Disclaimer: I am not in a bad mood today, and this is not an anti-national post. I love my country and its people. These are just some thoughts on my general observations over the years, so please don’t take any of what you read below personally. And if you do take it personally, please keep it personal.😊
As I boarded my return flight to India recently, I heard some noises coming from near the back rows of the airplane. It appeared that two middle-aged men and their wives were shouting at each other.
The reason? One of the Indian couples had occupied the luggage rack above the seats of the second couple. As was visible from my seat, there were empty racks close to the one these guys were fighting for, but this was seemingly a prized one for which they were shouting at the top of their voices.
As I was taking my seat, a similar hustle, though relatively more civilized happened just next to me. This time it was two aunties who were at loggerheads about their spaces.
Anyways, flights to India, and in India, are a sight to watch when the plane lands and stops at the parking lot. Passengers get up from their seats in such a hurry as if the flight would take off again in the next few seconds and they would miss getting out!
Like in this specific flight, while I was comfortably sitting and waiting for the pilot to ask us to unfasten the seat belts, my co-passenger nudged on my shoulder, “Can you please get up? I need to take my luggage.”
I looked at him, surprised. This guy seemed to be running against time. But the sad part was that he wasn’t alone. By now, almost all the passengers had gotten up and were happily taking out their luggage.
This, apart from the incidents at the start of the journey, made me wonder why do we Indians behave in such a manner almost all the time, and at almost all the places?
I have seen local train passengers in Mumbai falling over one another to enter even the empty compartments! Look at the way most people drive on our roads. Someone is always overtaking someone else.
We live a real-life version of the video game called Road Rash where the idea is not just to finish first in the race, but also to kick others on the way so they fall by the wayside.
Consider how we have been raised – and raise our kids – in an environment where mistakes and failures are unacceptable. Every child must be accomplished and is expected to be the best in everything, especially in scoring grades in school. And if like me, you were average in school, you must remember the sour taunt of “Look at Sharmaji’s son! He is a topper in school…and you?”
I was shocked to read a Wall Street Journal report recently that suggested how parents in the US, mostly non-resident Indians, are bypassing the normal route to the final rounds of the coveted Spelling Bee competition by paying money to the organizers! In fact, this year, the “paying” contestants outnumbered those who fought their way to the final rounds.
Of course, every nation and its citizens have their flaws, but why do you think India continues to rank amongst the most corrupt countries in the world or one where most people would happily cut corners to beat others at the game?
The answer may not be simple, but my assumption is this. Apart from the divide between the rich and poor that is one of the key causes of corruption, I think we have grown up in a society that has mostly taught us, and then allowed us, to be intolerant of others in places it shouldn’t matter (like in the airplane) and cut corners in places that matter to everyone.
Whether it’s in an airplane, or in offices, or on roads, in classrooms, at homes, and while dealing with others. Even if you were to believe the International Cricket Council, the most corrupt bookies in international cricket are Indians.
Consider corporate India. You will find more founders and CEOs touching greater heights in corruption than capital allocation. I think, over the years, wealth destroyed by Indian companies whose top guys played around with shareholders’ money may not be far behind wealth destroyed by investors making other kinds of mistakes in investing.
From top to bottom, whether it’s companies from banking and finance, or real estate, public sector, infrastructure and construction, energy, power, telecom, airlines, healthcare, or education, corruption, and corporate mis-governance is deeply ingrained in the way most managers operate. Not to forget the insider dealings that have made so many rich investors rich over the years.
The biggest irony is the everyone does it, because everyone is doing it (social proof). Second, it’s easy to get away because those creating and managing the laws are often hand-in-glove with the culprits on the other side of the table. Whistleblowers are rare, and they are often silenced through muscle or money power.
Of course, as investors, some of the blame lies on us too. The aim to grow their company rapidly, at least faster than the competition, is one of the key reasons why corporate managers cut corners. And that seed of fast growth is often created by investors willing to pay up for companies who show such growth.
Talk about our much-loved word ‘moat.’ Moats, profit margins, and return on capital are often created on the graves of competitors that failed to match a company’s might and capabilities. And the longer the moat survives, the higher are the stakes to keep it that way, which can create the ground for financial window dressing and unethical practices.
