake at night, but does it? From food to medicine, from clothes to machines – Made in America is becoming extinct in its own soil. Now, isn’t manufacturing a bigger source of employment than poor call centers and technology captives? It’s a simple funda, business runs on a straight logic- if cost of production is high, its better to source it from some other place. And what has made cost of production of simple stuff sky rocket in America, surely its not something Banglore can be held responsible for!
Today America outsources to India, India does the same to Bangladesh and Srilanka among others. Its inevitable. Historically speaking has not the whole civilization expanded itself on the basis of exchange with people across continents, and how did this exchange happen? Was not trade a major connector, the biggest propeller in making new discoveries, finding newer, shorter routes, ever expanding the list of merchandise – economic interests it were that built political empire. The developed world developed on this plank and built much more than economic stability. Today when those who were exploited by economically superior nations are trying to put their act together, some people are getting alarmed, but why??
Much as Mr Obama is becoming paranoid of ChIndia rising, Indian IT sector is sweating unnecessarily too on, if I may call it, hostile posturing of White House on outsourcing. It is no more only about throwing menial jobs at us on discounted rates. From NASA to Ivy league B-schools, from healthcare to security, from war against terror to technology, there is a little bit of India, in everything America does. It is no more about dictating terms, its about partnership. Today Microsofts and Yahoos of the world are not looking at a cheap Indian workforce- for they are no more cheap, for one- but for mission critical support, and of course how can we forget the huge market potential. It works both ways Mr Obama, we not only help you churn out better products at competitive price, we also consume a huge amount of produce that keeps your companies making bigger profits.
Its time we looked at things in proper perspective. Bangalore and Beijing are not challenging Buffalo, they are merely themselves a better choice for business by fulfilling the requirements of industries. Drawing smaller lines to keep my line once traced is no more a better option to cling to the throne (if there was one ever). It is time the once traced lines are given a second look and evaluated afresh in the light of the new emerging lines.
Don’t loose sleep over Bangalore Mr. Obama, find the bug in your bed, it surely is homegrown – completely Made in America!
Very well written!
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