Globalization steroids
India is one of the fastest globalizing countries in the world. Simply put, it is on globalization steroids. But the impression is that only a small part of the 1 billion plus people are hooked onto this bandwagon - those who are university educated, have access to the internet, speaks English. I argue that this is not the whole story.
Take education for example. After years of neglect, finally we have some good news. According to the largest independent survey carried out by Pratham, an educational NGO, 93.6 percent of children in the 6 - 14 age group is in school. But that still leaves 11 million children out of school, a number which is larger than the population of Belgium. What I saw in Tamil Nadu in south India recently gives hope that even this task will be accomplished soon. A government school in an interior village has built a new science laboratory, is hooking up to Edusat (the only satellite exclusively for education in the world), feeding a nutritious lunch to its students, and treating its teachers well. But wait, there is something else.
The kids are also learning English from 6 years of age. I had trouble talking to the taxi drivers in Chennai, but had no problem interacting with village kids. We found the common language! Often I am asked how different linguistic groups in India communicate with each other, since we do not understand the other's language. True, but that also gives us the ability to pick up another language more easily than others, and therefore globalize faster. Every person in India now knows that without English ability, they cannot be part of this process. That also makes the job of a Bengali travelling in south India a bit easier! So is globalization helping unify India also? Seems to be so.
Finally, connectivity. The call rates are falling faster than any other country in the world. What it does is to bring the neighborhood grocer and the distant relative in the same ambit. Personal and business relations are getting transformed. If news reports are to be believed, internet connection through terrestrial lines will be ancient in about two years time. In a remote village in India, the kids will connect to the Net from their school PCs using a mobile phone, at broadband speed. Remember, they already know english.
India has been at the centre of globalization processes throughout history, and has not always managed it well. This time it should do better.
Take education for example. After years of neglect, finally we have some good news. According to the largest independent survey carried out by Pratham, an educational NGO, 93.6 percent of children in the 6 - 14 age group is in school. But that still leaves 11 million children out of school, a number which is larger than the population of Belgium. What I saw in Tamil Nadu in south India recently gives hope that even this task will be accomplished soon. A government school in an interior village has built a new science laboratory, is hooking up to Edusat (the only satellite exclusively for education in the world), feeding a nutritious lunch to its students, and treating its teachers well. But wait, there is something else.
The kids are also learning English from 6 years of age. I had trouble talking to the taxi drivers in Chennai, but had no problem interacting with village kids. We found the common language! Often I am asked how different linguistic groups in India communicate with each other, since we do not understand the other's language. True, but that also gives us the ability to pick up another language more easily than others, and therefore globalize faster. Every person in India now knows that without English ability, they cannot be part of this process. That also makes the job of a Bengali travelling in south India a bit easier! So is globalization helping unify India also? Seems to be so.
Finally, connectivity. The call rates are falling faster than any other country in the world. What it does is to bring the neighborhood grocer and the distant relative in the same ambit. Personal and business relations are getting transformed. If news reports are to be believed, internet connection through terrestrial lines will be ancient in about two years time. In a remote village in India, the kids will connect to the Net from their school PCs using a mobile phone, at broadband speed. Remember, they already know english.
India has been at the centre of globalization processes throughout history, and has not always managed it well. This time it should do better.
posted by anit | 10:03 PM
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