After all, we all suffer from deprival super-reaction syndrome, which simply means that if someone takes away our freedom, status, money or anything we value, we will over-react in a negative manner. Managers of companies with moats that are shrinking often react (or should be expected to react) in a similar fashion.
Then, a system where leverage is so easy to get (forget paying it back!) also creates its problems, often of monstrous proportions. Leverage, and too much of it, like a drug, screws the mind of the borrower. And leverage, again, is often a result of one, companies chasing to grow faster, and two, of not worrying about the negative consequences (because you have examples of people getting away with it, some towards London!).
“Vishal sounds hopeless today!” you may be wondering. I may think otherwise.
I try to see reality as it is, and that’s what I try to share with you through my posts. The thought of writing this post came during my discussion with a close friend over morning walk yesterday. We were talking about the investment-worthy universe within the listed space in India. And the discussion veered towards what is happening in corporate India these days, and the swarm of cockroaches that are spilling out of the cupboards of so many companies.
The realization that struck was that India does not have more than a handful of companies worth investing into from the ethics and corporate governance perspective.
The muck is so deep that it seems sensible to just consider the businesses that have proven their cleanliness over decades, however obvious names they may be, than search for those hidden, unknown-to-other, gems that may generate you an alpha for some time and then potentially lose you everything because the CEO or Chairman decided to get up from the other side of bed one day.
I have always believed that investors must not aim to find saints among CEOs in Indian companies. All they should try to do is to find the lesser evils – managers who have been the least corrupt over the years.
One way to find such managers is to look for companies with no or small debt and which are not growing too rapidly. For large debt and rapid growth are the biggest incentives for managers to mess up the governance standards in their operations.
Before I end, I must say that I am an optimist on India’s economic growth, which shows in my high allocation to Indian companies within my total portfolio. But my universe remains small, and like in my dealings with people in life, ethics and integrity remain my biggest non-negotiables when I am looking at managers to entrust my money with.
Life becomes simpler this way, for you end up saying no to most companies, people, and their actions.
“It’s a brutal, competitive world out there,” many parents would tell their kids, like their parents told them. “And fight it like your final war!”
We are already seeing the side-effects of such blind competition all around us. But the rot needs to be contained if we are to leave some meaningful legacy for our kids.
“Have courage, but always be kind and honest,” is the most frequent reminder I have offered to my kids. And I am glad that they seem to have taken this seriously, at least so far.
If companies need to really flourish sustainably in the future, I see no other way than for the corporate managers to become honest, compassionate, and respectful towards the society at large. Rather than getting drowned in their own selfishness and self-obsession, very much like most of us do in our lives and at most places (go back to my airplane experiences), managers could build great cultures by simply having the utmost amount of integrity and empathy in the way they go about their business.
And that would, I believe, help investors create great wealth from the companies whose managers choose to follow such path. Elsewhere, without doubt, wealth will keep getting destroyed.
Agree with you, corruption is deep rooted in corporate & Government as nobody is scared of punishment and the rules are not strict. There is sense of madness and no civility in most of the public places. I have seen many parents teach their kids to be aggressive as politeness is seen as weakness and submissive. Parents should teach their children how to behave in public and to be mindful of others while in public. It may take another generation to see some changes in India!
“It may take another generation to see some changes in India!”
You are an optimist indeed!
To a very large extent our media is responsible for all this. Our media is now Tabloid which talks and keeps showing pictures of Celebrities and their stuff. And it’s the compounding effect at work. Everybody is now in a rat race to buy the hottest car or the latest iphone and then brandish it.
Our kids consume these things versus care for other people and environment and the ideas of winning by hook or crook gets cemented. And for that all of us have been programmed by our own parents too who grew up in 1980s and 1990s to hustle and strive. The top salary of IIMs and IITs in campus placement has been the headline in most of our lives.
If every reader of this blog vows to instill great values in themselves and in their kids including the adage by Vishal that “Average is good” then may be in 2-3 centuries India will become ideal as we will have many more folks to disseminate similar thoughts.
