India Grows at Night
Just finished reading the book India Grows at Night by Gurcharan Das. This book mainly talks about how government can make miracles by implementing correct policies with proper execution. Till today, India has grown, but mainly because the Private sector found its way through all the hurdles. When I read India Grows at Night, I felt like the current BJP government is following this book.
I have read his two more books, India Unbound and Elephant Paradigm. All three books are related to Indian politics, business, and events. BUT less than 1% reputation of content or concept. Really nice. All three books were really informative and good for learning.
This book talks about the Politics of Aspiration instead of Politics of History and Sympathy; the need for good governance; the Need for program managers who will focus on results and not bureaucrats who do not take responsibility. And many more.
The examples shared by Das are really informative. At least I could understand the history and see if the present is going in the correct direction or not. These examples are just not to read about India but we can implement the learnings in our organization as well.
If planned well & implemented correct policies with discipline and a goal, we can achieve the results.
Author shares, Story of how Gudgaon developed instead of Faridabad. (I can resemble the example with Pune vs Pimpri-Chinchwad). The main reason behind this is, the Government had an interest in Faridabad & the private sector focused on Gurgaon. The result of this after 20 years is Faridabad is still the same as 40 years before BUT Gurgaon is the new metro.
The author also talks about how the middle class has evolved. And I can correlate this with my personal experience of lifestyle at my home town and in Pune. The changes that happened even in my home town are remarkable. The middle class has a major role in all aspects of governance. Including involvement in the Anna Hazare campaign. These are thought-provoking and inspires you to keep working towards your goals. We realize a few mistakes we do in day-to-day life, at home, at the office. We should stop the same and grow ourselves and be result oriented. The big book has many conclusions and worth reading.
State / Government should take and provide many facilities for people. BUT the private sector is doing the same for their requirement. If this changes, it would be beneficial to all. For this, I thought of one example as,
What if City buses and trains worked like below?
- Share the schedule online. (Right now, Google gives approximate timings.)
- I can book tickets prior on the app (like “Office Ride” & “Shuttle”
- Value addition – the extra amount is paid by the customer if service is provided.
- Every city has a cluster of industries and the crowd moves accordingly. The statistics will help for better strategies and solve many problems of day to day life.
This service is being provided by the private sector – New business opportunity for startups like Office Ride or companies have their own transport for employees with added cost. BUT services for common people are expected by the government.
This is one of the examples I could think of. BUT there are many and I believe the current government is taking many steps to make a strong State.
After reading this book I got motivated and have a dream. Just like Bhagat Singh wanted to see a free India, today I am willing to see the Strong State and would try to be one small part of the growth.
