Imagining India, Ideas for the New Century, penned by Nandan Nilekani, is what I am currently reading. Being a dead slow reader, imbibing and savoring each and every word as I read, demands a long time for me to finish any book. It will take another month before I can write about the book, but what made me to buy the book was the name of ‘Nandan’. I happened to hear his speech when he visited the Mangalore DC of Infosys, where I was working two years ago. Even though I have left Infy, the Simplicity with which Nandan spoke to the Associates was something which I will remember. He did not use a lot of Jargon or complicated strategies but relied on his simple ways to explain his ideas for the future of Infosys. As Thomas L Friedman says, Nandan has an unique skill for explaining his concepts, in a simple and easy to understand manner.
Also I enjoyed reading, the autobiography of Subrato Bagchi, titled “Go Kiss the World”, where he explains the virtue called Simplicity, not as a starting point but something which is everlasting. Having come from Simple Background, these gentlemen, did not forget the virtue even as they achieved great heights by venturing into the complicated industry of IT, which is tough to understand for me even today.
Cut from Simplicity, let’s move to the Concept of Greed, one of the seven unforgivable sins, something which will be branded as “BAD” in the black and white world and also in the world with shades of grey. In the movie Wall Street, Gordan Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, says “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.”
We don’t stop in attributing the current global meltdown catalyzed by the Sub-Prime crisis, and fuelled by the fall of the global banking and finance industry to the greed of a few. But weren’t we happy and contented when the stock prices were moving up, when the real estate investments were sitting comfortably on Apollo 11, going towards the Moon. Something to think about.
Subrato Bagchi, re-emphasizes the concept of Abundance, stating that there is enough available for everyone in the world as against the concept of scarcity. The same principle of abundance also explained by Stephen Covey, in his book, the “Seven habits of Highly effective People”. Both these gentlemen explain that the concept of scarcity leads to greed, and fight to acquire the scarce resources as against the mentality of Abundance which builds in the virtue of simplicity and co-operation to achieve a common goal.
My take, Yes, everything is available to everyone but the question is at what price? Are these resources available? Had I been greedy enough to acquire enough property before two years I wont be spending a fortune in buying real estate now. Same is true for gold also. And what if I am a person who is in dire need for both these commodities. A common comment by bereaved individuals. Does the principle of abundance still relevant to the contemporary world.
The purpose of me writing this is not to reach a conclusion on which one of the concepts (Simplicity Vs Greed or Abundance Vs Scarcity) is relevant to the contemporary world and which one will prevail. But to kindle the grey cells into thinking about the other side of the coin is also valid. Comments Welcome.