Many of the commentators have rightly pointed out the issue of population and for sure that’s one of the biggest problem no government will ever be able to tackle. Here the compound effect of large numbers is at work. Again media plays a big role here. Why the ideal family size should be 2 kids ? It makes me scratch my head. Why can’t it be 1 or zero. If everyone just follows the norm and does 2 kids without thinking about the resources of their own or the country (can the country ever create these many jobs, food or water) then our problem of overpopulation or it’s side effects will never be solved.
Lastly it’s easy to be content alone and control your thoughts but it’s very hard to find a spouse who reads safal niveshak as well and wants to be content. People who get a spouse and kids who can learn to live with similar values is the biggest blessing one can get. It’s impossible to live like a saint when your spouse of kids are dragging you in the rat race. Thoughts ?
sir you summarized in a beautiful way… wish you luck!
Safal, it’s a saying in my country where I come from, because I am not from UK, I emigrated.
That saying is:’The fish gets raw from the head’
India is not the only country in the world with this behavior regarding what you have said above, are many other.
What has been done in few centuries can’t be repaired on few or tens of years.
My opinion is you, me and many others bloggers don’t have to speak just only money or financial independence or something similar, which I am sick to read everyday on twitter.
I would like to see written about common sense, respect, tolerance, behaviour and anything that can help to lift the human spirit. In this manner we can give hope and why not, some sort of example and education for many of us that get life on the wrong foot.
People are driven by power and money and viceversa. Anything else it doesn’t matter.
It’s sad and upsetting to see this all over the world and we are wondering why all this transformation with our planet.
Thank you.
Emil
Strangely it is first time I took to reading the complete article Wish had done that earlier. can’t be more right
Greed Political leadership Social show off and art of making life complicated is our speciality Yes General attiquetes in public places is horrible leave alone travel
It is disgusting and a hell Corruption ? That has become our religion Terrible we are
Like you I am too not in a bad mood
Thanks and all the best
100% spot on. We indians want to see our country as better as developed nations but do not want to pay taxes, donot want to stopmon red lights, don’t care for felpow human beings, boast of our achievements at whatever cost they come. Look at the lynching that shames us around the world as well. Intolerant behaviour is promoted evident from the success of movie Kabir Singh
as well
Dear Vishalji,
Your experience of flight landing and people getting up ….i experience same situation in Europe also with foreigners this year & last year in US, while attending Berkshire hathway meeting. It only means majority of human behaves in same way. Some biases…
Right Said . I m MF distributor & in broking bz too i raised such questions in AMC SEMINARS .Why fund managers choose to invest in icici securities ?why zee tele saga happened ?why they invest in 60-80 companies if they dont properly investigate it ? weather they were not aware of 90% pledge of essel grp ?asking no ques abt corporate governance in company conference calls etc?
mf industry also should be made now accountable for these events hereafter . corporate governance is the biggest issue in INDIA than growth.why sebi dont take action against companies with cooked books b4 share drops 90% .it is like as how police works in bollywood cinemas .
Vishal, whatever you have mentioned in he post is the unpalatable truth. The measure of success in our country is only money. The end and now how the wealth has been gotten.
High Morals means you are naive & impractical.
I have had multiple experiences in airplanes too.Nowhere in the world have I experienced this kind of brutishness. People switch on cell phones,, jostle and pull luggage with complete disregard for the co passengers. For what ?In any case every one is going to disembark within a gap of few minutes and also wait at the conveyor belt for the luggage.
One would imagine that if one has taken a flight you are above poverty line and a bit of civilised behaviour can be expected.
Who values integrity? Most of us are resigned to the fact that corruption exists and we have to work around it.Money is the currency which can buy you everything.
I also am surprised at the lack of politeness and basic courtsey. In the west even if it is facile there is a greeting . Good morning or hello & hows your day ?
Here people move around with a dead expression. In my building some people who have been living in more than 20 years will just look past you as if they have never laid eyes on you.
Just accept a few people in your life and move around in your own group. No tolerance for someone who looks different or has different set of beliefs.
