How opinions change

In late 2007, I wrote this post about things India needs to do. These, at that time, were my strong views on things that would make a big difference to India. Noteworthy to mention that I was in the US at that time and looking at things from the foreign media lens plus anything local I could get at that time.

This is the link to the older blog..
https://indyalogy.blogspot.com/2007/10/what-indya-needs-to-do.html

I pointed out in that blog that below three would make a big big difference. Today, I am going to re-visit these and may be able to appreciate the difference in opinion from then (2007) to now (2020).

1. Social Security Number
2. Ban VHP, BJP
3. Adopt Linux

Let me address these in order and share my opinion today....

1. India's version of SSN is Aadhaar. It does not come with a social security like the SSN in the US. But, I meant of SSN as a way to do transactions with government. An identifier for the citizens that they can us to open a bank account, file taxes, trade in stocks, use in buying a house, a telephone etc. Aadhaar has taken things far ahead. We can not only do things mentioned earlier, this is also helping the poor with Direct Benefit Transfer schemes, used in MNEREGA and similar government initiatives.

In my view, this has made a lot of difference. Yes, there are data security issues - but then managing data for 1.3 Billion people with a incredibly small budget is no mean feat. For those voicing privacy issues, my take is very simple: as a developing country struggling with necessities in life, we should not try to overplay developed countries human values. Privacy is important but we can not wait for those things to get ironed out just yet

In this case, my opinion has remained the same.


2. Ban VHP, BJP: Oh boy.. I really said that! What was I smoking then? :)

Fast forward to 2014, I wanted to vote for BJP but could not as I was in the US. In 2019, I voted for BJP - proudly flaunting my inked finger.  My opinion on these two organizations had long changed to be positive. By the time, I landed back to the Indian shores in 2011 for sure.

One documentary directed by a biased journalist really changed my thinking, for a while. I can not believe that. But it happened because all the lutyen delhi journalists were behind Modi for Gujrat riots and made a villain oout of him.

I had always been a BJP fan since my early adulthood except for this small period of confusion in between. While my friends did not approve of the Babri masjid demolition in my college, I was strongly for the cause. Demolition was important to get things moving, be heard. Bias in the government and politico has really been testing the patience of hindus. It just had to be done. Thankfully, in 2019, Supreme Court has also agreed and given way to constructing a temple at Ayodhya.

Today, I am firm believer in the other agendas of BJP.

So, this was a very big U-turn in a decade.


3. Adopt Linux

India did not adopt Linux.. too bad. Infact, I had meant this to be a platform for innovation, technology building in India. But that did not happen either. Rather, it happened but at a rate that no one could see. So, it does not really matter. Today, we buy all our technology from western countries. It is not a sustainable model for India. I think the realization has set in. But no one seems to be doing much about it.

We will see how this unfolds. I would continue to believe in the value of building local tech. If US companies can use "Prakrit" grammer for natural language translation, what really stops us, I dont know.

If we can build all the fine products in our offshore captive technology center, why can we not build products that work for India, are priced for Indian market.

It surely is not a skill or scale issue. Just an ecosystem issue - and government seems t be far away from address this.

In this case, opinion has only become organically more mature.

We will see how things unfold in decades to come.


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