YouTube Videos on India
November 1st, 2008
Post by Professor Jay Singh.
The below videos provide you with foundational information to get you thinking about India, and business issues related thereto.
1. India Rising - (10:14 minutes; ABC News)
An interesting commentary on the reasons behind the emergence of India as a global leader. Check out the comments by Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Infosys regarding the number of applicants applying for IT jobs with the company. The Indian IT industry has a reached a point where they are now starting to employ US graduates. This largest and most diverse democracy is identified as the most pro-US country outside of the US. Comments by Thomas Friedman, the author of The World is Flat, illustrate his sentiments on the peaceful nature of this country as well as the tremendous potential that he sees in the population that comprises of 700 million citizens (that is almost 2.5 times the US population) under the age of 35. The video also explains how entrepreneurship does not bias against the poor in India.
2. India Shining by Colin Mutchler (6:04 minutes)
A narrative by a professor from INSEAD business school with campuses in France and Singapore. He mentions his experiences from a class that included 20 students, 2 professors and several entrepreneurs, business persons and venture capitalists in the cities of Mumbai and Bangalore. Phrases used tro describe India in this video are functional anarchy, chaotic democracy, lumbering elephant, and 20th century head on a 19th century body. It also mentions how the rapidly improving services sector in India is causing a brain gain rather than a brain drain. Up to 70,000 business leaders from the likes of the Silicon Valley are heading home annually to take advantage of the booming economy. The quote at the end of the video very aptly summarizes the professor’s experience.
3. Amitabh Bachchan recites India Poised Anthem (2:13 minutes)
Amitabh Bachchan is the biggest super star the Indian movie industry (Bollywood) has ever seen. He has also had his fair share of successes and failures as an entrepreneur. When he speaks India listens. In this video he truly motivates the Indian population to feel a sense of pride and optimism. He talks of optimism versus skepticism that is India.
4. Taj Mahal (8:31 minutes) (do search noted above)
Should we again be able to add India into the trip one of the treats for all students on the International Business Trip, 2009 will be the Taj Mahal that has recently made it into the 7 wonders of the world. This beautiful mausoleum, made entirely of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, was built by Emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal over 400 years ago. More information on this a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1983) is available here. Enjoy the toe tapping bollywood music in the background.
5. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (8:22 minutes)
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), are an elite group of seven autonomous engineering and technology oriented institutes of higher education established and declared as Institutes of National Importance by the Government of India. The IITs were created to train scientists and engineers, with the aim of developing a skilled workforce to support the economic and social development of India after independence in 1947. Admission is very competitive, given the huge population of India; the undergraduate acceptance rate through JEE has a low ratio, around 1 in 55, with about 300,000 annual test takers for about 5,500 seats. Imagine that!! The IITs were ranked third-best worldwide for technology, after MIT and University of California, Berkeley.
This video gives an excellent overview of one of the institutes.
6. The William Jefferson Clinton Science & Technology Center (6:23 minutes)
While the video titled Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur helps illustrate the high standards of engineering and technology education in India, this video provides an example of the paradigm shift in mass education in the world’s second highest populated nation. Vinod Gupta, an IIT’ ian, moved to the US to seek a career as did a record 70% of his fellow graduates (this is what they mean by brain drain, which has dramatically decrease to about 30% in recent years). With President Clinton’s support he established a school that helps provide cutting edge education in science and technology at high school level to over 550 students from nearly surrounding 31 villages.
7. India ‘Vision 2020′ - A Creative Documentary (7:21 minutes)
This documentary provides a vision of an India in 2020 where:
The annual GDP growth rate will be 9% (presently at 6.8%)
Only 10% of the population will be below poverty line (presently at 25%)
Nuclear power stations will provide 20,000 MWe power
Remote services will contribute $133-315 billion in revenues to the Indian economy
This documentary may have romanticized some of the facts but is not too off from the future that is India.
8. The Simpsons - India Outsourcing (7:28 minutes)
This episode was good enough to cause belly splitting laughter but it appears to have been recently removed. This episode makes light of the outsourcing issues that had the pundits in the US running scared not too long ago. Last heard, Homer was deported from India wonder why …
What are some of your takeaways from one or more of these videos?
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, China, Misc.
5 Comments Add your own
1. Romain Guerel | November 1st, 2008 at 2:06 am
My favorite India blogs:
Metroblogging Chennai: http://chennai.metblogs.com/
2point6billion: http://www.2point6billion.com/
India cut: http://indiauncut.com/
You can find the other ones I like on the India Business blog roll of my website: http://chinaandi.typepad.com
Enjoy!
2. Nick Chamness | November 1st, 2008 at 11:18 am
I watched the “india poised” video and wow it was powerful. Very interesting to have an actor that has such influence on the people. I was captivated by his words and tone, and it even got me excited about the rise of India.
If I did not know any better, I would have assumed that this guy was the Prime Minister or some of powerful politician. The rise of a nation and the growing pains that come along with it, is not something that most of us ponder everyday. These issues were dealt with long ago.