While holidaying abroad,if an Indian group tour is around , you just cant miss it. They will be loud, raucous and will have disregard for rules.
In professional life as an investment advisor, I have concluded that clients undervalue integrity. You cannot legislate honesty. It has to be valued.Not many do.
In any case its my list of ranting. But all in all I agree completely. We can be great if we value greatness.
Hi Vishal,
I have been following your blog since few years now and find it an interesting and thought provoking read. I have similar thoughts as expressed in this post when flying back to India on a recent visit.
I am sure there are many factors influencing such behaviour, but I would probably include population density as one of the key factors as well.
If you are interested a very good book I read years ago is relevant to this discussion. The book is “The Naked Ape” by zoologist Desmond Morris. I the following two paragraphs from this book are revealing:
Paragraph – 1
“Having said all this, I must now point out that there is an important exception to the rule. The biological morality that I have outlined above ceases to apply under conditions of population over-crowding. When this occurs the rules become reversed. We know from studies of other species in experimentally over-crowded conditions that there comes a moment when the increasing population density reaches such a pitch that it destroys the whole social structure. The animals develop diseases, they kill their young, they fight viciously and they mutilate themselves. No behaviour sequence can run through properly. Everything is fragmented. Eventually there are so many deaths that the population is cut back to a lower density and can start to breed again, but not before there has been a catastrophic upheaval.”
Paragraph – 2
It has been found that this aggressiveness can be increased by raising the density of a group of children. Under crowded conditions the friendly social interactions between members of a group become reduced, and the destructive and aggressive patterns show a marked rise in frequency and intensity. This is significant when one remembers that in other animals fighting is used not only to sort out dominance disputes, but also to increase the spacing-out of the members of a species.
Also relevent is an old (1966) study by Hutt and Vaizey on “group density in children”. Its summary is:
“IN a study of the social behaviour of different groups of children, one of the aspects selected for specific investigation was the effect of group density. In view of the findings from animal studies, it was hypothesized that increasing group density would have adverse effects on the nature and frequency of social encounters, and that these effects would differ according to the personality of the subject. Furthermore, if earlier hypotheses regarding the physiological activation of autistic and brain-damaged children are correct, these two groups of children might be expected to manifest, in exaggerated form, the reactions of introverted or relatively inhibited individuals and extraverted individuals, respectively, in the normal population.”
Nice reading your article and realising that I am not alone in getting this shock as I board India bound flights.
Regards,
Gunjan
If these principles apply to densely populated Japan, China and few spots of Europe. They are reasonable, else other factors may have to be accounted.
I am not really sure this density theory conducted on animals could be extended to humans. There was no change in lifestyle of animals since their evolution where as it is different story with humans. Humans can be organized, structured, frame rules and in one simple word, can lead life smoothly. Vishal is pointing towards Indians attitude in general. Take the case of flight delay for long hours and cancellation of it, it is so difficult to handle the passengers in India where as in abroad, they stand in ‘Q’ until their turn patiently, listen to the options given by airlines and choose. Where as our system in India goes completely berserk with too many demands and unruly passengers. Also Japan is more densely populated than India but they are much more organized.
On side note, recently in 100 car park area, only my car was parked and 99 were free and this Indian guy comes and stops right next to me not giving enough space to open my car door. Also I had seen an example of hurting other passengers while taking out their luggage in hurry prior to flight complete stoppage. Just don’t understand this attitude why our people could be so mean.
Its very important to look at our flaws individually and society as a whole. How will we ever correct ourselves, if we do not acknowledge our weaknesses. Corruption has become deep rooted in our society and our way of life. We do not want to pay GST and would prefer to under-billing or buy in cash. Anybody who has bought or sold property in India knows this open secret. Its openly known to policy makers and custodians of governance.
I have a question, were we always like that or has it entered our system with 500 years of slavery? Maybe 500 years of Mughal rule followed by British rule has made us extremely self centered and insecure.
So many government servants are seen abusing power and perks for personal advantage. Taxpayers money is treated with disdain and disrespect. Wasted time of citizens and government is a huge loss which is not accounted for anywhere.
