By Arijit Ray
President, Mudra West
A recent piece in an international magazine said, “There is a sinking feeling while watching the events unfold in Greece that the West is as faded as an old prom queen.”
Crushing debt and stubbornly high unemployment, once trouble reserved for the poor countries, are plaguing, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Britain and even the US. Once, elitist economies are perilously close to economic disasters. The world is, as they say, turning upside down.
At the recent Cannes festival where creative excellence is awarded, the chairman of Nestle had a very poignant commentary. Commenting on the shifting of power to the emerging economies, he observed that developing nations are organising their future in a smarter way. The defining statement was, “Developing nations are in for a better tomorrow but the developed nations are in for a tomorrow which will not be as good as yesterday.”
The mess that western nations are in is not only because of some of the macro societal and structural adjustments they have not been able to accomplish. After interacting with European and Western interfaces, I see it is at a very fundamental level. It stems from pride and arrogance. Pride in the developmental superiority their nations have epitomised, which has led to a certain blindness in seeing the writing on the wall.
Let’s take a simple example. Indians are travelling like never before, and they are no longer coy about splurging on luxuries when they travel abroad. Upper- crust Indian travellers today spend, on an average, 6,816 Euros per person (including airfare) when they are holidaying in Europe, which is one of the top destinations. What an opportunity for European nations! Has it been leveraged? No. But the crowds are flocking in spite of this. The beauty and splendour of the nations outweigh the smaller issues. But the smaller issues are symptomatic of the blindness, of the arrogance and pride of their infrastructural and technological superiority.
Otherwise how could one explain the situations Indians face in getting vegetarian fare in those countries? Where is the consideration for one of the largest tourist segments? Doesn’t that also explain why European airlines are losing the battle to Asian aggressiveness in services?
Is this a lack of a understanding of our culture, fundamental truths and insights? Or does this tunnel vision symbolise the veil of ignorance that covers the collective psyche of these nations?
Inclusiveness has to be replaced by openness. Realisation has to dawn that the nations once known to be far inferior are making quantum leaps in all spheres. In the communications arena the strong performance at Cannes this year from the Latin American and Asian nations is testimony, again, to changing shifts. Hard-nosed attitudes will have to be replaced with fierce doses of practicality.
