There are some achievers whose success is partly shaped by kind of peers they had and the kind of intellectual ecosystem they grew in,a University being the top contributor.But in the successof people that follow, this factor is peripheral, if at all.If exceptional intelligence is a truly random phenomenon, than why not in India as well?
- There can not be a Warren Buffet in India since transparency among listed companies and their openness and respect to co-owners is still somewhat less compared to their US counterparts and despite the recent SEBI noises and apparent activism it is no match for the dreaded SEC.Recall the fate of Ra jratnam.
- There can not be a Jim Rogers in India since every other day the futures trading in one or the other commodity or its import or export is banned in India or myriad other restrictions placed on its free trade.
- There cannot be a George Soros in India since if there ever were he will truly be treated as a blood sucking dracula and likely to be persecuted on charges of treason resulting in spending rest of his life trying to be a philosopher and barred from accessing capital markets by any means.
- There cannot be a Thomas Edison despite any amount of intelligence since the numerous patents that Edison spawned and ventures that they resulted in were a result of the well protected IPR regime and a law system which worked and where contracts could be enforced before the invention became obsolete. In India Patent regime is apparently liberal but there is no upper limit on the number of years it can take to resolve a case no matter how high profile the case is,recent Ayodhya ruling a case in point.
- There cannot be a Richard Branson in India because Indian society does not appreciate failure and a young man without a degree is more likely to be disallowed to fill a loan application let alone meet the bankers no matter what promises his ideas hold.
- There cannot be a Steve Jobs in India because kids born to unwed mothers except in case of celebrities are seldom treated with dignity.Not sure if adoption laws are more complicated in India or US but I am yet to see a storied individual adopted by humble parents in India. Also, as per one theory, there is only but one God.
Maybe one day, one of these days somebody might just pop up who is our answer to these giants and say well,why not?