If it has taken 500 years for this malice to set in, it will need very strong counter-measure to go away. Problem is, who is going to implement those countermeasures when enforcing authorities are even more corrupt.
Lets hope present government shows and implements a strong will. Till such time we have to be the change we want. Society will take its own sweet time.
very good article! Much needed for Indians!
One of the best articles I read in recent times. You reflect my thoughts with all it’s spirit. Due to this arrogance and selfishness all around, recently I have been thinking to shift to Canada. Though, it’s a big step, day be day this thought is getting intensified and to who ever I shared my fears about our society, they have only mocked me saying that I am going mad. Finally I found one voice which resembles mine.
True …
Quality has to come from Birth !!! for both individual as well as corporates !!!
Great great post -as always
I go for audits sometimes and I feel amazed that when it comes to financial matters, most of the employees have no clue at all. It is very difficult to get one clean trial of paper work. I am sure the same thing would have happened with IL&FS. They were borrowing, counter borrowing, leveraging and went for reckless borrowing both short term and long term, it takes years to dig out what , how, where they borrowed. Over a period of time, this became too complex web and organization such IL&FS are run like PONZI scheme. Not IL&FS alone, seems most of the NBFCs are been operating like PONZIs. Sadly, none of the managers accepts ‘incompetency’.
Then we have political and budding entrepreneur nexus. Some guys be it abroad or local goes to the ruling politicians and talk mega plans, request for land allocation, show it as margin money to bankers, escalate the project cost by 10X and get the funding from PSU banks, shows dummy set up done with 10% borrowed money and runs abroad. with rest of the loot. My blood boils how much PSU banks lost money in the previous decade.
Then we have stock markets. Jet goes bankrupt, loses everything including slots but hardly anything happens to its stock price. Except license and 10K crores of debt, nothing remains but market valuation of Jet is still above few thousand crores.
If we live in corrupt world for long time, it becomes an accepted practice and everyone seems have already accepted it as ‘normal’. People who had gone to jail on corrupt charges have become chief ministers. I won’t talk about morals or ethics anymore. Perhaps I have also become used too.
I like your post and I am always admirer of you. You are great teacher of value Investing. If I summarize it like… Values ( in life)+ thoughtful investment= Value Investing. Thanks 😊
India is a country of corrupt. We all are corrupt and thing will not change since it is in your blood.
Agree with most of your observations, Vishal. We also experienced this during our recent trip abroad, and on the return flight to India. Having said that, we also came across many Indians who had settled abroad and who were very nice and courteous to others around them during their social interactions.
I think that while in India, we tend to show apathy towards others around us, when we go abroad and observe others conduct themselves, we subconsciously try to imbibe their way of life, which also includes behaviour towards fellow humans.
Yes, when it comes to investing, you have concluded it brilliantly by saying that we will be left with only a handful of companies who would have passed the various tests and filters that one would apply while considering whether to invest in them. And this finally would, as the saying goes, separate the wheat from the chaff.
I have worked 20 years in corporate world & faced points that u raised, in fact its my own experiences that so call literate people are using shortcut to archive (Corrupt) their goals. It will take generations to change, first work starts from our own family followed by change in education system.
Agree with your blog completely and may add that we are the biggest liars as well. In developed world your words are taken at face value and no doubts are raised whereas here we experience half truths or blatant lies as norm in the society. Right from taking leave in school or routine matters of no significance to anyone, lies are spoken habitually. Integrity at basic level is missing, we may not do things which we promised to do or we will not follow the timeline or timings we agreed upon. Imagine small businesses spend most of their time chasing payments which were agreed on a particular day and getting new promises along with new set of lies as reason for not meeting their obligations., destroying productivity of small business . Lies cause loss of trust everywhere in society whether it is politics , business, governance, welfare or relationships. It’s shame that we didn’t follow Mahatma Gandhi,father of nation who advocated Truth above everything and even titled his autobiography as -My experiments with Truth.
Vishal…the behaviour on airplane is common outside of India too.
Vishal,
Simply superb. Just want to add that Indians do not listen to instructions well like switching off mobile devises on the plane when asked even if they interfere with the instrumentation OR breaking all traffic rules.
