ANALYSIS OF A DEVELOPING NATION

Its another weekend in the room alone and away from my family (Its been almost two months since I moved into Andamans living the forced bachelor's life) and idle mind does come up with some sensible thoughts occassionally. I was just thinking that India is referred to by derogatory words like "third world" and "developing nation" but  there are certain aspects where this country and its people have made really fast advances. For one, the communication sector. Its been around 20 years since the communication wave started to build and we almost have every part of the country connected with the cell phones now. I am in fact, right now far away from the heart of the country in a teeny weeny island in the Indian Ocean and writing this blog with a small modem to keep me wired to the cyberspace.So, how come on one hand we have a farmer who is commiting suicide not having enough money to cater to the basic needs of his family while at the same time ,we also have a rickshaw wallah pulling out a mobile and listening to FM and talking to his near and dear ones while he goes around with the daily chore.
I guess the answer lies in the effort of the government and also the mindset of the people. Competition creates the best oppurtunities for the needy and that sure has helped in bringing the call rates from astronomically high costs in the past to less than a rupee for long distance telephony in the present. The entrance of the private sector surely makes the competition tough as the rates have to be kept low to make the service attractive and simultaneously one has to maintain high quality of service so that the faith in the company and the product stays on.
Now for the mindset of the people.I don't know if its a world phenomenon or a man thing- but gadgets have a thing to impress. You want to use and fiddle with every new mobile handset that you see. A man may not have learnt the numerics in school but he would make no mistake in quoting the right number of the nokia model in the market. I guess gadgets have some x factor like the females. You may not own it but you will not forget to notice it- I guess that's a universal truth for females and gadgets.I guess because of this fetish for gadgets, every man (who in most of the households decides where the money is spent) builds up enough to invest in the purchase of a mobile phone irrespective of his need or earnings.
Another thing which has an omnipresence is the video and cd industry.The technology in the tv and video industry has changed manifolds- with first the vcps,vcrs, video cds and now dvds. But be it village or a city,all have kept up to the times. You will get the pirated movies in all the latest formats in every nook and corner of India with the availability of the latest player for putting it to use. Its all because of the common man's deep rooted interest in getting the latest with the times in entertainment which makes this possible.
So, my idle mind thinks that two key things to make progress happen are : desire and interest.The mobile and dvd industry are sureshot proof that if we put our desire and interest together, we can achieve a lot.But unfortuntely, the two feelings are restricted to very few aspects of life and that leaves us tagged as "developing" nations. Till we develop the desire and interest in every field of life,we can only be considered as "developing" nation and that is one tag we shall find very difficult to get rid off.

THE TWITTER SONG!

Just thought of saying it in rhyme

what news channels are airing all the time

mr. tharoor used the twitter

but alas for him, all went bitter

using the word "cattle class"

has pricked his life like shreds of glass

tharoor thought it was just a tweet

but his party didnt find it sweet

still dont know what happens next

but mr.tharoor please mind your text!