It makes sense that speeches like this one become so important in unifying a nation. I am sure some are happy with the rapid growth of the nation and all of the changes that accompany it. Others might not be so thrilled with the modern changes that they see around them, and the impacts it has on their culture.
Amitabh Bachchan appears to be speaking to both the people who accept this new reality and those who are skeptical. His speech aims to unite to these two groups in order to help India realize its full potential.
As far as I can tell, this kind of infleunce by a movie star is not as far reaching in the U.S. Is there a movie star out there that the majority of people really listen to? Could this ever be a reality in the U.S.? Would such a video be considered propaganda here?
3. Morgan O'Hara | November 6th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I wonder, should India’s government remain so dysfunctional and Indian corporations continue to grow and gain power – what increased role will business have in running the country? Friedman talked of business leaders helping to diffuse the nuclear crisis with Pakistan. What’s next? India is called a ‘functional anarchy’ in one of the videos – does that bode well for big business, in that companies are conferred a certain degree of autonomy? Or will corporations want to facilitate the progression of Indian government, in that decent govt. administration would be beneficial for business? Also, don’t you need some semblance of functional government to curtail big business, lest it gain too much influence? I lived for two years in Italy, and have seen how one powerful businessman can wield his power to the detriment of the country.
To answer Nick’s question, I don’t think any American movie star could have so much clout - except De Niro, and only if he had Joe Pesci standing beside him. Then you’d better listen.
4. Josh Hickman | December 7th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I watched the “India Rises” ABC news documentary and I was so impressed by seeing the opportunities found in India. Some of the items discussed I already knew from Zakaria’s Post American World and Freidman’s The World is Flat but it was a great chance to visually get insight from some of the Indian citizens interviewed. I was particularly moved when the American journalist was in front of what looked like a run-down shack, where the man showed him the learning and education that was happening inside on the “Pentium computer”. I think this parallels a lot of other articles and blog posts of how India is still struggling with poverty but maybe India can be seen as a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’. By this I do not mean that India has any aggression toward the U.S., but there is more to see than just what lies on the more underprivileged streets of India.
I also was delighted when the shop keeper said that “India is not behind you (the U.S.) but with you” reinforcing my belief that India is pro-America and enjoys the relations they have with our country. As mentioned in the video, I think that a lot of the United States’ success had been the product of relations with India on a business level. The U.S. continues to innovate new ideas and products while India can be a helpful, more behind the scenes player in corporate America. As Zakaria mentions, India will continue to be an integral backbone of U.S. companies and also progress with their own innovations and success.
The only thing that I was put off by was when Indian call centers are trained to think that a 35 year old American is equivalent to a 10 year old Indian in terms of education. I think this may be a little harsh because I would not want to be treated like a ten year old when I have a problem with my new PC hardware. Maybe this is because the only 10 year olds that I know are American and maybe not as well educated as Indian youth. Maybe it is because I have a better technological background than most American 35 year olds. However, I can say that would rather run through a beehive than explain computer questions over the phone to my mother or worse, my grandmother, so I see how why this is what they are taught. In any case, we better start getting our education system up to par with the rest of the world so we can drive both India and the United States into the next order.
5. Raquel Rusing | March 11th, 2009 at 10:54 am
This is exactly what I was looking for! More videos on India. Thank you, Jay. And I’m being sincere. After finishing Out of India, I was very interested in spending more time relating to India than China.
I think my favorite video here was on a personal level - the Taj Mahal. I am so excited to see this because ever since I was a child who watched Disney’s Aladdin, I was intrigued by the story of how the great palace was built - third wife dies so you build a massive structure in her honor, at least this was the lacking romanticism a ten year-old was interpreting. This story of the Taj Mahal reminded me of the concept behind the Egyptian pyramids, a way to preserve the memory of your dead. But let’s be honest, how much more beautiful is the Taj Mahal to view than a pyramid, which is (without any disrespect implied) a cookie cutter endeavor in comparison.
Also, I found the The Simpsons Episode, named Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore. The Taj Mahal is involved with this video, too, hence my interest.
I also found some cultural references to India through some blogs and forums regarding Matt Groening’s genius psyche:
-Homer flies into the international airport that looks like Hyperabad, Andhra Pradesh
-Homer refers to Brahma, a Hindu god as “Papa Smurf”, Ganesh as “The Elephant Man” and Shiva as “Johnny Sixarms”
-The song that plays at the end of the episode is Pal Bhar Ke Liye by Kishore Kumar, a famous Bollywood playback singer from the 1970s. The song is from the Bollywood movie Johnny Mera Naam starring Dev Anand and Hema Malini.
Some mistakes:
-The Taj Mahal is not in Bangalore.
-The river that runs behind the Taj Mahal is the Yamuna, not the Ganges.
*These I did not catch, but I’m glad that I know now.
Ultimately, I feel like my lack of background in India causes me to have no business comments, but I do want to express my sincere interest in learning about the country. I wasn’t excited for India to be integrated into the international trip initially, but I have since gained an appreciation for the opportunity to experience two countries.
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