Indeed. We Indians are the most corrupt. We don’t think twice in bribing the traffic cop if wrong , but yet make a noise about corruption. Strongly believe that Swach Minds are of utmost importance. Swach Bharat would follow
Crux well said
We all will be writing, reading and praising each other and at the end elect rulers fake “Swachh Bharat Pracharak”.
See them ruling and go crying in grave.
Our liking of article is for our satisfaction and solace nothing more.
Watch video what Mohinish Pabrai says about Indian companies.
Mohnish Pabrai’s Lecture and Q&A with students of Peking Univ. (Guangua School of Mgmt.)
Mohnish Pabrai’s Webcast Q&A Session with Students at London Business School
My work requires me to visit a court some times. What I have noticed is corruption in Indian Judiciary at its peak. One assistant sitting at the corner, his major task is to put the rubber stamp on various documents and arrange the files for hearing. His shirt pockets will always be wide open. Advocates (almost everyone) filing their cases put Rs.20/ to his pocket. Then he arranges their files accordingly. I was astonished at first. But it’s routine now. My Belief in Indian Judiciary is shaken.
Totally agreed with you sir. Especially your sentence. Have courage but always b kind and honest. valuable one
Hi Vishal, The question is how as ethical investors we should find out businesses and support them. There are three essential qualities that need to be nurtured by any ethical business organization. These are: a) They consider & stands for ethics, as more important than the business itself b)They have set processes that clearly communicate business ethics as the most important behaviour to all employees of the organization c) Leaders themselves demonstrate actions to inculcate business ethics as a way of life in the organization.
There are few superb examples in India. These examples should to be discussed in our forum. I was working with Tata’s(worked for 7 years) and still own shares of few Tata compannies for last 30 years and I never noticed any unethical practice in their operations. They may not be the best allocators of the capital,but I have not noticed any unethical practice supported by the top management. In the recent “World ethical companies rankimg” only two companies featured & one of them is Tata Steel & the other one is Wipro (disclaimer-I do not own these stocks). I have also heard a lot about ehical practices of TVS group and Murugappa group, but I have never invested, nor dealt with them. It would be nice if you & other tribesmen/women can share smilar experience while working or dealing other ethical companies. We must recodgnize and spread awareness about scarce ethical behaviour examples in business. I am sure there are many small/medium businesses working with ethics,but they are not in limelight as these values are not in fashion and are rarely discussed. We are used to hear noise about growth stories and star performars rather then hearing about silently operating ethical businesses adding true values to the society. They are not only rare, but also rarely talked about.How can we expect to encourage our young businessmen to follow ethics without showing enough role models? ?
Corrpution is a national malaise and sadly pervades all aspects of life in India. Perhaps this is concomitant with the potential for fast growth in wealth for individuals, decay of virtues in society and poor governence of the country (punish the deviants, reward the upholders of good values).
Vishal, you present an interesting perspective of looking at parenting v/s the usual one of pointing at government/ enforcement agencies. Clubbed with education on morals in schools, we parents could help raise more sensitive, honest children.
Change is slow, but I do come across more Indians who are proponents of integrity, fairness, and compliance to the rule of law. It may take a generation … though I hope it happens faster! … but I do hope to live to see Indians becoming the cynosure of the world for exhibiting ambitions tempered by morality. And i plod along doing my bit …
Good Vishal. Hope it will make some difference. I believe Darwin would have written Theory of evolution even better if had visited India by looking at the fights.
Dear Vishalji,
Very well said, i think it is because of the way we got independence, the way our history (values) told to us, population-resources ratio and laws and it practice. The worst part is even after understanding/knowing not able to understand how teach our own kids. With what examples.
Very nice presentation of issue to address how it is linked to India’s growth. Keep writing.
Regards, Sopan Ghadge
The reason I sometimes stand up when the Plane comes to a halt is the fact that I get the opportunity to stretch my limbs after 1-2 or more hours. To escape claustrophobia and being cramped.
