My Main Man Obama

I have found my higher power. I have found the main man. He is called Barack Hussein Obama. No, I am serious, people. I think Obama was a preacher in his past life. Or is he still one? The brother’s got some vocal chords, delivering sermon after sermon to his and others’ nations. It is another deal altogether that the effect is somewhat lost in the U.S.

Obama had a rockstar visit to India. I will take a bet that it must have been a little displeasing for other dignitaries who visit our country to see how the Indian media went gaga over him and his wife. Why, I am sure even the otherwise much drooled-over film and cricket stars must have had an off day.

Obama is mostly a dream weaver, I think; the kind who has had hope as his beacon rather than reason. But sometimes, the man can talk some real sense. Did you hear his address to the Indian Parliament? Wasn’t that just something? Most presidents and prime ministers who have addressed Indian lawmakers have been guilty of playing the safe path. They get all dandy handy about the relationships between the two countries and not much more.

Obama played it well. He made a substantial declaration in committing to the expansion of the U.N. Security council, though the U.N. is as useless an organization in today’s world as the PETA at Mohammed Ali Road on Ramzan nights. He also, in the same breath, reminded how India’s leaders had been silent on issues concerning our neighbors because it suited us, aka Myanmar.

It is here and before that Obama made some interesting points in his speech. He asked the country to wake up. For too long now, he said, and I agree, we have had the tag of a developing global power attached to us. For crying out loud, we are already a global power. We are one of the oldest civilizations, a functioning large, secular democracy and, more crucially, a firebrand of an economy. The time of the big five before is gone; at least for four of them. China is already flexing its elbows, no matter a jab here and there to the others. We are still trying to please everybody.

India has arrived in the scheme of things. It is about time it starts behaving like it belongs. And so should its businessmen and entrepreneurs. I was at a conference recently in Bengaluru where a lot of these speakers, a majority, were from overseas telling Indian techies how to go about in the tech world. This included professionals, business owners, analysts, and those most-loved of species, the VCs.

What!!! Last I checked, Indians had completely trashed the IT sector in the west as far as services go (and China is handling the rest). Why could we not have Indian business leaders from the technology sector talking? We anyway have most of our business leaders from that sector. How much more time are we going to take till we shake the barley and get our game face on. It is us who can teach them a few things. Not the other way around.

AUGUST SHARK is a once-failed, second-time successful bootstrapper who resides in Mumbai. He can be contacted at august@stumpspeak.com.

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August Shark, Barack Obama, India