Can Indians innovate?

There's an article in the Times of India today on the possibility of Bangalore being "Bangalored". An interesting article which lists many of the factors that are causing Bangalore(and India) to lose its edge. One comment in particular, by Srini Raju of Peepul, is apt. He says that the innovation that is required for India to move up the IT value chain is hamstrung by the lack of sacrifice and hunger that characterizes breakthrough innovation. That's a tough betelnut to swallow, to mangle a well-known phrase, but there is more to it than most Indians would like to admit.

Innovation thrives best when you have an environment that encourages and rewards it. I find that there is still too much in India that throttles individuality, that punishes a free spirit. In order for India Inc. to find the spirit of innovation, the societal fetters need to loosen up. All day, every day, one hears and reads nonsensical comments which belong to the 16th century, not the 21st. They come from politicians, religious leaders, policemen and ordinary people. One person, commenting on a promise by an Indian actress to strip if India won the cricket World Cup(I guess she meant for a magazine shoot), said that western female emancipation "degraded them to the status of concubines, mistresses and society butterflies". No doubt the depictions of female nudity- and more- on Indian monuments of antiquity were foisted on us by perverted western suffragettes, A perfect example of the Indian tendency to deprecate others from a false moral pulpit. Mostly, these comments tend to celebrate and reinforce an argument for the social status quo, which is like making an argument for running with a flat tire.

Now what would a blog be if the blogger didn't go off-track somewhere in his post? Here's my off-track moment:

/begin off-track moment
Years ago, NRIs in America would boast of how everything was recycled in India, from plastic bags and broken buckets to tin cans to paper and cardboard. They would brag of how cars, appliances and electronics were endlessly recycled by clever Indian craftsmen, reducing the need for carving giant canyons out of the earth. The point of it was to make(to the westerner) a virtue out of (Indian) necessity, and deprecate the uncaring westerner polluting the earth with tons of inorganic waste while portraying Indians as culturally natural stewards of the environment, reality notwithstanding. Fast forward 20 years, and the same NRIs are bragging about disposable this and that being available in India, of urban trash landfills that can rival those in the west, of the apparently insatiable Indian appetite for consumer goods, and so on. Somewhere in between, the moral superiority of being good stewards of the earth seems to have been stood on its head. How convenient, and what a hypocritical about-face!
/end off-track moment

But there's a lot more to the spirit of innovation than knocking down societal prejudices. Another aspect that needs to be assiduously cultivated is the spirit of workmanship, the ability and desire to give of one's best, no matter what the job at hand. That, sadly, I have not been able to find in India thus far, but hope springs eternal. Almost everywhere, I encounter the mindset of "good enough", or the "local" mindset. Even relatively simple problem-solving seems to suffer from whatfor-itis, occurring whenever those responsible for resolving problems don't take responsibility. If consequences for irresponsibility, sloth and mediocrity are not rendered, then the spirit of innovation suffers. Poor performance needs to be dealt with harshly, and good performance suitably rewarded. It begins with cleaning up our physical environment, just as a clean house or a clean factory is stimulating. Indians need to not just demand performance from government, via letters to the editor or "morchas" and such, but get legally aggressive. That missing slab on the sidewalk in front of your house? Send a legal notice to the BBMP, and make them accountable for consequences. Have to truck in water because the water utility didn't supply you water for a week? Send the bill to them, along with a legal notice, to be adjusted against future water bills. Silted-up storm drain overflowed into your house and polluted your underground water storage? Sue the BBMP for costs. Power surge blew out your refrigerator compressor? Have BESCOM pay for repairs or replacement.

Once the general mindset no longer reflects "chalta hai" or "swalpa adjust maadu", it frees up the collective thought process for innovation and change. And a clean environment moves the thoughts along better. As long as Indians continue to accept the status quo ante, innovation will be held at bay.

UPDATE:

I thought I'd post a concept vs. execution picture of the MG Road Metro station. On the left, you see the concept, clean, edgy and satisfying. On the right, the completed station, looking crude, half-baked and messy. Even the track pillars are more suited to a rural aquaduct than urban architecture.

Another "thought" from me after I encountered a problem. I was trying to find an address in central Bangalore, and ran around in circles, almost literally, doing so. When I came home, I looked it up on G-Maps (see map below). This is typical of the lackadaisical way everything is done in India, without a thought for logic or consequence or usability. 1st Cross Road feeds into 3rd Cross Road, 2nd Cross Road angles off 1st Cross Road. 2nd Cross Road is between 3rd Cross and 7th Cross. 8th Cross is perpendicular to 7th Cross. There's no 4th Cross, or 5th or 6th Cross. And there's a lone "1st Main Road" that looks orphaned. There is no sequence or directional logic. This sort of street layout isn't unusual. Bangalore is full of similarly confusing layouts. It just makes you wonder, "Wtf were they thinking?".

This one below is from a visit to the Karnataka government website. I was trying to get a handle on the atrocious "Stamp duties" and associated fees. Every link on the right side connects to some sort of private waster water treatment website. You'd think that someone, anyone, who had anything to do with the Karnataka government website design would have done some basic navigation to test the links. The lack of functional links renders this completely useless. Do we need to wonder why Indian software contractors are generally overseen by a more competent westerner?