That said, I see no reason to jostle or taking the luggage out. Or for that matter, the way we board trains or lifts/escalators or queue up at a closed railway crossing.
One possible reason for the lies and general poor trust level between us is the long period of slavery, when being tw0-faced was life conservation. We kow-towed to the British or the mughals, even while seething inside.
Lets begin with”Be the change you wish to see”. Many of us are already doing that.We can educate our children and people around us to do so.Whenever you take a seminar on investing please keep half an hour lecture for behaviour and manners.Such small steps will go a long way in time to come.Lets hope and pray that we Indians become more mannered,kind and non-corrupt before we grow rich.Amen.
Recently a comment made by a respected Head of Research was “Promoter, promoter and promoter are the 3 most important factors to consider while investing”. Rest all will follow if these three are met….
India is a morally bankrupt country. I have seen people who follow the rules in the roads or other places in other countries, doesn’t mind breaking when they come to india. It shows that our rules are not effective because of the slow moving justice system in india. You can not expect parents to teach values to their kids when they themselves don’t have it.
Not sure if this comment will be read, but after reading your post it resonated a similar thought I had the other day!
I love my country, I really do, but I am also not blind towards the ‘corrupt’ ways we try to cut corners. I have also witnessed the impatience of fellow flight passengers over petty spaces as if they are battling out land deeds, or the rush to get up and get out of the flight the moment it hits the parking as if their very lives depend on it. I have seen impatience of people on the roads (I stay in Bangalore) where people have started driving on footpaths since the roads are full. Government bodies digging up roads for the sake of cabling work and filling up the digging side with just plain mud. People jumping queues at metro stations, manhandling senior people all for getting a temporary seating space!
The list is endless. And you start following the herd too! I have been guilty of this on many occasions.
Why? Why are we so morally corrupt? What gives us the right to bend the rules?
I have a few observations
1. Lack of individual discipline from an early age. We grew up not practically learning how to be civil to each other. It is always “me first” approach
2. Lack of social discipline – When I was in US, I never even crossed an empty road since the signal was red. Here people will jump to cross even the traffic is moving. Why? In US you get penalized, here nobody cares!
3. Lack of patience – We as a country has become very impatient. Our attention span is almost equal to a Goldfish now. The sad part is this impatience is encouraged. People will do heated debates (if you can call it a debate) on TV, Social media groups and whatnots. (I listened to your advice and canceled my newspaper and TV subscription. I am much at peace now.) and more people will join in the arguments. Because anger sells! Goodness doesn’t.
If the paper says great weather tomorrow – no one would buy! Tell them Tsunami is coming and you can sell them like hotcakes.
I pray and request to everyone who is reading this – like Vishal said – Be Courageous, Be Kind and for God’s sake , be patient…..
Looks like the whole world is Indian! I’ve read this and felt the same way. World is running crazy: doing a lot of things, fast and all at the same time. Production, consumption, production… I can see life back in the 80’s were easier in some way!
If HDFC bank is considered to have governance of highest integrity, here is an example of how desperate they become to commit fraud ( assuming unauthorized deduction of fund from linked accounts is also a fraud ).
I’ve multiple FDs with HDFC bank maturing on different dates. As part of tax deduction at source ( TDS ) for these FDs they have been deducting it from my linked S.B account. When the issue was raised about how any deduction can be made without authorisation from account holder & it qualifies as a fraud committed by HDFC bank , they have no answer at branch level . Supporting this , when you download TDS from net banking, you get notification as ” Tampered data found “.
It is shocking & frightening to know that your life earnings are no longer safe even with HDFC bank
Your intent is well understood Vishal.
We need to be courageous here because the intent is to see a better India.
If we care about India, we need to choose to be Pro-India – Pro-Progress and Pro-Corruption-free, even if it means you are labelled anti-everything – including anti-national.
We need to keep in mind that people are temporary. So the ones who may label you as anti-national will not even exist in a few years from now.
We need deep analysis and a clear thinking to understand the root cause of corruption in India despite being the land of Rama and Krishna.
Corruption has no religion. So to say that a government will establish a certain “Rama Rajya” and with that all will be well is ignorance supreme.